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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I don't doubt that drag forces grow with the square of velocity, that has been shown with more straightforward means than this experiment. And I will take back my comment about a straight line fitting the data just as well, clearly the velocity must equal zero when force is zero so a curve that passes through the origin is required.Lindsay - I agree
It occurs to me that at a point just before the hand reaches shoulder level the swimmer is still decelerating, and at a point just after that the swimmer is accelerating. This suggests that the swimmer is exerting relatively little propulsive force while the arm is in the front quadrant.Lindsay - Based on the values from the sensors, it is pretty low. Would you agree that even when we arrive at the peak, if we accept for a moment the force numbers published, what would have been your estimation for the kind of force numbers you would have expected to see? Would you say that 30 lbs. of force requires large amounts of physical strength to move through the water effectively?
Ok I understand. What I would like to see is a real stroke in action.George - Those files are in another computer, and I will try to get another swimmer at more regular speeds. The way the Woolies move in the images provided in general terms are pretty indicative of what we see generally through a stroke cycle. The swimmer in the images was a very fast swimmer, and we used him initially because he had really long arms. Sorry for the confusion earlier.
May I hijack and request technique feedback for me too Steve - There is a better way to take all the guesswork out of what you stroke is doing...that I already suggested to you. :)
fritznh - We have been using "Woolies" for a very long time. Everyone always thought it added some real visual value in conjunction with the Velocity Meter Telemetry. As I said before, we always tried to develop methods that take out as much of the guesswork as possible in lieu of the "belief system" approach.
I don't doubt that drag forces grow with the square of velocity, that has been shown with more straightforward means than this experiment. And I will take back my comment about a straight line fitting the data just as well, clearly the velocity must equal zero when force is zero so a curve that passes through the origin is required.Lindsay - I agree
It occurs to me that at a point just before the hand reaches shoulder level the swimmer is still decelerating, and at a point just after that the swimmer is accelerating. This suggests that the swimmer is exerting relatively little propulsive force while the arm is in the front quadrant.Lindsay - Based on the values from the sensors, it is pretty low. Would you agree that even when we arrive at the peak, if we accept for a moment the force numbers published, what would have been your estimation for the kind of force numbers you would have expected to see? Would you say that 30 lbs. of force requires large amounts of physical strength to move through the water effectively?
Ok I understand. What I would like to see is a real stroke in action.George - Those files are in another computer, and I will try to get another swimmer at more regular speeds. The way the Woolies move in the images provided in general terms are pretty indicative of what we see generally through a stroke cycle. The swimmer in the images was a very fast swimmer, and we used him initially because he had really long arms. Sorry for the confusion earlier.
May I hijack and request technique feedback for me too Steve - There is a better way to take all the guesswork out of what you stroke is doing...that I already suggested to you. :)
fritznh - We have been using "Woolies" for a very long time. Everyone always thought it added some real visual value in conjunction with the Velocity Meter Telemetry. As I said before, we always tried to develop methods that take out as much of the guesswork as possible in lieu of the "belief system" approach.
