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!
fritznh - Graphing your freq./velocity and then using it in daily practice is an effective method to monitor/improve your stroke mechanics because it removes a layer of guesswork, and adds a layer of precision to your swimming. Just "feeling" the water does not always provide reliable consistent results because when you change one part of your technique, it makes it hard to know how it has affected another part of your stroke/velocity.
Hi Budd,
I'd agree, sometimes I feel fast and sometimes I don't, but the clock doesn't lie. I have a tempo trainer and I can time myself, so I can produce these graphs and keep track of them. I think that would help my swimming.
One thing which I have wanted to do for a while is to also monitor heart rate instead of just perceived exertion level to get a measure of efficiency. For sprinting it is not such a big deal, you want maximum speed and can deal with the consequences later (i.e. take a nap after your 100 free). But for a 200 or 500, efficiency becomes much more important.
For example, I went to a clinic where we were told that to improve speed we should flex our core muscles and get our body positions with several drills. I found this extremely helpful, and I dropped about a second off my 50 free using some of these ideas. It is not, however, an easier way to swim because I noticed during workouts while swimming at a more moderate pace that my heart rate was higher. So this technique is faster, but not necessarily easier. I'd like to explore how to get the benefits of these techniques without increasing heart rate, if it is even possible.
Thanks...
fritznh - Graphing your freq./velocity and then using it in daily practice is an effective method to monitor/improve your stroke mechanics because it removes a layer of guesswork, and adds a layer of precision to your swimming. Just "feeling" the water does not always provide reliable consistent results because when you change one part of your technique, it makes it hard to know how it has affected another part of your stroke/velocity.
Hi Budd,
I'd agree, sometimes I feel fast and sometimes I don't, but the clock doesn't lie. I have a tempo trainer and I can time myself, so I can produce these graphs and keep track of them. I think that would help my swimming.
One thing which I have wanted to do for a while is to also monitor heart rate instead of just perceived exertion level to get a measure of efficiency. For sprinting it is not such a big deal, you want maximum speed and can deal with the consequences later (i.e. take a nap after your 100 free). But for a 200 or 500, efficiency becomes much more important.
For example, I went to a clinic where we were told that to improve speed we should flex our core muscles and get our body positions with several drills. I found this extremely helpful, and I dropped about a second off my 50 free using some of these ideas. It is not, however, an easier way to swim because I noticed during workouts while swimming at a more moderate pace that my heart rate was higher. So this technique is faster, but not necessarily easier. I'd like to explore how to get the benefits of these techniques without increasing heart rate, if it is even possible.
Thanks...
