With the proliferation of video cameras and the ease of uploading stuff to YouTube and from there to the U.S.M.S. forums, it occurred to me that it might make for a nice section of these forums to have a one-stop place were swimmers could post videos of everthing from starts and turns to the various strokes, and that others (like Ande, Chris, Leslie, Patrick, etc.) could lend their considerable expertise and advice.
I know that people have been posting their stroke videos hither and yon throughout these forums, but it might be nice if there were a single dedicated spot where you could do this and get feedback.
As an example of this, I am going to post a video taken at Colony Zones Sprint Classic this past fall. The two swimmers in here are Dave Varner, who leads the entire race, and me, who comes in second. The video was shot by a friend of Dave's, and there are times when I am so far behind him that I no longer appear in the view finder. Somehow, I managed to close at the end. I think he beat me by only a half second.
Anyhow, I personally would love any suggestions on my stroke. I suspect Dave would appreciate this too, but I am not positive. I am the one in the lighter blue FS I with the very langorous (almost lazy) looking stroke. Despite appearances, this was my fastest 200 in several years at 1:57.44. It felt at the time like I was trying hard, but it does not look like it.
My turns look particularly inept. Any suggestions?
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I have no comment on your stroke...
this was hard to see because like you said you get cut off a bit, but to me it looked like in the last 125 or so that you would slowly catch up between the flags, but then lose 3ft in the turn. not sure if it was the speed of your turn, if you are getting stuck on the wall, or if the other swimmers had better underwater work than you. but you are only 1-2 strokes behind as Dave is turning, but then you are back at his feet after the turn. again the angle of the video and the fact that the camera is following Dave made it hard to see, so maybe I am wrong.
I have no comment on your stroke...
this was hard to see because like you said you get cut off a bit, but to me it looked like in the last 125 or so that you would slowly catch up between the flags, but then lose 3ft in the turn. not sure if it was the speed of your turn, if you are getting stuck on the wall, or if the other swimmers had better underwater work than you. but you are only 1-2 strokes behind as Dave is turning, but then you are back at his feet after the turn. again the angle of the video and the fact that the camera is following Dave made it hard to see, so maybe I am wrong.