So I finally got some video of myself and my son up. This is the first time I'm seeing myself swim, and I'm horrified, lol.
My self-critique: Elbows not high enough, not extending arms very well, arms crossing midline a little on extension, and extending hand almost pushing water a little. Please feel free to add anything, and I'd appreciate advice on drills to address my specific weaknesses (and my son's).
www.youtube.com/watchwww.youtube.com/watch
My son's critique: Elbows drop some, he tends to pull a little too much to the outside rather than down the middle, and his left arm tends to go left on extension. Believe it or not he's much faster than the last time I posted video, he's gotten his 25m time down to 26 sec from 45 when the season started. Please add anything.
www.youtube.com/watchwww.youtube.com/watch
Thanks guys.
Parents
Former Member
OK, so I'm about to go swimming and want to work on this catch. Now you said that I'm pushing down, which I do see. But what I don't understand is how to I go from an extended arm to arm facing the bottom without going through some downward pressure. Doesn't the arm arc into EVF? Or are you talking about the frames where I am already in the power phase?
This is where others might give you a better description of what it should feel like and so forth but I would say that you should flex your wrist somewhat downward, right now in the first couple of frames we can see the palm of your hand, instead we should see the top of your hand. Different people have different approaches to this phase, you can fully extend and try to grab the water with your hand at full extension, or you can try to lessen the strain on your shoulder by letting your hand essentially go with the flow until it is in the catch position (i.e. move it at the same speed as the water so there is no pressure on the top or the palm of the hand). Try to get your hand down to about the depth shown in the first frame of the Thorpe. Keep your elbow straight until you get there, and then execute the catch as illustrated by the Thorpe sequence.
There are a lot of different approaches to the catch but I think the key is to get your hand and forearm positioned facing backward for the power phase as far forward as you can without straining anything in your shoulder. I think that to some extent it is something you have to experiment with.
As I noted, you can't really tell from a still picture whether a force is being applied, just what direction any force that was applied would be in. In a fluid the force is always at right angles to the surface, no matter what direction the surface is moving.
OK, so I'm about to go swimming and want to work on this catch. Now you said that I'm pushing down, which I do see. But what I don't understand is how to I go from an extended arm to arm facing the bottom without going through some downward pressure. Doesn't the arm arc into EVF? Or are you talking about the frames where I am already in the power phase?
This is where others might give you a better description of what it should feel like and so forth but I would say that you should flex your wrist somewhat downward, right now in the first couple of frames we can see the palm of your hand, instead we should see the top of your hand. Different people have different approaches to this phase, you can fully extend and try to grab the water with your hand at full extension, or you can try to lessen the strain on your shoulder by letting your hand essentially go with the flow until it is in the catch position (i.e. move it at the same speed as the water so there is no pressure on the top or the palm of the hand). Try to get your hand down to about the depth shown in the first frame of the Thorpe. Keep your elbow straight until you get there, and then execute the catch as illustrated by the Thorpe sequence.
There are a lot of different approaches to the catch but I think the key is to get your hand and forearm positioned facing backward for the power phase as far forward as you can without straining anything in your shoulder. I think that to some extent it is something you have to experiment with.
As I noted, you can't really tell from a still picture whether a force is being applied, just what direction any force that was applied would be in. In a fluid the force is always at right angles to the surface, no matter what direction the surface is moving.
