Would like comments on Fly & ***

Two things real quick: first, be careful on your start. It looks like you did a couple of dolphin kicks there before your pull. If you didn't, it must have been the water and the camera angle, but it sure looked like it. You're only allowed one dolphin kick, and the downward part has to be done after you start your pull. Also, your start was not so good. You were sort of piked, so your feet and head entered the water at the same time. You want to enter the water through one hole, and you want that hole as small as possible. You also don't want to be sitting back when you get set. I noticed when I looked at your fly video that you are almost sitting down when you get set. All that does is waste time and energy getting your center of gravity over the front of the block. You want to be as close to falling off as you can without actually doing it. I used to do the same thing, and my coach had me look directly behind me with my chin tucked to my chest, and it helped a lot. Second, your recovery is way too slow. You need to accelerate your arms through the recovery. You accelerate through the insweep, but stop when your hands come together. That's a pretty classic mistake, but you can fix that pretty easily. On a related note, your insweep comes back way too far. Your hands are almost at the bottom of your chest, and you want them around your head. I try not to let them come any farther than my chin. Good job on the ***. That's a great time. Thanks everyone for the comments so far, please keep them coming. I believe I only took one dolphin kick, but as I'm still learning it's possible I took 2 (I was prepared for the possible dq…the results haven't been posted so it may still happen, though they didn't say anything to me at the meet). So the dolphin kick has to occur after/during the underwater pull, correct? I think I understand/comprehend the other critiques and should be able to work on those in practice. Since I don't have access to a coach right now I greatly appreciate the comments. Also, while I'm aware of my "piking" issue I have yet to figure out how to correct it. If anyone has any specific suggestions/drills I'd appreciate it. It's hard to find starting blocks where I live during the winter but if I knew of some drills or something I can get to a pool that's about 40 minutes away and do some practicing. Thanks again to everyone. :banana:

Two things real quick: first, be careful on your start. It looks like you did a couple of dolphin kicks there before your pull. If you didn't, it must have been the water and the camera angle, but it sure looked like it. You're only allowed one dolphin kick, and the downward part has to be done after you start your pull. Also, your start was not so good. You were sort of piked, so your feet and head entered the water at the same time. You want to enter the water through one hole, and you want that hole as small as possible. You also don't want to be sitting back when you get set. I noticed when I looked at your fly video that you are almost sitting down when you get set. All that does is waste time and energy getting your center of gravity over the front of the block. You want to be as close to falling off as you can without actually doing it. I used to do the same thing, and my coach had me look directly behind me with my chin tucked to my chest, and it helped a lot. Second, your recovery is way too slow. You need to accelerate your arms through the recovery. You accelerate through the insweep, but stop when your hands come together. That's a pretty classic mistake, but you can fix that pretty easily. On a related note, your insweep comes back way too far. Your hands are almost at the bottom of your chest, and you want them around your head. I try not to let them come any farther than my chin. Good job on the ***. That's a great time. Thanks everyone for the comments so far, please keep them coming. I believe I only took one dolphin kick, but as I'm still learning it's possible I took 2 (I was prepared for the possible dq…the results haven't been posted so it may still happen, though they didn't say anything to me at the meet). So the dolphin kick has to occur after/during the underwater pull, correct? I think I understand/comprehend the other critiques and should be able to work on those in practice. Since I don't have access to a coach right now I greatly appreciate the comments. Also, while I'm aware of my "piking" issue I have yet to figure out how to correct it. If anyone has any specific suggestions/drills I'd appreciate it. It's hard to find starting blocks where I live during the winter but if I knew of some drills or something I can get to a pool that's about 40 minutes away and do some practicing. Thanks again to everyone. :banana: