I'm currently swimming a 1:12 in my Breaststroke but since the time which that time was set (been done twice, once while fairly out of shape) I have drastically altered my breaststroke to be more 'aggressive'. I am 6'3" and I was able to get by with a very simple breaststroke, pull kick, a flat breaststroke. I have altered this to a great extent and just about everything has changed. I will walk you through each step of what I do and perhaps one of you can help me out with form.
Pullout: My pullout phase begins with a strong push off the wall into a tight streamline, arms 'coiled' back around my head. I wait until roughly 70% of my motion has left me and I first let a wave of motion (dolphin kick) through my body, along with a pull. I pull from the outside in, and back out again. My arms pull in toward my waist, and then before reaching that point they cut out and end up slightly above my back's position.
To note, I think this is where my problems start in my pullout! I pull my arms (finger tips pointed to my toes) they reach my shoulders at which point I 'rip' my hands forward above me. I feel that this is one of my faults because I almost stop at this point. Is there anyway to maintain more of my momentum through this phase, otherwise possibly create a singular motion so not to expend as much of that velocity which I had just enjoyed? Once I reach my streamline phase I kick and take a strong pull to the surface. Again, this seems like a troublesome spot for me because when my head breaks the surface it's almost like hitting the breaks. What sort of angle should my head/neck/shoulders create when I am exiting the water?
My stroke has been changed fairly drastically and basically now it boils down to a number of phases. My first phase (after the initial pull is to rip my legs up to myself while pulling my arms (carving out a bowl). While I am pulling I actually allow my arms to exit/coast the surface and I lunge forward into the water. While completely submerged I begin my kick, coming from the thigh, I snap the last foot or two and then point my toes and begin all over again.
My turn is pretty simple and it NEEDS help. I lose ground on the turn every time. My turn is like this. I finish my stroke and lunge into the wall, once I reach the wall I will pull my right arm back (jabbing with my elbow) and pull my legs up to the wall with a slight leftward gaunt. I then throw my left arm past the side of my head and roll forward with a strong push off of the wall. I reenter the water with a slight leftward roll (actually to my side a bit.) and begin my pull out.
My start is very simple, I start with a track start and simply jump forward. My coach has been working with me on my starts but I still end up too deep when I start. I hope you guys can take a look at what I've said and perhaps fix up my stroke. :)
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A video would be great, but I think I can visualize what you're doing. I'll give you a couple of notes based on what I think you're doing.
1. Allen Stark is absolutely correct. Waiting until 70% of your speed is gone is WAY too much. The whole point of the underwater actions is to maintain your underwater speed for as long as possible, since you can move much faster underwater than on the surface. The timing of the underwater pullout should be between 3 and 4.5 seconds TOTAL. If you watch the pros do it, they streamline for about 1-1.5 seconds, immediately do the underwater stroke and dolphin kick, glide for about a second, and then start the breakout stroke. If you don't keep your momentum up, you'll stall out and defeat the purpose of all this stuff.
2. During your underwater streamline, your head should be in a natural position, not tucked to your chest. That's a mistake a lot of people make. If you tilt your chin down, you'll add resistance to your body. So, if your arms don't go behind your ears without tucking your head down, then don't do it. Stretching daily will help you be able to do this.
3. The motion of your arms during the underwater pull can be either a straight back "butterfly pull" (I put it in quotes because it's apparently the new way to do it) or the more traditional hourglass pull. Oleg Lisogor uses the hourglass pull, and he's the world record holder for the short course 50 ***. Here's a good video of his pullout in slow motion: www.youtube.com/watch Watch from about 1:01 to 1:11 for the pull and breakout. Also, make sure your shoulders are shrugged and your hands should either be between your legs or on (or next to) your thighs. Putting them behind your back is counter-productive and will slow you down.
4. During the recovery, keep your palms facing your body until your hands get to about the level of your head. Then you can flip them over and shoot them forward. This is also when you should do your breakout kick, which should be a good whip kick.
5. For the actual stroke, the outsweep should be just an outward scull, not a pull. Some people (including myself) will scull a little up towards the surface before beginning the insweep. I think this gives you a timing device to keep your rhythm, plus it gives you some extra potential energy to use on the insweep.
During the insweep, make sure to keep your elbows up and your hands like paddles. It's hard to describe in words, but here's a great video of the whole stroke, including the kick. I'm not sure if it does turns or not, but it might. www.youtube.com/watch.
When you recover your arms, there should be no dead spot between the end of your insweep and your recovery. That should be the culmination of your stroke. Make sure you shrug your shoulders as you begin to recover your arms. Your hands should be fully extended before your head goes back into the water, where you shrug your shoulders again to streamline.
As your hands come together in front of you, your legs should be cocked and ready to kick. After your head reenters the water, drive your legs back and together. If you do your kick properly, your hips should go forward and up, breaking the surface of the water (if they don't, it's okay, but a powerful kick should drive them up enough to do this). As your kick finishes, stretch your body into a streamline and ride the glide.
6. For your turns, you shouldn't be pulling yourself into the wall, you should be kicking into the wall. Remember, your hands have to hit the wall simultaneously every time. Fortunately, they don't have to be on the same plane. The best way to turn is to have your hands hit one on top of the other (which one depends on which way you want to turn). As soon as your hands hit the wall, your bottom arm should shoot back, jutting your elbow past your body. This will make your body turn naturally, so you don't have to force the turn. As your throw your elbow back, pull your knees into your chest to increase your rotation speed. This will also turn you on your side, which is where you want to be. As your feet hit the wall, the arm that was on top should lift up and out of the water, over your head, and up into the streamline position with your other arm.
Next, push off the wall making sure your chest is facing the floor more than your back is so that you're legal. As you straighten out, repeat the underwater pull and breakout that you do at the start.
7. As for your start, lots of people do the track start, but the best guys use a grip start (Oleg, Kitajima). Either way, make sure you stretch your body out and keep your chin tucked to avoid losing your goggles. You want to enter the water through the smallest hole possible, so keep yourself streamlined. Also, don't forget that you travel much, much faster through the air than in the water, so maximize the short time you have. You want to dive as far as you can, and the higher you go, the faster you will be moving when you hit the water. As you enter, try to change your direction quickly to shallow out your dive. Not only will this prevent you from going too deep, but it will actually give you a speed boost. You should be diving out at least 10 feet before you hit the water. Try to get as close to 15 as you can.
Anyway, sorry that was so long. If you post a video, we can focus just on the things you're doing wrong or can improve instead of just blanketing you with a how-to post. Also, as a reference, I swim a 50 *** in 0:28 and a 100 *** in about 1:05-1:06 seconds at the end of practice and in a fairly slow pool (I also work out 7 days a week, so that factors into it as well).
A video would be great, but I think I can visualize what you're doing. I'll give you a couple of notes based on what I think you're doing.
1. Allen Stark is absolutely correct. Waiting until 70% of your speed is gone is WAY too much. The whole point of the underwater actions is to maintain your underwater speed for as long as possible, since you can move much faster underwater than on the surface. The timing of the underwater pullout should be between 3 and 4.5 seconds TOTAL. If you watch the pros do it, they streamline for about 1-1.5 seconds, immediately do the underwater stroke and dolphin kick, glide for about a second, and then start the breakout stroke. If you don't keep your momentum up, you'll stall out and defeat the purpose of all this stuff.
2. During your underwater streamline, your head should be in a natural position, not tucked to your chest. That's a mistake a lot of people make. If you tilt your chin down, you'll add resistance to your body. So, if your arms don't go behind your ears without tucking your head down, then don't do it. Stretching daily will help you be able to do this.
3. The motion of your arms during the underwater pull can be either a straight back "butterfly pull" (I put it in quotes because it's apparently the new way to do it) or the more traditional hourglass pull. Oleg Lisogor uses the hourglass pull, and he's the world record holder for the short course 50 ***. Here's a good video of his pullout in slow motion: www.youtube.com/watch Watch from about 1:01 to 1:11 for the pull and breakout. Also, make sure your shoulders are shrugged and your hands should either be between your legs or on (or next to) your thighs. Putting them behind your back is counter-productive and will slow you down.
4. During the recovery, keep your palms facing your body until your hands get to about the level of your head. Then you can flip them over and shoot them forward. This is also when you should do your breakout kick, which should be a good whip kick.
5. For the actual stroke, the outsweep should be just an outward scull, not a pull. Some people (including myself) will scull a little up towards the surface before beginning the insweep. I think this gives you a timing device to keep your rhythm, plus it gives you some extra potential energy to use on the insweep.
During the insweep, make sure to keep your elbows up and your hands like paddles. It's hard to describe in words, but here's a great video of the whole stroke, including the kick. I'm not sure if it does turns or not, but it might. www.youtube.com/watch.
When you recover your arms, there should be no dead spot between the end of your insweep and your recovery. That should be the culmination of your stroke. Make sure you shrug your shoulders as you begin to recover your arms. Your hands should be fully extended before your head goes back into the water, where you shrug your shoulders again to streamline.
As your hands come together in front of you, your legs should be cocked and ready to kick. After your head reenters the water, drive your legs back and together. If you do your kick properly, your hips should go forward and up, breaking the surface of the water (if they don't, it's okay, but a powerful kick should drive them up enough to do this). As your kick finishes, stretch your body into a streamline and ride the glide.
6. For your turns, you shouldn't be pulling yourself into the wall, you should be kicking into the wall. Remember, your hands have to hit the wall simultaneously every time. Fortunately, they don't have to be on the same plane. The best way to turn is to have your hands hit one on top of the other (which one depends on which way you want to turn). As soon as your hands hit the wall, your bottom arm should shoot back, jutting your elbow past your body. This will make your body turn naturally, so you don't have to force the turn. As your throw your elbow back, pull your knees into your chest to increase your rotation speed. This will also turn you on your side, which is where you want to be. As your feet hit the wall, the arm that was on top should lift up and out of the water, over your head, and up into the streamline position with your other arm.
Next, push off the wall making sure your chest is facing the floor more than your back is so that you're legal. As you straighten out, repeat the underwater pull and breakout that you do at the start.
7. As for your start, lots of people do the track start, but the best guys use a grip start (Oleg, Kitajima). Either way, make sure you stretch your body out and keep your chin tucked to avoid losing your goggles. You want to enter the water through the smallest hole possible, so keep yourself streamlined. Also, don't forget that you travel much, much faster through the air than in the water, so maximize the short time you have. You want to dive as far as you can, and the higher you go, the faster you will be moving when you hit the water. As you enter, try to change your direction quickly to shallow out your dive. Not only will this prevent you from going too deep, but it will actually give you a speed boost. You should be diving out at least 10 feet before you hit the water. Try to get as close to 15 as you can.
Anyway, sorry that was so long. If you post a video, we can focus just on the things you're doing wrong or can improve instead of just blanketing you with a how-to post. Also, as a reference, I swim a 50 *** in 0:28 and a 100 *** in about 1:05-1:06 seconds at the end of practice and in a fairly slow pool (I also work out 7 days a week, so that factors into it as well).
