Awhile back I had tried to record myself swimming freestlye and ask around the net for commentary, but it was with a low-quality camera and only above-water footage. Not getting too much feedback at that time, I decided to buy a underwater HD camera and try to use that as a reference and improve my freestyle technique. Over about 40 days I have recorded ~16 sessions, and tried to gradually improve things. Here is what I have improved:
- No longer crossing over arms in middle (at least most of the time)
- Entry occurs when arms are more stretched forward, before my elbow was bent ~90 degrees for some entries
- Left pull is a bit more consistent, but still not a clean S curve like right arm (yes I'm right-handed)
- kick is a bit tighter and more controlled (though this probably still needs to be made even smaller, with less knee kick)
- neck angle when breathing is less extreme, before I was turning upwards much more than necessary
I still look straight down at the bottom when swimming much of the time, partially because if I look forward with a 45-degree angle I can't really see much anyway because my goggles get in the way, although I know doing this will make my breathing more natural, and possibly improve my posture overall.
I have been doing alot of catch-up with a pull bouy and that seems to have helped me control my upper body more. Also been doing alot of stretches to enable my foot to stretch to a greater degree, and doing a few laps with zoomers to help improve my overall kick form.
Anyway, the result of my recent training can be seen in the following video, where I edited together a few sessions together, and you can see my technique from a few different angles, both above and underwater.
YouTube- Jeff's Freestyle Technique 7/5/2010
I was concerned about doing too much endurance training with 'bad' form,but I think I am nearly ready to start doing less form work and a little more endurance training. However before that I really would like to get some critique from some masters swimming forum members.
If I were to point out my #1 problem at present, it is a lack of 'balance' in the water, though I am not sure exactly what that means or how to work on it. When I see videos of pro swimmers like Michael Phelps I am amazed by how their arms seem 'anchored' in front, whereas I have to struggle to even keep them straight. It takes a conscious effort to not cross over the middle, and even then I can't seem to keep my arms 'anchored' in front.
I do most of my training in a housing-development pool with no swimming friends, so any commentary would be very helpful.
Thanks very much!
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Former Member
Hi Jeff,
I would suggest that the most fundamental issue to work on is rotation, try rotating your whole body from the hips to the shoulder as a unit, and rotating enough that you are able to breath with little or no rotation of the neck.
Whether you end up rotating to this extent in the end or not, the process of becoming comfortable doing so will help your comfort and balance. With better rotation the cross-over issue will cure itself.
Kicking for six kicks on one side and then taking one arm pull to rotate to the other side and so on is a good drill for getting the feel of proper rotation.
A second item is to forget about the "S-pull", some of your arm strokes are way too wide. Think about grabbing some water straight out in front of your shoulder and pulling yourself straight over it (so your hand moves in a straight line backward) any "S shape" to the pull will be generated by your body roll.
Good luck, I'll be interested to see what others think and how you progress!
Hi Jeff,
I would suggest that the most fundamental issue to work on is rotation, try rotating your whole body from the hips to the shoulder as a unit, and rotating enough that you are able to breath with little or no rotation of the neck.
Whether you end up rotating to this extent in the end or not, the process of becoming comfortable doing so will help your comfort and balance. With better rotation the cross-over issue will cure itself.
Kicking for six kicks on one side and then taking one arm pull to rotate to the other side and so on is a good drill for getting the feel of proper rotation.
A second item is to forget about the "S-pull", some of your arm strokes are way too wide. Think about grabbing some water straight out in front of your shoulder and pulling yourself straight over it (so your hand moves in a straight line backward) any "S shape" to the pull will be generated by your body roll.
Good luck, I'll be interested to see what others think and how you progress!