Freestyle technique

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. This has about zero correlation with kicking speed ... I know that I have a lot less leg strength than many swimmers on our team, yet I can kick faster than many of them can swim.

You are right no correlation as to leg strength and kicking speed. I guess that is why I used to swim 50meters scy dolpin kick underwater and beat full stroke free swimmers in a 50. That was how I trained for my butterfly.

I just wanted to let them have a chance to beat me. One of the kids was Dan Sherry who was quite a young guy at the time. He switched to fly a little later on then he set the world record for the 110 yds butterfly. Dan Sherry swam at my Club, The Hamilton Aquatic Club www.swimontario.com/news_detail.php His world record was set August 23rd 1965. He trained with me in the early 60's This was the write up Dan Sherry of Hamilton, Ont. set two records at the British swimming championships in Blackpool, England. His 58.1 for the 110-yard butterfly lowered the world record by .9 seconds, and his 55.5 for the 110-yard freestyle set a new Canadian mark.

What make us swim better is the interaction of two or more agents or forces so that their combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effects. It is not what the legs, the hips, the shoulder, the arms, or the hands do by them selves. It is when they are assembled and work together. A big kick will not do it. A perfect arm stroke will not do it. Everything you do must be combined (a synergy).

So...kick-only practicing is not important (I know it's not what you think) I guess it depends for who. Some sprinters really have a stroke built upon kicking. I remember a 50m specialist (couldn't swim a 100, I think he was worth 59) who's main preparation for a 50m (believe it or not) was some gym work (very very heavy leg press sets, lat pulldown etc), sculling and endless kick sets in the pool. He came very close to go under 23sec SCM (for a Varsity level swimmer), working as a swim instructor and basically training few weeks into provincials (qualifier for nationals) and nationals. I also remember this master swimmer with a belly. Not a former elite swimmer, just the ordinary working man who swam for fun. His thing was kick sets. He could do 1:25 100m routinely. The kind of guy that if you'd write 30x100kick off 2min on the board, he'd be grateful. His 100m Free SCM was under the minute (no previous background in swimming), mostly based on huge kick and incredibly slow stroke rate (long distance per stroke supported by the double-V8 kicking engine).

What make us swim better is the interaction of two or more agents or forces so that their combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effects. It is not what the legs, the hips, the shoulder, the arms, or the hands do by them selves. It is when they are assembled and work together. A big kick will not do it. A perfect arm stroke will not do it. Everything you do must be combined (a synergy). I couldn't agree more. In French we refer to this as Addition. The full stroke should be greater than the sum of all parts, hence the need for a bunch of integration drills. But I guess that should be the subject of a new discussion ;-) Anyway, cheers for bringing this key aspect, it is not often brought on the table in discussion forums I find.

Instead of comparing different Olympic-level swimmers, how about comparing them to a run-of-the-mill palooka that you see thrashing :drown: during lap swims? In the majority of the cases I see, the legs/hips and upper body seem to act independently of each other. I wonder if "hip-driven" just means coordinating the entire body during the swim.

The synergy between the kick and the stroke is important. You need to be strong in both. When my kick is strong I can feel that it allows my arms to do more. My body position gets more advantageous with a strong kick, and I start to feel a little bit like I'm crawling over the water. So I use kick sets to try to get my kick stronger so I can take advantage of it with my stroke. The real power comes from the stroke, but the kick is a set-up that allows you to get more out of the stroke. Every now and then my posterior tibial tendonitis (or ankle tendonitis) kicks in and I have to back off on the kick a bit. The difference in my overall speed is quite obvious, and makes it clear how important the synergy is.

Does the following quote define “hip-driven” or is it something else? “Lean into the water with your upper trunk (to balance) so your suit is just breaking the surface; rotate your hips around your spinal axis (to propel), getting them completely out of the way as each hand passes through; and think of your arms more as extenders for increasing the length of your body line--which automatically makes you faster--than as pulling tools.” Terry Laughlin If I were to think about this and everything else while swimming I would sink. The cat idea say's it all - the hips (center of gravity) lead and everything elso falls suit Another question I have, when it comes to the freestyle is the recovery. How high out of the water should people recovery their arms? +1 for this question, I see big differences between videos of top swimmers, one guy looks like a windmill (Kilm I think)

Instead of comparing different Olympic-level swimmers, how about comparing them to a run-of-the-mill palooka that you see thrashing :drown: during lap swims? In the majority of the cases I see, the legs/hips and upper body seem to act independently of each other. I wonder if "hip-driven" just means coordinating the entire body during the swim. I like looking at bad swimmers to figure out how to make good swimmers better. The deficits seem to be universal; almost all bad swimmers have the same technique! I think you're right about coordination. It has to do with rigidity. Being hip-focused, mentally, means being stiff enough to rotate as a unit.