I just posted,slightly tongue in cheek,that changing the breaststroke rule so ones head can go underwater was the best change ever.It got me thinking what was the best rule change.(someone else can do a worst change poll.)
as life long backstroker, I'm not a fan of the "new" backstroke turn for 3 reasons:
1) the gray area involved in whether someone is or is not doing the turn by the rules (single motion arm pull, no kicking, etc). it was cut and dried before, either your hand touched the wall, or it didn't.
2) one less skill required to master the stroke. now all it is is a freestyle turn. before it required you to learn how to turn properly and to practice it. now you just flop over and do a freestyle turn.
3) large drops in times for backstroke events for a reason that has nothing to do with better training techniques or stroke improvement. You might as well let breastrokers and flyers do flip turns now too. The old turn worked great, I honestly saw no need for a new one.
Art, this is the BEST Rule Change Ever thread. As Allen mentioned “someone else can do a worst change”
Best –
Freestyle – allowing any part of the body to touch the wall, enabling flip turns
Breaststroke – allowing over water recovery thus creating the butterfly and subsequently making butterfly its own stroke
15 Meter rule – saving any number of swimmers brain damage due to hypoxia
Costume rules that allowed goggles
USMS Beer relay rules
No problem with the heels breaking the water,unless it is followed by a downward dolphin kick. One downward dolphin kick is allowed in the pullout,after the pull is begun.It must be followed by a breaststroke kick.
Speaking of which....
Having recently returned, what are the current rules in breastroke re:
Heels breaking water as head goes under? (mine kind of tend to if I don't watch it)
A single dolphin off the wall? (I thought I'd heard that had changed)
Thanks in advance,
:fish2:
Or we could go Kristina's idea and do flip turns on BR, too. Talk about a lung-buster: 200 yard *** with seven flip turns and pullouts:drown:
I don't think it would be much of a problem. If there wasn't a 15m rule in backstroke a 200yd backstroke would be just eight 25yd shooters with flip turns. I suspect by now the only breaths they'd take would be right before the turns.
