Fly and free videos

I love the way you put random music soundtracks to these videos. Watching "Fly Left Arm" to the tunes of Evanescence, I was reminded of Man's epic struggle to subjugate the natural world, to tear forth his destiny from the very earth and oceans themselves. So too, the utter powerlessness of a single human being when thrust against the ageless physical element that is Water. Thanks for posting. It was an excellent diversion from the endless commercials I am forced to endure as I watch NBC's sh**ty Olympics coverage. Your full stroke fly actually looked pretty good, if tense. Other people will post useful critiques, but I think it's probably too early for any deep thinking. IMHO you mostly need to relax, become more stretchy and regain some feel for the water.

I love the way you put random music soundtracks to these videos. Watching "Fly Left Arm" to the tunes of Evanescence, I was reminded of Man's epic struggle to subjugate the natural world, to tear forth his destiny from the very earth and oceans themselves. So too, the utter powerlessness of a single human being when thrust against the ageless physical element that is Water. lol -- yea, YouTube does that -- it lets you replace the audio. They were randomly selected. My daughter was singing along with her ipod while working the camera, and she would have killed me if I put that on YouTube. And during my fly, she was laughing and saying, "he sounds like a boat!" so I didn't want that on there. :-)

Thanks for the feedback. My biggest problem is flexibility. Believe it or not, I feel pretty relaxed during most of those swims. Just like I feel like I'm reaching about a foot further than I really am on each stroke of freestyle. I've been working on muscle endurance and flexibility since last April. The plan was to lose weight and get stretchy so I could swim. The weight has come off, but the flexibility is coming along slowly. Actually, it seems to have gotten worse since I started swimming harder. My muscles want to thicken up in response to resistance, almost regardless of the exercise. Tough to beat genetics. I have come a long way in this department and will continue to work at it. Suggestions on how to improve flexibility welcome. My kick comes and goes. When it's there, my arms can hardly keep up. When it's not, I can't pick up the kick no matter how hard I try. Oddly, it often shows up when I am most fatigued.

My 2 cents... freestyle - the wide-arm recovery is a bit choppy. Try to work on raising the elbows and keeping your hands in more. Reach forward after your hands enter the water. - 20+ strokes per length seems a bit high. Work on the streamlined dolphin kick off the wall, extend your reach and finish your stroke down below your hips. You appear to have great upper body strength, but your kick seems a bit weak. keep working on kick drills. butterfly - I think you should work on increasing your flexibility. A bit more back flex will make the recovery a bit smoother and help you incorporate your kick better. - keep your legs closer together as you kick. Work them like they are connected and really engage your core muscles to get the most out of each kick. And I'd ditch the rec shorts and get some jammers or other racing suit, especially for butterfly. Now let's see what the coaches have to say...

It's hard to work on your kick, but it will help in the timing of the total stroke.

.... I think it's probably too early for any deep thinking. IMHO you mostly need to relax, become more stretchy and regain some feel for the water. +1 I totally agree with every letter forming every word of this statement. Learn to relax first. All your butterfly work except maybe for the full stroke part should be done with relaxation in mind. Here's a relaxed execution of no board kicking as well as a relaxed execution of the 1-arm drill. As you can see, I'm very far from being tensed here... YouTube- Fly DrillSide Same goes with 1-Arm YouTube- Butterfly One Arm Drill (Back view)

Shane: You are correct. After a few seconds on my side, I sink like a rock, so I end up on my back half the time. Workin on it. :)

hey Jim, our coach has us do the freestyle kick drill on the side but looking down. then turn the head to get a breath. looks like you might actually be past the verticle toward the back with your head facing up. i'm not sayin your way is wrong but i have done it both ways and with the head down it feels closer to freestyle.

dude, i know the feeling. some people will say its the wrong way but i float better on these drills if i hold my breath right up until i need another one, or better yet use a snorkle. also, as your kick gets stronger you will naturally float better.

Here's what I saw ~ Your butterfly recovery and freestyle recovery are nearly identical. This type of freestyle recovery (wide and sideways) promotes a serpentine motion of the hips and spine which increases drag. It's not easy to fix your recovery but ask your coach and they can give you a few ways o release a little different at the end of you pull and that may help. Your ankle flexibility is noticeably absent ( the first fly kick when your feet are above the water and some other noticeable kicks). Try simple ankle stretching exercises as often as possible (8 seconds each ankle and three sets after each kicking set). I like how your butterfly looks ontop. Good luck, Coach T.