Video analysis - 50 Free

Excellent comments, thank you all. I do appreciate it. A few random thoughts: Breathing WTF happened there? I had done a 2-breather at a meet earlier than this one, and while it was a slower swim, I knew it was the way to go. Maybe I was hyperventilating before the race, or just spaced it out. I think I count 2 on the way out and 3, maybe 4 back, but that's far too many under any circumstances. It is particularly bad for me to breathe too often because I tend to sweep my left arm under my torso and dump my pull when I breathe to my favored right side. I know the top folks are taught to clear their minds and think of nothing at all, but I usually have 1 or 2 things I try and concentrate on in each race. I am swimming the 50 next weekend at Federal Way for the PNA champs (poaching their meet because it's a world-class pool and some additional race practice), and my sole focus will be to swim a one out, one back breathing plan. Kick I am hands down the worst kicker on my team. Last year I considered my kick to be useless and wholly ineffective. I've been working pretty hard on it, doing actual kick sets and not defaulting to breaststroke kick like I have in the past when I got tired. Right now I'd rate my kick as pathetic and marginally effective. PWolf is spot-on with the comment about stopping during a breath; my coach made the same comment last year after my 50 at LCM Nats. I need to work on sneaking the breath, pulling straight through with the left arm, and kicking kicking and kicking. Stroke Speaking of the left arm . . . one of my coaches described it recently as looking I as if was doing a one armed fly. He pointed out that I was presenting a huge drag surface in my left shoulder by not rotating on that side. It's a pretty easy fix at practice speeds -- simply breathing to the left every other stroke gets my elbow nice and high and sets my catch out where it needs to be -- but it's been hard to implement that at race pace. I had fooled around with some very straight armed straight arm free after watching some clips of Stephen Nystrand, but I ended up with sort of the hybrid you see in the clip. If I can remember to get the EVF working, I think it can work for me, as it feels like what my body naturally wants to do. Start I once described my start as feeling like I was unfolding one of those old carpenter's rules, where each segment is 6" long or so and it unfolds to a few feet. But I began to wonder, because often I would be pretty near the front of the pack when we started swimming. Through the magic of a video editing program, I have been able to watch this clip at 1/4 speed, and hoffam is correct -- I am the last to leave the blocks. I will keep practicing starts and doing races and try and get my reaction time down. My stance on the blocks looks a litle tight here, I think I have modified it somewhat, but will think about it next time I go off the blocks. I also spent some time recently trying to dive through the hole with no splash. I need to keep working on that. The leg slap thing has got to slow me down. I think a hip higher position will help, and also help get me swimming downhill on the breakout. My power off the block and streamline must be decent, though, because I didn't suffer too much in relation to my fellow competitors for being the last off. Turn Seems like one of those things I'll be working on forever in trying to drop time. Faster, tighter, more streamlined, more powerful kicks off the wall, etc. etc. etc. And of course no breathing. Head position Yep, I'm a product of the 70s, with a head up and look where you're going mentality. I seem to struggle a little with bulkhead pools in particular; there's something a little strange to me about being able to see under the bulkhead as I approach it, and I know I tend to lift my head as I approach the turn. This, like every other "little" thing in a 50, is a killer. I never trained in a bulkhead pool as a kid, and I currently train in an SCM pool exclusively, so my SCY stroke count seems weird to begin with, and my bulkhead-o-phobia doesn't help. Jim, that's my excuse for blowing the finish, and I'm sticking to it. I think a lot more racing at different venues will help here, which is another reason I am going to Federal Way next weekend. Suit Nope, Jim, that was an FS Pro, a suit which I never came to love. I still have it, and will be happy to let you try it along with the B70. Austin was the first place I saw a B70, by the way. The Oregon contingent sat right behind Roque and Debbie, and Enie Jones from Colorado showed me her new B70 wetsuit before one of her races. I got my Nero at LCM Nats, and love it. Goal OK, I'll go out on a limb here and announce that my goal is to get under 23 by the time I am in the 50 - 55 age group. I am 48 now, with a December birthday, so I have a couple of years left. Truthfully, I don't think I'm a sprinter -- I think I'm more naturally a 200/500 guy -- but I have this incredible aversion to pain (not to mention hard work). But I think with some additional stroke tinkering and work on my kick, I have a shot at a sub-23 50. Thanks again.

Excellent comments, thank you all. I do appreciate it. A few random thoughts: Breathing WTF happened there? I had done a 2-breather at a meet earlier than this one, and while it was a slower swim, I knew it was the way to go. Maybe I was hyperventilating before the race, or just spaced it out. I think I count 2 on the way out and 3, maybe 4 back, but that's far too many under any circumstances. It is particularly bad for me to breathe too often because I tend to sweep my left arm under my torso and dump my pull when I breathe to my favored right side. I know the top folks are taught to clear their minds and think of nothing at all, but I usually have 1 or 2 things I try and concentrate on in each race. I am swimming the 50 next weekend at Federal Way for the PNA champs (poaching their meet because it's a world-class pool and some additional race practice), and my sole focus will be to swim a one out, one back breathing plan. Kick I am hands down the worst kicker on my team. Last year I considered my kick to be useless and wholly ineffective. I've been working pretty hard on it, doing actual kick sets and not defaulting to breaststroke kick like I have in the past when I got tired. Right now I'd rate my kick as pathetic and marginally effective. PWolf is spot-on with the comment about stopping during a breath; my coach made the same comment last year after my 50 at LCM Nats. I need to work on sneaking the breath, pulling straight through with the left arm, and kicking kicking and kicking. Stroke Speaking of the left arm . . . one of my coaches described it recently as looking I as if was doing a one armed fly. He pointed out that I was presenting a huge drag surface in my left shoulder by not rotating on that side. It's a pretty easy fix at practice speeds -- simply breathing to the left every other stroke gets my elbow nice and high and sets my catch out where it needs to be -- but it's been hard to implement that at race pace. I had fooled around with some very straight armed straight arm free after watching some clips of Stephen Nystrand, but I ended up with sort of the hybrid you see in the clip. If I can remember to get the EVF working, I think it can work for me, as it feels like what my body naturally wants to do. Start I once described my start as feeling like I was unfolding one of those old carpenter's rules, where each segment is 6" long or so and it unfolds to a few feet. But I began to wonder, because often I would be pretty near the front of the pack when we started swimming. Through the magic of a video editing program, I have been able to watch this clip at 1/4 speed, and hoffam is correct -- I am the last to leave the blocks. I will keep practicing starts and doing races and try and get my reaction time down. My stance on the blocks looks a litle tight here, I think I have modified it somewhat, but will think about it next time I go off the blocks. I also spent some time recently trying to dive through the hole with no splash. I need to keep working on that. The leg slap thing has got to slow me down. I think a hip higher position will help, and also help get me swimming downhill on the breakout. My power off the block and streamline must be decent, though, because I didn't suffer too much in relation to my fellow competitors for being the last off. Turn Seems like one of those things I'll be working on forever in trying to drop time. Faster, tighter, more streamlined, more powerful kicks off the wall, etc. etc. etc. And of course no breathing. Head position Yep, I'm a product of the 70s, with a head up and look where you're going mentality. I seem to struggle a little with bulkhead pools in particular; there's something a little strange to me about being able to see under the bulkhead as I approach it, and I know I tend to lift my head as I approach the turn. This, like every other "little" thing in a 50, is a killer. I never trained in a bulkhead pool as a kid, and I currently train in an SCM pool exclusively, so my SCY stroke count seems weird to begin with, and my bulkhead-o-phobia doesn't help. Jim, that's my excuse for blowing the finish, and I'm sticking to it. I think a lot more racing at different venues will help here, which is another reason I am going to Federal Way next weekend. Suit Nope, Jim, that was an FS Pro, a suit which I never came to love. I still have it, and will be happy to let you try it along with the B70. Austin was the first place I saw a B70, by the way. The Oregon contingent sat right behind Roque and Debbie, and Enie Jones from Colorado showed me her new B70 wetsuit before one of her races. I got my Nero at LCM Nats, and love it. Goal OK, I'll go out on a limb here and announce that my goal is to get under 23 by the time I am in the 50 - 55 age group. I am 48 now, with a December birthday, so I have a couple of years left. Truthfully, I don't think I'm a sprinter -- I think I'm more naturally a 200/500 guy -- but I have this incredible aversion to pain (not to mention hard work). But I think with some additional stroke tinkering and work on my kick, I have a shot at a sub-23 50. Thanks again.