Hello,
I recently took up swimming (October) @ age 43 and have never done much else than splash around in a pool.
I trained myself using Total Immersion (I have been looking at the forums here and I suspsect I just threw a hand grenade into this thread :) )
As with other skills I have learned, I feel one has to develop their own form and style - so I am not following TI by the book....
Anyway, this is the first time I have seen myself swimming and I see some errors:
a. rolling too far to breath or simply turning my head to breathe
b. head position
c. legs uselessly kicking around..
video of me swimming:
link.
any pointers on how to
a. work my kick into my stroke better.
b. work on body roll.
Anyway, I have to say I LOVE swimming. to me its like mediation, excercise, pilates, dance, and flying all in one.
I wish i had discovered it sooner, but better late then never.
Anyway, I welcome your feedback.
IMHO, TI is not only a great place to start, but offers you a lifetime of technique tips. Fundamentally, as well, most of the techniques you see being focal points in TI are going to be focal points under other technique programs.
Thanks for the video. It would be wonderful if you had some underwater shots (but I know that's a whole different level of technology investment). I'll try to look at this again, but it appeared to me that there are some things you can work on under the water:
Start your pull with your hand closer to the surface: you do what a lot of us do (myself included) in that while your pulling arm is extended, it drifts downward before you start your pull. Try when it is extended to hold it up nearer to the surface as you'll be able to access a stronger part of your back when pulling and ...
Keep the elbow high underwater through the pull: a byproduct of letting the hand drift down is that you (& most of us) don't then pull with as high an elbow. Like Dan said, if you watch Olympian freestylers swim (esp. the distance guys like Larsen Jensen), you'll see their elbows just barely under the surface ...
Pull wider: this is where I'd like to see underwater video, but it appears to me that your pull is under your body and, possibly, crossing the center line of your body. Again, the best freestylers will have a pull that is just outside your body.
Check out these beautiful:
17 seconds of Ian Thorpe: au.truveo.com/.../1702816158
15 seconds of Larsen Jensen: www.youtube.com/watch
IMHO, TI is not only a great place to start, but offers you a lifetime of technique tips. Fundamentally, as well, most of the techniques you see being focal points in TI are going to be focal points under other technique programs.
Thanks for the video. It would be wonderful if you had some underwater shots (but I know that's a whole different level of technology investment). I'll try to look at this again, but it appeared to me that there are some things you can work on under the water:
Start your pull with your hand closer to the surface: you do what a lot of us do (myself included) in that while your pulling arm is extended, it drifts downward before you start your pull. Try when it is extended to hold it up nearer to the surface as you'll be able to access a stronger part of your back when pulling and ...
Keep the elbow high underwater through the pull: a byproduct of letting the hand drift down is that you (& most of us) don't then pull with as high an elbow. Like Dan said, if you watch Olympian freestylers swim (esp. the distance guys like Larsen Jensen), you'll see their elbows just barely under the surface ...
Pull wider: this is where I'd like to see underwater video, but it appears to me that your pull is under your body and, possibly, crossing the center line of your body. Again, the best freestylers will have a pull that is just outside your body.
Check out these beautiful:
17 seconds of Ian Thorpe: au.truveo.com/.../1702816158
15 seconds of Larsen Jensen: www.youtube.com/watch
