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
Here is a little information about Aquanex that may resolve some of the issues in this thread:
1) Aquanex sensors measure the pressure differential between the palm and back of the hand. Because pressure is measured on both sides of the sensor, there is no variation in pressure due to depth. (As you lower a sensor underwater, the pressure reading remains at the baseline (zero). The sensors only measure pressure due to movement of the hand.
2) The pressure values are multiplied by the area of the hand to calculate force. Force values are displayed by the software.
3) Because the force values are based on pressure measurements, the direction of the force value is perpendicular to the sensor surface (i.e. hand surface), resulting in a slight overestimation of propulsive force. In a study of college females, we found a very high correlation between propulsive and total (measured) force (r = .98) with only about a 1 lb difference in average force. Although technically there is a little error, practically, it is irrelevant to a technique analysis. For example, if a swimmer’s palm is facing the bottom of the pool at the beginning of the pull, the arm is in such a weak and awkward position that very little (nonpropulsive) force is generated. Generally speaking, even the least competitive swimmers have their hand approximately perpendicular to the intended horizontal direction of body motion for the majority of the underwater arm motion.
Rod Havriluk, Swimming Technology Research (manufacturer of Aquanex)
Here is a little information about Aquanex that may resolve some of the issues in this thread:
1) Aquanex sensors measure the pressure differential between the palm and back of the hand. Because pressure is measured on both sides of the sensor, there is no variation in pressure due to depth. (As you lower a sensor underwater, the pressure reading remains at the baseline (zero). The sensors only measure pressure due to movement of the hand.
2) The pressure values are multiplied by the area of the hand to calculate force. Force values are displayed by the software.
3) Because the force values are based on pressure measurements, the direction of the force value is perpendicular to the sensor surface (i.e. hand surface), resulting in a slight overestimation of propulsive force. In a study of college females, we found a very high correlation between propulsive and total (measured) force (r = .98) with only about a 1 lb difference in average force. Although technically there is a little error, practically, it is irrelevant to a technique analysis. For example, if a swimmer’s palm is facing the bottom of the pool at the beginning of the pull, the arm is in such a weak and awkward position that very little (nonpropulsive) force is generated. Generally speaking, even the least competitive swimmers have their hand approximately perpendicular to the intended horizontal direction of body motion for the majority of the underwater arm motion.
Rod Havriluk, Swimming Technology Research (manufacturer of Aquanex)
