Hi, I'm new to the board. I've read a lot of posts and think this is a great resource for people. Anyhow, a little background. My 8 year-old son, who has Asperger's syndrome and it's associated errrrr...lack of athleticism, is on the neighborhood swimming team. Surprisingly he really seems to enjoy swimming and gets excited about his improvements. He has improved from a 44 second 25 yard time to 34 seconds in this, his first year. I have never swam competitively but given his interest in swimming, I've developed a similar interest and have been reading about stroke mechanics while watching lots of video of Ian Thorpe and Alexander Popov. Of course I practice it on myself and have become infinitely better. I've been trying to teach my son proper technique as well, with some success. While other kids his age on the team (many more experienced) more or less bully their way through the water faster than him, I don't let him pull as hard as he can or stroke as hard as he can for obvious reasons...so he learns better. He will be taking lessons soon from one of the student coaches, although I'm a little weary about it because they may teach him their own bad habits (not that I'm not, lol). For example, pretty much all the older kids on the team do the classic S-shaped scull.
My question is as follows; I am trying to teach him the high elbow and getting a feel for "hard water". We're also working on timing his hip rotation to use that vertical forearm. As you can imagine, it's difficult for him to rotate the arm and shoulder like that during the stroke, although he can on dry land. I noticed Popov pronating his hand (palm facing out) in the beginning of his catch, which I imagine does 2 things; one, scull a little, and two, get him into the EVF. Is this a pretty standard thing? I don't see Thorpe do it on video, but maybe I'm not seeing it well amid the bubbles. I myself have more or less been able to get a reasonable EVF without pronation, but maybe I should do the same? The second question is do most of you prefer the front quadrant style? Again, Thorpe begins his catch as his recovering arm passes his head and he starts rotating, while Popov begins his catch earlier.
If you could give me advise on these issues, particularly as it pertains to teaching a child, I would be appreciative. Sorry for the lengthy post.
On the issue of the catch, I saw some photo frames of Grant Hackett where it seems that his hand pretty much stays in the same spot from the moment it is full extended. Here is the link.
www.vasatrainer.com/.../ERG_PART4.pdf
Is that the norm for most polished swimmers? Seems to me that most catch the water a little after that, as in those pictures you referenced Geochuck.
Anyhyow, I'm starting to get a much better feel for the water over the last few days. I'm trying to learn well for myself (I'm becoming addicted) and to help teach my son as well. My son's swim season ended, and I'm so proud of him as he improved tremendously through the season. His 25m is down from about 48s when he started to 32s now. I think most of his improvement has been in efficiency, because he has not quite caught on to the propulsive aspect yet. His backstroke improved from a zigzagging 50+sec to 37s. In practices when they would do 100m freestyle races he really shined because of his efficiency and ease of stroke. I don't know how good a swimmer he'll be ultimately, but it makes me happy he can even approach average in something athletic.
Quick question about my own swimming. I find that because I'm concentrating so much on my stroke mechanics, my breathing and endurance have been terrible. I used to have a much easier time of it when my stroke mechanics stunk (probably because my arms were comfortably slipping). For the most part I do fully exhale and my balance is pretty good. I purchased and am awaiting the Finis snorkel, hoping it will help me get comfortable with the mechanics (arms and kick, rhythm). I've read that some of you find this product helpful in that regard. Should I only concentrate on using the snorkel for a while (for stroke and flutter kick work), then return to breathing once everything else is second nature? Or should I mix it up, doing both? Basically how should I reintegrate the breathing? Thanks.
On the issue of the catch, I saw some photo frames of Grant Hackett where it seems that his hand pretty much stays in the same spot from the moment it is full extended. Here is the link.
www.vasatrainer.com/.../ERG_PART4.pdf
Is that the norm for most polished swimmers? Seems to me that most catch the water a little after that, as in those pictures you referenced Geochuck.
Anyhyow, I'm starting to get a much better feel for the water over the last few days. I'm trying to learn well for myself (I'm becoming addicted) and to help teach my son as well. My son's swim season ended, and I'm so proud of him as he improved tremendously through the season. His 25m is down from about 48s when he started to 32s now. I think most of his improvement has been in efficiency, because he has not quite caught on to the propulsive aspect yet. His backstroke improved from a zigzagging 50+sec to 37s. In practices when they would do 100m freestyle races he really shined because of his efficiency and ease of stroke. I don't know how good a swimmer he'll be ultimately, but it makes me happy he can even approach average in something athletic.
Quick question about my own swimming. I find that because I'm concentrating so much on my stroke mechanics, my breathing and endurance have been terrible. I used to have a much easier time of it when my stroke mechanics stunk (probably because my arms were comfortably slipping). For the most part I do fully exhale and my balance is pretty good. I purchased and am awaiting the Finis snorkel, hoping it will help me get comfortable with the mechanics (arms and kick, rhythm). I've read that some of you find this product helpful in that regard. Should I only concentrate on using the snorkel for a while (for stroke and flutter kick work), then return to breathing once everything else is second nature? Or should I mix it up, doing both? Basically how should I reintegrate the breathing? Thanks.
