Post-breakout dolphin kick

I just have to laugh about this. Fortress ridicules my backstroke breakout, she even made a video about it. Jim Miller constantly tries to get me to settle down and not "pop up" on the breakout. Certainly the conventional wisdom is that such breakouts represent wasted energy at best (and are slower, at worst). Then again, as an age grouper I was regularly ridiculed for doing dolphin kicks off the walls in freestyle events...and that is pretty standard practice nowadays. I don't believe I do a dolphin kick on backstroke even though it appears that way; I think it is just a very asymmetric stroke, with a lot of rotation (my shoulders come way out of the water). The asymmetry is not conscious on my part; I remember being shocked the first time I saw myself on video (well into my swimming career, I think I was 20 or 21 at the time). Local age-group and masters coach Dudley Duncan -- he coaches SwimQuest, has known me since I was a HS swimmer -- says he thinks my unorthodox backstroke and freestyle engage my core more. I have no idea if he is correct, but I respect him as a coach a lot. I definitely do a dolphin kick on freestyle. I have always swum that way. It is a disadvantage in sprints since I don't do a 6-beat kick (although I split a 44-mid on a 400 free relay in college, which isn't bad for someone who never trained to sprint free). As an young age-grouper when I swam at Santa Clara, Bill Thompson once spent almost an entire year trying in vain to get rid of the undulation in my freestyle. By the way, Matt Kredich was the coach at U of Richmond (where I work) for a few years. We also swam in college at the same time. I think he is an excellent coach, despite the clear evidence of his poor judgment in choosing to attend Duke. What?! lol I think The Little Devil made that video. Actually, I've always thought your breakout was extremely powerful and explosive, albeit unconventional and counter-intuitive. But some things that are unconventional are nonetheless successful, no? I've never thought there was one "correct" way to swim. This approach seems in total contrast to the advice Eddie Reese recently gave Ande about pressing your head and shoulders back on the breakout. I even recall Lefty remarking that this was one of the single best pieces of advice he'd read on the forum recently ... For myself, I feel (and have been told) that I start decelerating right before the breakout and thus am not going at top speed when I start stroking. Frankly, I'm inclined to try this approach (despite the unconventional popping up) to attempt to counteract this problem.

I just have to laugh about this. Fortress ridicules my backstroke breakout, she even made a video about it. Jim Miller constantly tries to get me to settle down and not "pop up" on the breakout. Certainly the conventional wisdom is that such breakouts represent wasted energy at best (and are slower, at worst). Then again, as an age grouper I was regularly ridiculed for doing dolphin kicks off the walls in freestyle events...and that is pretty standard practice nowadays. I don't believe I do a dolphin kick on backstroke even though it appears that way; I think it is just a very asymmetric stroke, with a lot of rotation (my shoulders come way out of the water). The asymmetry is not conscious on my part; I remember being shocked the first time I saw myself on video (well into my swimming career, I think I was 20 or 21 at the time). Local age-group and masters coach Dudley Duncan -- he coaches SwimQuest, has known me since I was a HS swimmer -- says he thinks my unorthodox backstroke and freestyle engage my core more. I have no idea if he is correct, but I respect him as a coach a lot. I definitely do a dolphin kick on freestyle. I have always swum that way. It is a disadvantage in sprints since I don't do a 6-beat kick (although I split a 44-mid on a 400 free relay in college, which isn't bad for someone who never trained to sprint free). As an young age-grouper when I swam at Santa Clara, Bill Thompson once spent almost an entire year trying in vain to get rid of the undulation in my freestyle. By the way, Matt Kredich was the coach at U of Richmond (where I work) for a few years. We also swam in college at the same time. I think he is an excellent coach, despite the clear evidence of his poor judgment in choosing to attend Duke. What?! lol I think The Little Devil made that video. Actually, I've always thought your breakout was extremely powerful and explosive, albeit unconventional and counter-intuitive. But some things that are unconventional are nonetheless successful, no? I've never thought there was one "correct" way to swim. This approach seems in total contrast to the advice Eddie Reese recently gave Ande about pressing your head and shoulders back on the breakout. I even recall Lefty remarking that this was one of the single best pieces of advice he'd read on the forum recently ... For myself, I feel (and have been told) that I start decelerating right before the breakout and thus am not going at top speed when I start stroking. Frankly, I'm inclined to try this approach (despite the unconventional popping up) to attempt to counteract this problem.