You can be more efficient and save energy in your swim workouts or races! Here are my top 3 tips for High Quality Freestyle Rotation!
Rotation is IMPORTANT! Rotating side to side while swimming freestyle reduces the amount of drag. Doesn’t it waste energy getting side to side? Yes and no. Rotation does use energy (an extremely small amount) however we are using gravity mostly to get one side to the other. Also, by rotating it sets your body up in a very powerful position to anchor. Thus faster swimming!
How far should I rotate? The most optimal place to rotate is onto your “Rails” (riding the rails) Your rails are the part of your body that begins to curve into and make your sides (about 45degrees). Rotating more/less you just aren’t as efficient.
Catch the Rhythm… What do you think about when you are trying to speed up or slow down? Think about changing your rotational rhythm. Wanna go faster? Increase your rotational rhythm. This way you are using your core and not just flailing your arms and legs.
Bonus Tip- Make sure your hips and shoulders stay connected. This means if your shoulders are rotating to your rails (the easy part) your hips need to move at exactly the same time to your rails (the harder part). For me it works best focusing on my hips rotating to my rails and my shoulders usually get there connected on their own.
I have to rotate to get my hips out of the way so that I can maintain a good anchor and strong pull all the way through.
There are many ways to skin any given cat; try some paddles and see what you need to do to get a strong pull from entry to exit, paying special attention to having power as you pass the hips, in addition to the rest of the pull. That got me rotating without frying too many gray cells.
Sorry, should have clarified that. What I meant to say is that it is easier to rotate onto my left hand side (and, yes, you are right that would be in a rightwards or clockwise direction). All so confusing!:)
I do similar drills to the one you are talking about. It is just that, at speed, my hips can't seem to keep up with my shoulders and my legs start crossing over. I guess I just need more practice. I didn't have that much stroke instruction as a kid and didn't swim for very long either. Now, as a master, I have a lot of work to do. But that keeps it interesting!
As a matter of fact, it's easier to rotate when swimming fast than slow; kinda like when snow skiiing, it's easier to parallel ski if you have some speed behind it; same principal for me anyway. In swimming, my hips rotate FIRST, then the upper body follows; instead of the other way around. Rotation does not begin at the shoulder; it begins at the hips.
Donna
Maybe it is timing for a lot of folks. When my left arm is extended out in front of my body just before anchoring, that's when my hips start the rotation to the right and as I start that pull down, my hips are rotating toward the right. I am more on my side than swimming flat at all times. And the same is true for my right arm. The side kicking drill helped me a lot because it is an exaggerated drill. Now it is entirely normal and routine. But I found this hard to do swimming snail-pace, I had to have a little more speed to get the hang of it.
Donna
Yes, I think it has certainly got to do with rhythm and timing as far as I am concerned. I seem to be able to do it when I exaggerate it at slower speeds but as soon as I pick up the pace, the hips stop rotating and I lose that sensation of 'thick water' around my legs. My legs also start to crossover and I think that is because my shoulders are still rotating slightly and the legs are trying to go with the shoulders but the hips are not. Bottom line is I am not swimming from the core. Too late to wish I had better stroke instruction as a kid. Only thing I can do is work on it now. Have to admit I am having fun, though. It seems to be a less tiring way of swimming. I think if I can improve in this area there is great potential for swimming a much faster 200 free.
Quick question regarding what was mentioned here, I am going to spend about half an hour before practice today working on the drills mentioned here. (Thanks for those, by the way!)
I'm wondering, I've always had a problem with breathing because my right arm is considerably stronger than my left and as a result I am forced to pull harder with my right arm to counteract the weakness on the other side. This causes me to pull oddly, I have heard that I keep my arm straight.
How can I fix that?
During the pull phase your arm is straight?
That is what my Summer Coach told me at least, apparently I keep my right arm straight during my pull phase and that in turn rotates my shoulder in ways it shouldn't be rotated. :S
Shoot, I wish we could all get together in a group to discuss this and act it out; it's kinda hard sometimes to try to explain stroke technique!
All I know is I pull straight down "up to a point" before I rotate. My hips rotate first and cause my body to turn, but not all of my body, just most of it. I kinda think of myself as being a chicken on a cooking spicket; it is turning but some of me is not. It's like my body is on a rod and rotates from side to side; this also gives me great streamlining. I'd rather swim like a submarine than a yacht!
I think everyone needs to watch more videos of proper technique; a picture is worth a thousand words.
Donna
That is what my Summer Coach told me at least, apparently I keep my right arm straight during my pull phase and that in turn rotates my shoulder in ways it shouldn't be rotated. :S
Alright...well, besides working drills with EVF Paddles (Techpaddles), you can do a "quick catch" drill where you work the high catch and early vertical forearm. You can also do in-water recovery to work on catch placement and setup.
Shoot, I wish we could all get together in a group to discuss this and act it out; it's kinda hard sometimes to try to explain stroke technique!
All I know is I pull straight down "up to a point" before I rotate. My hips rotate first and cause my body to turn, but not all of my body, just most of it. I kinda think of myself as being a chicken on a cooking spicket; it is turning but some of me is not. It's like my body is on a rod and rotates from side to side; this also gives me great streamlining. I'd rather swim like a submarine than a yacht!
I think everyone needs to watch more videos of proper technique; a picture is worth a thousand words.
Donna
Donna, I agree with regard to the discussion group! I go to the coaching conferences around here and it is extremely interesting to see the evolution of the strokes every year!
Quick question regarding what was mentioned here, I am going to spend about half an hour before practice today working on the drills mentioned here. (Thanks for those, by the way!)
I'm wondering, I've always had a problem with breathing because my right arm is considerably stronger than my left and as a result I am forced to pull harder with my right arm to counteract the weakness on the other side. This causes me to pull oddly, I have heard that I keep my arm straight.
How can I fix that?
