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?
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I do not believe kick sets are important. You must understand I was not the fastest guy on the street I was rated in the top ten 100m guys in the world for several years in the top 3 two years.
Paul I don't downplay kick. Kick just will not do it all for you. I do not think kicking only drills make a sprinter faster (my belief). When training from 1952 to 1958 I only did my sprint training as full stroke. I was limited to how much training I could do eg 500yds a day speed work, 200 yard warmup and 300 yard cool down swims.
If you wanted to see a kick you should have seen my kick. It was a very deep six beat. My toes would hit the bottom in a three foot deep pool and my heals broke the surface. Even though I did very little kick stuff they tested my leg strength at the British Empire games in 1958 and found my leg strength was beaten only by a South African wrester. The Australian heavy weight lifter was third in leg strength.
I changed my kick for Marathon swimming, it was still a six beat but not as agressive.
Phelps tried the same thing for his 100 free and look how well that turned out...
There are a LOT of factors that go into making a stroke change from hip driven to shoulder driven...and honestly I'm pretty skeptical of how successful adult/masters swimmers will be who try to make it. Bottom line is it can be a very frustrating experience slowing down and trying re-learn something...espcially for all thos folks who will already be in a deep depression over their times when they have to go reto with the suit changes in 2010! :)
George..I simply don't understand how you can downplay kick so much when you see the number of eltite athletes like Phelps, Lochte, Coughlin, etc. who have clearly demonstrated how powerful a kick can be...does it generate more power than the upper body? I would say yes for these types of swimmers because they actually move faster underwater than on top...but for the vast majority of "mortals" out there that never develop it or have limitations with flexibility or body type that limit its effectiveness you would be correct.
I do not believe kick sets are important. You must understand I was not the fastest guy on the street I was rated in the top ten 100m guys in the world for several years in the top 3 two years.
Paul I don't downplay kick. Kick just will not do it all for you. I do not think kicking only drills make a sprinter faster (my belief). When training from 1952 to 1958 I only did my sprint training as full stroke. I was limited to how much training I could do eg 500yds a day speed work, 200 yard warmup and 300 yard cool down swims.
If you wanted to see a kick you should have seen my kick. It was a very deep six beat. My toes would hit the bottom in a three foot deep pool and my heals broke the surface. Even though I did very little kick stuff they tested my leg strength at the British Empire games in 1958 and found my leg strength was beaten only by a South African wrester. The Australian heavy weight lifter was third in leg strength.
I changed my kick for Marathon swimming, it was still a six beat but not as agressive.
Phelps tried the same thing for his 100 free and look how well that turned out...
There are a LOT of factors that go into making a stroke change from hip driven to shoulder driven...and honestly I'm pretty skeptical of how successful adult/masters swimmers will be who try to make it. Bottom line is it can be a very frustrating experience slowing down and trying re-learn something...espcially for all thos folks who will already be in a deep depression over their times when they have to go reto with the suit changes in 2010! :)
George..I simply don't understand how you can downplay kick so much when you see the number of eltite athletes like Phelps, Lochte, Coughlin, etc. who have clearly demonstrated how powerful a kick can be...does it generate more power than the upper body? I would say yes for these types of swimmers because they actually move faster underwater than on top...but for the vast majority of "mortals" out there that never develop it or have limitations with flexibility or body type that limit its effectiveness you would be correct.
