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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The "Swimming-Related Discussions" forum is already a place to post videos: of technique, of meets, of others' skills. Videos are a HUGE part of this forum.
Why do you think it's broke and needs fixing?
And what would be left?
:)
Vive, I am not sure the current situation is broke or not, that's why I posted the poll. The main advantage I can see having a dedicated forum just for stroke analysis of USMS members is that you could find the stuff easily rather than having it scattered throughout all the various threads. I also think we can learn not just from having our own strokes critiqued but also from seeing how other people could improve. Anyhow, consolidating it all into one area would be mainly for convenience.
Moreover, Jim M.'s suggestion that only USMS registered swimmers could post videos for critiquing also raises a possible secondary benefit, too--i.e., getting more people to actually register for USMS and contribute to the organization through membership fees. At the one convention I attended, one of the subthemes was how to offer more value to the members. Perhaps this could be, in at least a minor way, a new added value?
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Dave, in terms of your stroke in the video compared to mine, I still, for the life of me, can't see how I almost caught up. It does appear I have a bit more energy left, but that might be because I even split the 200.
Your splits were:
1 Varner, David 48 FXCM-PV 2:01.00 1:56.94
26.42 29.03 30.49 31.00
My splits were:
1 Thornton, James 56 TPIT-AM 2:02.40 1:57.44
27.75 29.72 30.12 29.85
You went out the first 100 in 55.45 and came back in a 1:01.49 for about a 6 second differential between 100s.
I went out in 57.47 and came back in a 59.97 for a 2.5 second differential.
You had me by 2 seconds on the first half of the race, and I made up a second and a half on the second half of the race.
It would be interesting to see if you took it out a wee bit slower, and I took it out a wee bit faster, if we both could have improved our times. Pacing is really the key to the 200, in my opinion.
You also seemed to kill me on the turns. I need to figure out how to do better turns. If I could just shave a tenth of a second of each turn, I would have gotten you by .2!
The "Swimming-Related Discussions" forum is already a place to post videos: of technique, of meets, of others' skills. Videos are a HUGE part of this forum.
Why do you think it's broke and needs fixing?
And what would be left?
:)
Vive, I am not sure the current situation is broke or not, that's why I posted the poll. The main advantage I can see having a dedicated forum just for stroke analysis of USMS members is that you could find the stuff easily rather than having it scattered throughout all the various threads. I also think we can learn not just from having our own strokes critiqued but also from seeing how other people could improve. Anyhow, consolidating it all into one area would be mainly for convenience.
Moreover, Jim M.'s suggestion that only USMS registered swimmers could post videos for critiquing also raises a possible secondary benefit, too--i.e., getting more people to actually register for USMS and contribute to the organization through membership fees. At the one convention I attended, one of the subthemes was how to offer more value to the members. Perhaps this could be, in at least a minor way, a new added value?
---------------------------
Dave, in terms of your stroke in the video compared to mine, I still, for the life of me, can't see how I almost caught up. It does appear I have a bit more energy left, but that might be because I even split the 200.
Your splits were:
1 Varner, David 48 FXCM-PV 2:01.00 1:56.94
26.42 29.03 30.49 31.00
My splits were:
1 Thornton, James 56 TPIT-AM 2:02.40 1:57.44
27.75 29.72 30.12 29.85
You went out the first 100 in 55.45 and came back in a 1:01.49 for about a 6 second differential between 100s.
I went out in 57.47 and came back in a 59.97 for a 2.5 second differential.
You had me by 2 seconds on the first half of the race, and I made up a second and a half on the second half of the race.
It would be interesting to see if you took it out a wee bit slower, and I took it out a wee bit faster, if we both could have improved our times. Pacing is really the key to the 200, in my opinion.
You also seemed to kill me on the turns. I need to figure out how to do better turns. If I could just shave a tenth of a second of each turn, I would have gotten you by .2!
