So I am fine tuning my stroke for my first meet. I am noticing that my hands during the underwater recovery really drag, and I can't figure out a hand position that will stop it.
I take a big pull (how I was taught), way deeper on my chest than my regular pull, so the hands have a long way to go along my body. Am I still supposed to do this?
Any general comments regarding starts and turns welcome, too.
Luckily, my meet is LCM, so I only have to worry about it on the start next week.
Thanks for any help. BTW, swam a 36 (50Y) from the wall at the end of practice today, which is great for me, so thanks again to everyone who has helped me out. :chug:
When I went to a clinic with an Olympic swimmer many years ago, he explained how he shrugged his shoulders up really hard right at the end of his armpull on his breaststroke pullouts, in order to make himself more streamlined in that hands-by-the-sides position. When he demonstrated this on dry land, he went from looking like someone with a normal neck and head to looking more like a torpedo-shaped object, with his shoulders tucked right up near his ears.
Since that demonstration made sense to me, I shrugged my shoulders up at the end of my pull for years, until one day I was swimming outdoors and noticed my shadow on the bottom of the pool. I didn't look anything like a torpedo; instead, shrugging my shoulders merely brought them up from their normal sloping position to a squared-off one, probably unstreamlining me, if anything. I don't think I have enough leeway in my shoulder movement to look torpedo-like when I shrug my shoulders, no matter how forcefully I do it.
So while the shrugging thing doesn't work for me, it might be beneficial for those with more shoulder flexibility. Does anyone do this?
When I went to a clinic with an Olympic swimmer many years ago, he explained how he shrugged his shoulders up really hard right at the end of his armpull on his breaststroke pullouts, in order to make himself more streamlined in that hands-by-the-sides position. When he demonstrated this on dry land, he went from looking like someone with a normal neck and head to looking more like a torpedo-shaped object, with his shoulders tucked right up near his ears.
Since that demonstration made sense to me, I shrugged my shoulders up at the end of my pull for years, until one day I was swimming outdoors and noticed my shadow on the bottom of the pool. I didn't look anything like a torpedo; instead, shrugging my shoulders merely brought them up from their normal sloping position to a squared-off one, probably unstreamlining me, if anything. I don't think I have enough leeway in my shoulder movement to look torpedo-like when I shrug my shoulders, no matter how forcefully I do it.
So while the shrugging thing doesn't work for me, it might be beneficial for those with more shoulder flexibility. Does anyone do this?
