Hip driven or shoulder driven? The reason I ask is that I'm a shoulder driven sprinter but have a more hip driven stroke in the 200.
I've been trying to find some speed from a hip driven stroke but so far have just not been able to come close (24.3 scy hip driven vs 23.1 shoulder driven). Is one inherently better than the other? If so, why?
Can one utilize both techniques depending on the race? Is it possible to have an effective shoulder driven sprint stroke and an effective hip driven distance stroke?
I think of hip driven as a long extension of the leading hand and a rotation of the hips almost to 90 degrees to help power the stroke. For me, I find this to be a very difficult stroke to maintain a solid SR with (best I can get is about 45-48 strokes/min). That might be due to poor core strength/flexibility that prevents my hips/lower body from rotating quickly.
My shoulder driven stroke is much flatter, with a higher turn over (68-70 strokes/min) and very little body rotation to help keep my kick tighter and prevent my feet from crossing each other.
When I swim hip driven, I average 12 strokes per length in a 25m pool and swim the 25 in about 16-17 seconds. Shoulder driven is 17.5 strokes per length in 14-15 seconds. These are from a push.
I think of hip driven as a long extension of the leading hand and a rotation of the hips almost to 90 degrees to help power the stroke. For me, I find this to be a very difficult stroke to maintain a solid SR with (best I can get is about 45-48 strokes/min). That might be due to poor core strength/flexibility that prevents my hips/lower body from rotating quickly.
My shoulder driven stroke is much flatter, with a higher turn over (68-70 strokes/min) and very little body rotation to help keep my kick tighter and prevent my feet from crossing each other.
When I swim hip driven, I average 12 strokes per length in a 25m pool and swim the 25 in about 16-17 seconds. Shoulder driven is 17.5 strokes per length in 14-15 seconds. These are from a push.
