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.
I bought the "Swiming Faster Freestyle" video with David Marsh (coach at Auburn), and a couple of interesting things struck me. Rada Owen was the demonstrating swimmer. Marsh would talk some about high elbows, but Owens' elbow was definitely not very high. Her catch is somewhat of a hybrid between the EVF and straight arm pull, where the upper arm is more sloped and thus the bent elbow occurs but much lower in the water. I understand that the main reason for the higher elbow EVF is to begin anchoring farther in front of you than you would otherwise.
I'm curious how many of you catch like Rada. It certainly lookes easier. Kind of odd that they chose her to demonstrate, while Marsh would show a higher elbow when demonstrating outside the pool.
The other thing I noticed is that they tend to teach a little more of a swing or throw to the arm recovery. One drill in particular which caught my attention was the catch and throw drill. I've always thought of my recovery as a more deliberate raise the elbow, move it forward, then put it in the water type of thing. But it kind of makes sense to have a little bit of a throw to it, allowing you to create some momentum over that catch. Am I correct in this thinking? I feel like up until now even when I do get a reasonable catch I'm having to pull back more rather than just riding momentum.
I'm off these next couple days so I'll try to get some video of myself. A little bit of a lightbulb came on my last swim (couple days ago), and I'm anxious to see if you guys feel I'm in the right direction.
I bought the "Swiming Faster Freestyle" video with David Marsh (coach at Auburn), and a couple of interesting things struck me. Rada Owen was the demonstrating swimmer. Marsh would talk some about high elbows, but Owens' elbow was definitely not very high. Her catch is somewhat of a hybrid between the EVF and straight arm pull, where the upper arm is more sloped and thus the bent elbow occurs but much lower in the water. I understand that the main reason for the higher elbow EVF is to begin anchoring farther in front of you than you would otherwise.
I'm curious how many of you catch like Rada. It certainly lookes easier. Kind of odd that they chose her to demonstrate, while Marsh would show a higher elbow when demonstrating outside the pool.
The other thing I noticed is that they tend to teach a little more of a swing or throw to the arm recovery. One drill in particular which caught my attention was the catch and throw drill. I've always thought of my recovery as a more deliberate raise the elbow, move it forward, then put it in the water type of thing. But it kind of makes sense to have a little bit of a throw to it, allowing you to create some momentum over that catch. Am I correct in this thinking? I feel like up until now even when I do get a reasonable catch I'm having to pull back more rather than just riding momentum.
I'm off these next couple days so I'll try to get some video of myself. A little bit of a lightbulb came on my last swim (couple days ago), and I'm anxious to see if you guys feel I'm in the right direction.
