Please critique

I like to follow the black line on the bottom of the pool to eliminate crossover. I would also like to hear how you eliminated the crossover.

I have watched all of your videos and it seems you are in a rush to set a speed record. Slow down add some sculling front and back. Scull with your hands in front and at the sides. Get to feel the water, seems to me you are putting your hands in then trying to get them out before they get wet. Mix it up some 400s of aerobic swimming with a nice extention before you get to the catch. When you swim aerobically don't let your kick exit the water and relax the lower legs. Do a few sprints of 25s and 50s. Do a few dolpin jumps off the bottom of the pool and some streamline stuff. Do you mean that I'm not holding the water long enough, i.e. slipping? Also, are you recommending a sculling drill (scull with both hands at the same time) or sculling as a part of the freestyle stroke? Thanks for the input. I'll try to mix it up more.

Here is video of me from today. First off, a couple disclaimers. The camera work is, ahem, less than professional. My 8 and 6 year-old kids took the shots. Second, while I think there are improvements, I do know there are a lof of the same issues, and I'm trying to work on things piece by piece. The main things I focused on were a better recovery, not crossing the midline, and higher elbow catch. I was surprised to see that my arm extension stunk, so I'll be aware of it and correct it the next time. Also, I see a little bit hip drop during parts of the stroke, and will work on that. Finally, I think my elbows are higher in these vids, but I think I should catch a little earlier in the stroke (before significant rotation) and get my vertical forearm a little farther out in front of me. The last video was a pseudo-sprint, just to see if my recovery deteriorated more when I tried to go faster. www.youtube.com/watch www.youtube.com/watch www.youtube.com/watch www.youtube.com/watch www.youtube.com/watch Again, I really appreciate everyone's input.

I'm posting more views from that same day (8/21). I had videotaped more views but didn't want to overwhelm people with too many. So here is a view approaching the camera and one from the side. I'll put up my "improved" stroke tomorrow. www.youtube.com/watch www.youtube.com/watch I have watched all of your videos and it seems you are in a rush to set a speed record. Slow down add some sculling front and back. Scull with your hands in front and at the sides. Get to feel the water, seems to me you are putting your hands in then trying to get them out before they get wet. Mix it up some 400s of aerobic swimming with a nice extention before you get to the catch. When you swim aerobically don't let your kick exit the water and relax the lower legs. Do a few sprints of 25s and 50s. Do a few dolpin jumps off the bottom of the pool and some streamline stuff.

Do you mean that I'm not holding the water long enough, i.e. slipping? Also, are you recommending a sculling drill (scull with both hands at the same time) or sculling as a part of the freestyle stroke? Thanks for the input. I'll try to mix it up more. Just sculling so you get the feel of the water. You should put your hands in and they should almost exit in the same place they enter. I used to say hold onto the imaginary wall. Anchor your hand and hold onto the water don't try to bully the water. Sculling from GoSwim www.goswim.tv/search

I'm posting more views from that same day (8/21). I had videotaped more views but didn't want to overwhelm people with too many. So here is a view approaching the camera and one from the side. I'll put up my "improved" stroke tomorrow. www.youtube.com/watch www.youtube.com/watch What I did to eliminate the crossover was mentally imagine myself raising my hand straight up to ask a question (while rotated), almost like "oh oh Mr. Kattah". I also imagined that a line drawn along the lateral aspect of my right arm to my right leg and from my left arm to left leg would be pretty straight. Prior to that I was thinking too much in terms of hiding my arms in front of my head, trying to be too streamlined. I'll try to get new video tomorrow. Obviously every problem won't be solved right away, but I hope the recovery arm and crossover problems will be better. "oh oh Mr. Kattah" :D If you can, get an underwater side view. I would also be curious to see a clip looking straight up from the bottom of the pool but that's probably hard to get. :) My interest is in getting a look at your forearm position as you anchor and pull past it, I get the impression there is a lot of slip and that your elbow may be low, at least in the early part of the pull.

freestyle is not a mystery

Notice elbow dropping on 2nd, 3rd and 4th videos. It occurs as you extend before you get to the catch. When I see this I tell my students they are pushing water in the wrong direction. I also noticed you right arm hitting the water when you hand enters again I prefer a clean entry. I a;lso do not like your kick you have the legs too far apart. I like to see the big toes almost touching. Could you expound on that, George. I saw my elbows drop on the extension, but figured it was because I forgot to extend all the way (or was not aware that I was not fully extendied). Typically when one reaches forward I would think the elbow faces the side of the pool, and the only way to drop the elbow would be to externally rotate the shoulder (humerus). Should I be trying to keep my shoulder internally rotated on the extension? I might try to some fist drill to get a better feel for grabbing water. It looks to me like you're having trouble anchoring your arms so there isn't much connection across your whole body. Are you recognizing this because my catch arm goes back too quickly? Or is it that you see I'm not getting much distance per stroke? I'm curious how people recognize that I'm not "feeling" or "catching" the water. Truthfully, I feel like I am on the right, but on the left...not so much.

25m pool. When swimming casually I take about 19 strokes, but when trying to go faster than that it goes up to what you saw. I know it's lousy distance per stroke. I'm sure some of it is a poor anchor, but I also think my poor kick contributes. My kick really does pretty much nothing. It neither adds any propulsion nor initiates hip rotation, and in fact may justg add drag. Something I definitely need to work on. I have been using the techpaddle, but I wonder if fistgloves might also be useful.

25m pool. When swimming casually I take about 19 strokes, but when trying to go faster than that it goes up to what you saw. I know it's lousy distance per stroke. I'm sure some of it is a poor anchor, but I also think my poor kick contributes. My kick really does pretty much nothing. It neither adds any propulsion nor initiates hip rotation, and in fact may justg add drag. Something I definitely need to work on. I had no advice on how to improve your stroke, but just wanted to add that I have no kick, my legs only work to keep my body in position and I can swim an easy 25m with 11-13 strokes. I'm no coaching expert, but to me you look stiff in the water.