The IM Lane

hey elaine! i saw your other thread about your turns but couldn't watch those videos anymore so here's my thoughts on my 400 im video unless you're intentionally holding on for a sec to catch your breath, there's no reason to reach up to the gutter on your fly turns. all you have to do is touch the walll in front of you, then "richocet" off the wall (the 3rd fly turn and your *** turns are more of what you should be doing on your other fly turns) are you able to stay longer underwater (streamline/flutter or few dolphin kicks) before your breakout in the backstroke? have you ever learned the old fashioned backstroke whip turn, as opposed to just an open turn? would it also make you dizzy? can you do it faster than an open turn? have you determined with your breaststroke experience, when you need oxygen and will forgo the underwater pullout? obviously, training to be able to do the pullouts at each turn would be helpful having never raced with freestyle open turns, i guess you're doing it as well as possible! the quicker/snappier you can get thru the turns, the better! with most of your turns, you don't need to reach as far as placing your palm on the wall (nor sink/pull into the walls with bent elbows, which i don't see you doing). all you have to do is touch with your fingertips, hopefullly with perfect degree of outstretch of your arms, and then bring your body around as quickly as possible (think the hand-over-ear body twist, like in breastroke turns) and legs placed in position for maximum pushoff power fly is my weak link as well. i've only ever swum the 400 im once (checked that off the list :) but for 200 im's, i try to just maintain easy speed and form during the fly; don't forget that race adrenaline usually adds a boost to your fly leg as well. since you're a breastroker, you don't want to tire yourself out too much on the back. try to build/maintain speed on the back, catching your breath after the fly and making sure you've got enough air in the lungs, going into the back-*** turn. breastroke is your forte, so Bring It on this leg, but maintain form and don't spin (unfortuantely, it's not the 100 im :D . freestyle, i would try to build to the point that you've figured out that you can do an all-you-have-left sprint. as a breastroker, i think you can really feel the building momemtum and finishing strong!, from the breaststroke through freestyle legs you'll have to play with the pacing, for each stroke leg, and for the race as a whole, to see what works best for you. remember there are FIFTEEN turns in a short course 400 im, so it's worth working on them!

hey elaine! i saw your other thread about your turns but couldn't watch those videos anymore so here's my thoughts on my 400 im video unless you're intentionally holding on for a sec to catch your breath, there's no reason to reach up to the gutter on your fly turns. all you have to do is touch the walll in front of you, then "richocet" off the wall (the 3rd fly turn and your *** turns are more of what you should be doing on your other fly turns) are you able to stay longer underwater (streamline/flutter or few dolphin kicks) before your breakout in the backstroke? have you ever learned the old fashioned backstroke whip turn, as opposed to just an open turn? would it also make you dizzy? can you do it faster than an open turn? have you determined with your breaststroke experience, when you need oxygen and will forgo the underwater pullout? obviously, training to be able to do the pullouts at each turn would be helpful having never raced with freestyle open turns, i guess you're doing it as well as possible! the quicker/snappier you can get thru the turns, the better! with most of your turns, you don't need to reach as far as placing your palm on the wall (nor sink/pull into the walls with bent elbows, which i don't see you doing). all you have to do is touch with your fingertips, hopefullly with perfect degree of outstretch of your arms, and then bring your body around as quickly as possible (think the hand-over-ear body twist, like in breastroke turns) and legs placed in position for maximum pushoff power fly is my weak link as well. i've only ever swum the 400 im once (checked that off the list :) but for 200 im's, i try to just maintain easy speed and form during the fly; don't forget that race adrenaline usually adds a boost to your fly leg as well. since you're a breastroker, you don't want to tire yourself out too much on the back. try to build/maintain speed on the back, catching your breath after the fly and making sure you've got enough air in the lungs, going into the back-*** turn. breastroke is your forte, so Bring It on this leg, but maintain form and don't spin (unfortuantely, it's not the 100 im :D . freestyle, i would try to build to the point that you've figured out that you can do an all-you-have-left sprint. as a breastroker, i think you can really feel the building momemtum and finishing strong!, from the breaststroke through freestyle legs you'll have to play with the pacing, for each stroke leg, and for the race as a whole, to see what works best for you. remember there are FIFTEEN turns in a short course 400 im, so it's worth working on them!