SwimStud:
I'm a relatively new swimmer so for what it's worth:
To me the stroke looked very good. Hand entry location was very good and extension was good but could be a bit better. There was descent vertical forearm and pull mechanics as well.
I think the problem is this. The recovery to me seemed a bit straight armed and I feel it is letting your kick get a bit out of control. You can see your legs scissor apart more than I would like to see. I think having a traditional recovery can help keep you more aligned head to toe and keep your kick tighter. Try the drills where you pause the elbow at 10:00 with the correct forearm angle of attack for entry.
Overall it is pretty good.
head position looks ok to me but you breathe by moving your head and therefore twisting your body too much.
Also when looking at you swimming away from the camera it looks like you are not holding your body in a straight line but rather tossing your behind from side to side following your arm movements
question: how fast did you try to go here...1 being really slow and 10 as fast as you can?
I think you need to focus on EVF (Early Vertical Forearm). Got a great clip of Grant Hacket here:
www.youtube.com/watch
Look how he very early bends his lower arm, places it perpendicular to the motion direction and then pulls...fast.
You don´t do that. You sink your arm until it is somewhere below your body where you probably get a nice grip of the water and then pulls...slowly. That means that you loose a lot of potential water to move and you move it slowly on top of that => less speed forward for you. But then again, I dont know how fast you intended to go in this vid.
Look at this clip of Eamon Sullivan..especially in the sequence between 3.02-3.13 mins. EVF and VERY fast pull.
www.youtube.com/watch
Simple, just try to replicate what these guys do and you will improve your speed significantly.
;)
my :2cents:
/Per
Thanks Per. I was just easing out a 50 fairly slowly. So yes I was probably sinking the arm in to the catch . I use the momentum of my recovering arm to rotate and throw the body forward.
The stroke's a work in progress so I 'll have a feel for wiggling the behind when I practice next.
Confused about the rotation and head to breathe thing: You think I'm twisting my body too much to breathe or I'm twisting it b/c my head is turning?
Try a ton of "catch-up" drill. Get your arm out in front, nice and streamlined and streeeeetch out as long as possible with each recovery (this should move you onto your side). That might help correct the somewhat short stroke, wide shoulders and wagging body which I see as the main shortcomings here.
Keep long, and hold everything that doesnt need to move still (torso, head).
Do you cross country ski? I find that sport to be a good analogy when I practice technique - you kick, glide long until you start to slow, then kick again. (of course if you dont, this analogy is usless and I apologise).
Other than that, looks pretty good.
M
It seems to me that you should try and glide your arms out more. Basically I think you should extend your arms out further. Hope this helps and otherwise looks good to me. -J
Looks good, keep swimming!
You guys think I'm carrying my head too low?
Sorry it's a bit dark. Will try to geta better clip soon.
www.youtube.com/watch
Kick harder/more. Roll your body on the stroke, that will give you more extension and let you breathe easier. It looks like a warm down, sloppy. Accelerate into the walls, SDK out. Make only one change at a time.
Are you trying to get ready for a 50 or 500? This is not a joke, it makes a difference in the way you swim.
Confused about the rotation and head to breathe thing: You think I'm twisting my body too much to breathe or I'm twisting it b/c my head is turning?
I think you turn your head too much which leads to that your whole body follows.
One good excercise to learn to breathe with your mouth half full of water is to do just that. Stand still in the water, bend forward, put your head in a swimlike position and fill your mouth to half with water. Breathe! After a while start doing small waves and learn how to tackle that. After this excercise it is typically a lot easier to breatehe with a lot of water flowing past your lips just above the surface (also remember your head is creating a "bow wave" opening up space below the water surface for you to breathe in...perfect huh?! :)
Updated my previous post with the vid of Eamon Sullivan...forgot that last time..sorry.
:2cents:
/Per
It looked to me that you were breathing far too much. It also looked to me like you were not putting full effort for a good time. It looked like the first 50 of a 200.
