Please critique

I think geochuck's right. your hand submerges before your elbow extends, so you end up extending underwater, thereby pushing the water forward and creating reverse propulsion. He's also right in asserting that your two arms have two different styles. Your left arm has a slightly exaggerated out-of-water motion, and your right arm has a barely-out-then-quickly-back-in motion that ends in a slap. Again, that stems from your insistence on breathing to one side. As you get accustomed to breathing to one side, your arms eventually start taking on different duties to accommodate your style of breathing. Your stroke becomes one designed to maximize breathing time. Thus, your breathing arm tends to make big overarm recoveries to maximize the time you have to breathe and the quality of breath (keeps the water out of your mouth), while the non-breathing arm is useless to you, and so it barely comes out before slapping back in. I thought that you are supposed to get your hand in just before the elbow is fully extended. I've read that if the elbow is fully extended on entry that is when you get a slap. Maybe I need to be closer to full extension on entry? Also, in the most recent casual swim clips (head on and side) are you still seeing an uneven recovery? I definitely see what you are talking about on the clip where I'm trying to go fast. That was specifically why I recorded a "sprint", so I could see if that would happen. I do bilateral breathing occassionally and also do a few laps with a Finis snorkel. I'll try to do the bilateral breathing more often. Do you suggest every 3rd, or should I just do one length breathing to one side, one length to the other. Attached is the image that leaped out to me as a problem, this is the opposite of swimming downhill Yeah, I'll try those suggestions. I think now that I'm aware of it I can correct it. I think I was concentrating so hard on the high elbow catch that I lifted my torso up in the process.

I think geochuck's right. your hand submerges before your elbow extends, so you end up extending underwater, thereby pushing the water forward and creating reverse propulsion. He's also right in asserting that your two arms have two different styles. Your left arm has a slightly exaggerated out-of-water motion, and your right arm has a barely-out-then-quickly-back-in motion that ends in a slap. Again, that stems from your insistence on breathing to one side. As you get accustomed to breathing to one side, your arms eventually start taking on different duties to accommodate your style of breathing. Your stroke becomes one designed to maximize breathing time. Thus, your breathing arm tends to make big overarm recoveries to maximize the time you have to breathe and the quality of breath (keeps the water out of your mouth), while the non-breathing arm is useless to you, and so it barely comes out before slapping back in. I thought that you are supposed to get your hand in just before the elbow is fully extended. I've read that if the elbow is fully extended on entry that is when you get a slap. Maybe I need to be closer to full extension on entry? Also, in the most recent casual swim clips (head on and side) are you still seeing an uneven recovery? I definitely see what you are talking about on the clip where I'm trying to go fast. That was specifically why I recorded a "sprint", so I could see if that would happen. I do bilateral breathing occassionally and also do a few laps with a Finis snorkel. I'll try to do the bilateral breathing more often. Do you suggest every 3rd, or should I just do one length breathing to one side, one length to the other. Attached is the image that leaped out to me as a problem, this is the opposite of swimming downhill Yeah, I'll try those suggestions. I think now that I'm aware of it I can correct it. I think I was concentrating so hard on the high elbow catch that I lifted my torso up in the process.