I recently bought an underwater video camera, and have recorded my first videos.
Here is a clip of my butterfly. (It's my worst stroke, but I'm a sucker for doing things in IM order. Plus fly videos seem to be the hot topic at the moment.)
YouTube- Butterfly 10-02-19
I knew that video would be great feedback: the few times I have seen an above-water clip of myself, I have been astonished to see things I was unaware that I was doing. But underwater video is even better.
Flaws I can see:
hands move too close in front?
too much glide/pause in front?
stroke not flat enough: too vertical during recovery
first kick (with hands extended) is too late?
first kick (with hands extended) is too hinged at the knee
I'm uncertain about my own diagnosis, though, and would welcome other opinions.
Also, since my timing & stroke actually feel fairly smooth to me while swimming (very different from how it looks), I'd love to hear about drills or key attention points that can help me focus on the changes I need to make.
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Former Member
I've attached a couple frames from your video taken as the hands enter, plus similarly timed frames from video of another masters swimmer and Michael Phelps. The Phelps picture might be considered ideal but most masters swimmers don't have the flexibility to get their arms in that position. The position of Simon's arms is more realistic for most masters swimmers.
This is where above water video would be helpful, a lot of people sort of slam their arms into the water, which is the opposite of a "soft hand entry" or "laying your arms on top of the water". Above water video would tell us if that's what you're doing. It would also allow us to see the timing of your breath and head movement. It is hard to see clearly in your video but it might be that your head is not coming down early enough.
As you identified your trunk still has a significant uphill angle while Simon and Michael's torso's are horizontal at hand entry. A lot of swimmers attempt to slam their arms into the water in an attempt at getting more horizontal by lowering the front end but my theory is that this is counterproductive - instead you should work on lifting the hips instead.
I hope the still pictures provide some insight.
I've attached a couple frames from your video taken as the hands enter, plus similarly timed frames from video of another masters swimmer and Michael Phelps. The Phelps picture might be considered ideal but most masters swimmers don't have the flexibility to get their arms in that position. The position of Simon's arms is more realistic for most masters swimmers.
This is where above water video would be helpful, a lot of people sort of slam their arms into the water, which is the opposite of a "soft hand entry" or "laying your arms on top of the water". Above water video would tell us if that's what you're doing. It would also allow us to see the timing of your breath and head movement. It is hard to see clearly in your video but it might be that your head is not coming down early enough.
As you identified your trunk still has a significant uphill angle while Simon and Michael's torso's are horizontal at hand entry. A lot of swimmers attempt to slam their arms into the water in an attempt at getting more horizontal by lowering the front end but my theory is that this is counterproductive - instead you should work on lifting the hips instead.
I hope the still pictures provide some insight.
