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!
I think just prior to the hand dropping, you always see a locked out elbow.....no?
I don't think so. Not to say there aren't swimmers who do this, but I still think it's better to not lock the elbow. Here's an experiment for you. Extend your arm, but keep a slight bend in the elbow. Now from that position drop the hand to give a nice high-elbow position. Try the same thing with your elbow locked. I don't know about you, but it's almost impossible to do this with my elbow locked.
In the multisport video the speakers left arm does the entry in and it goes up pushing the water with the palm in the wrong direction, so even experts make mistakes. He is not letting the hand drop to the catch position.
He is doing what the Japanese swimmers were doing at the 1956 Olympics.
locksleyu is dropping his elbow after it enters the water and doing what I call elbow swimiing. I would like to see him use the forearm sooner. It slips water in the early portion of the catch.
I have not asked him to change anything.
I don't like, is my opinion. Am I not able to give my opinion. He does not have to like anything that I say. Just tell me I am wrong and his stroke does not need any help.
Maybe you or some one else likes the stroke.
Have you made any concrete suggestions about the stroke or just stuff about me me.
Did you guys all miss these? Give George a break. The OP asked for stroke advice, not for us to all sit around and sing "Kumbaya." OK, now I'm starting to sound like Geek...
Ditto.
Being that George was ranked the number one freestyler in the world many years ago...it should be an honor for anyone to have him offer some suggestions.
...even if it did start out like a Dr. Seuss book. :)
You kick looks pretty good. You might want to make it a bit smaller.
On your pull, focus on having a FEELING of pulling straight back. There is a lot of side to side motion, which is causing you to slip water.
Like Solar said, you will benefit from more rotation. You have a good rythm going now but adding a bit more rotation will give you a tad extra length on each stroke.
On last note, I would recommend being a bit more patient before you start the pull. Give yourself a "3 mississippi" count before pulling. I believe you will find a better grip on the water.
I wish they had done the same for the other strokes but almost everything on the swimsmooth site is freestyle. I think breaststroke would be hard to do because there are so many variations, you might need two or three stroke models. There will be more variations of this concept. I think there's a miss Smooth on her way which will show a two beat kick straight arm recovery, although I am unsure.
Anyway, I wouldn't be surprised if it was copied from Shelley Tailor-Smith. For those who wouldn't know her, she's one of the greatest swimmers of all time. I've seen here holding close to 1:10 on a 60x100meters free on 1:15.
In a marathon, only a few guys could beat her. In 1991, she won the FINA World Cup. She did beat all men that year. Pretty straight arm recovery, pretty straight arm pulling, close to 84rpm. Unbeatable!
But again, with the Swimtypes concept, I wouldn't be surprised to see more variety around the virtual reality console concept.
SolarEnergy, I am looking forward to your description of dryland exercises to fix this. there you go. Sorry for the poor quality and it cuts at the end, I do not know why. Kodak found it too ridiculous and decided it was enough maybe....
YouTube- This one's for Jeff
Thanks but never ranked #1 more like 3 or 4+, I always thought I was #1. You must always have confidence in your self.
A lot of you may think I am thinking in the past but I have kept up with the newer technology. I do have the latest Dartswim program for swim video analysis, cost me $3,500.00. But my time has been taken up by me attending swim meets and selling swim suits out of our motor home.
A lady came up to my wife and asked at the swim meet (with a very serious face) "do you do your sales like a Travelling Road Show ." My wife said "yes and I do my Song and Dance routine later on."
Ditto.
Being that George was ranked the number one freestyler in the world many years ago...it should be an honor for anyone to have him offer some suggestions.
...even if it did start out like a Dr. Seuss book. :)
To further Solar's comment on your recovery, I have attached some frames from your video. Right now your hand leads your elbow, try to visualize that your elbow is lifting your arm and your forearm and hand are just hanging limply from the elbow. Also note that your hand is entering beside your head, you mentioned you have been working on this but it should enter further ahead, just short of full extension. Notice that your left arm enters much further forward than your right.
Here is a youtube video showing an idealized stroke:
YouTube- Animated Freestyle Swimming Visualisation - Mr Smooth
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It is a computer animation but it allows you to see the stroke more clearly than you normally do looking at clips of real swimmers. You can download a desktop version that allows you to adjust the speed and look at the stroke from a number of viewpoints.
