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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Thanks everyone for the critique, it is very helpful.
geochuck, I look forward to your detailed criticism. (: Well no worries. I looked at his short reply. Like we said, it's all interrelated.
FreeStyle is like a chain. A lot of components for this stroke are tied together. They occur following a ordered list of small events. Here's what Geochuck had to say once about what I believe to be the most urgent matter to fix in your stroke:
www.usms.org/.../showthread.php
So...
I really have not had much shoulder pain. Oufff. But you're very close though.
The main issue I have had recently is a strange pulling feeling in my right shoulder blade, though I think that is from my (very bad) backstroke, so I have been avoiding that for a few weeks. Good. But I still see something very wrong with your right hand side shoulder during the recovery. You may not feel it yet, but it's as if there was some click. A structure (ligament, tendon) that meets some resistance (maybe a bone edge) during the recovery. Pay attention. You may feel this click. If so, you are going to have to modify your recovery until you feel no click anymore.
So yeah. This thread by Geochuck is making a lot of sense. Poor recovery may set the table for problematic phases that follow. Hand/arm entry is directly affected by it (first event in the ordered list), then the stretch (second event) then the catch (third event) etc.......
I must admit I am a bit surprised by this suggestion, as I thought my rotation was actually *too* much. Oh not at all. That yields the question: How much body rotation is required to perform the free style. What are the guide lines exactly?
I'd say, to keep things simple, body rotation must be sufficient for the recovery to be done without squeezing shoulders and rotator's cuff's structures. It should also be sufficient for allow for easy (very easy without no neck rotation) breathing.
Usually, as long as you keep your fingers close to the surface while recovering, you just can't rotate too much. There's no such thing as rotating too much if you keep the fingers close to the surface during the recovery. Of course, if you go with a straight arm recovery you loose this reference. But there again, it's very rare to come across swimmers that do rotate too much.
Remember I told you about 2 very important drills I expect any free style specialist to be able to performed? One is the band-around and the other is this drill progression here, which takes care of all these issues (rotation, balance, recovery, catch, pulling, *everything*).
YouTube- Free Style Drill : 0-Arm-to-Full-Stroke Progression
Now. This is an extremely complex drill progression and if you want to give it a try, be prepare to check in to this thread on a regular basis to get more instructions. It looks easy when I perform it, but that's because it's one of my babies. I am very comfortable with it, having been working on it over the last 20 years or so...
Not surprisingly, notice that the progression begins with Body Rotation exercise without any arm. Then you add one arm at the time. Then you finish with the full stroke.
This is a very interesting observation, I agree that this is likely the cause of some of my other technique issues, however it is not clear what exactly I need to do. Given that my elbow must be pointed, it seems that either you mean I should be opening my armpit wider, or possibly holding my elbow higher up (or both)? For now, if I was your coach, I'd put you on a special straight arm recovery program until I get satisfied with both the body rotation and this squeezing of your shoulders. Once we got that sorted out, we would go back to high elbow recovery using the finger trailing drill to make sure your rotation is enough without becoming too much.
I agree with other responders who said I need to work on refining the size of kick, as well as reaching forward, and high elbow, but I think working on my recovery may be the most important thing to focus on first. Remember though, your recovery MUST NOT lead the body rotation. So you need to make sure you're able to rotate enough so that the recovery becomes easier to perform.
Without switching to pure straight arm recovery per se, you should consider working this as a drill.
You will undoubteldy need assistance if you are to tackle on the 2 drills I mentioned. Because they are very difficult to master. So just reply to this thread and I'll be there to help you.
Thanks everyone for the critique, it is very helpful.
geochuck, I look forward to your detailed criticism. (: Well no worries. I looked at his short reply. Like we said, it's all interrelated.
FreeStyle is like a chain. A lot of components for this stroke are tied together. They occur following a ordered list of small events. Here's what Geochuck had to say once about what I believe to be the most urgent matter to fix in your stroke:
www.usms.org/.../showthread.php
So...
I really have not had much shoulder pain. Oufff. But you're very close though.
The main issue I have had recently is a strange pulling feeling in my right shoulder blade, though I think that is from my (very bad) backstroke, so I have been avoiding that for a few weeks. Good. But I still see something very wrong with your right hand side shoulder during the recovery. You may not feel it yet, but it's as if there was some click. A structure (ligament, tendon) that meets some resistance (maybe a bone edge) during the recovery. Pay attention. You may feel this click. If so, you are going to have to modify your recovery until you feel no click anymore.
So yeah. This thread by Geochuck is making a lot of sense. Poor recovery may set the table for problematic phases that follow. Hand/arm entry is directly affected by it (first event in the ordered list), then the stretch (second event) then the catch (third event) etc.......
I must admit I am a bit surprised by this suggestion, as I thought my rotation was actually *too* much. Oh not at all. That yields the question: How much body rotation is required to perform the free style. What are the guide lines exactly?
I'd say, to keep things simple, body rotation must be sufficient for the recovery to be done without squeezing shoulders and rotator's cuff's structures. It should also be sufficient for allow for easy (very easy without no neck rotation) breathing.
Usually, as long as you keep your fingers close to the surface while recovering, you just can't rotate too much. There's no such thing as rotating too much if you keep the fingers close to the surface during the recovery. Of course, if you go with a straight arm recovery you loose this reference. But there again, it's very rare to come across swimmers that do rotate too much.
Remember I told you about 2 very important drills I expect any free style specialist to be able to performed? One is the band-around and the other is this drill progression here, which takes care of all these issues (rotation, balance, recovery, catch, pulling, *everything*).
YouTube- Free Style Drill : 0-Arm-to-Full-Stroke Progression
Now. This is an extremely complex drill progression and if you want to give it a try, be prepare to check in to this thread on a regular basis to get more instructions. It looks easy when I perform it, but that's because it's one of my babies. I am very comfortable with it, having been working on it over the last 20 years or so...
Not surprisingly, notice that the progression begins with Body Rotation exercise without any arm. Then you add one arm at the time. Then you finish with the full stroke.
This is a very interesting observation, I agree that this is likely the cause of some of my other technique issues, however it is not clear what exactly I need to do. Given that my elbow must be pointed, it seems that either you mean I should be opening my armpit wider, or possibly holding my elbow higher up (or both)? For now, if I was your coach, I'd put you on a special straight arm recovery program until I get satisfied with both the body rotation and this squeezing of your shoulders. Once we got that sorted out, we would go back to high elbow recovery using the finger trailing drill to make sure your rotation is enough without becoming too much.
I agree with other responders who said I need to work on refining the size of kick, as well as reaching forward, and high elbow, but I think working on my recovery may be the most important thing to focus on first. Remember though, your recovery MUST NOT lead the body rotation. So you need to make sure you're able to rotate enough so that the recovery becomes easier to perform.
Without switching to pure straight arm recovery per se, you should consider working this as a drill.
You will undoubteldy need assistance if you are to tackle on the 2 drills I mentioned. Because they are very difficult to master. So just reply to this thread and I'll be there to help you.
