Hey guys, my apologies to those of you getting sick of critiquing people, :laugh2: I just joined a masters team this week and I've gotten some really good instruction on the *** stroke and free, but have a couple questions and a video on which i'm hoping to get some feedback. On the free, the coach is advocating pressing down with the whole arm and then pulling the water underneath me with the forearm just about parallel to the pool floor. He even said to almost touch my opposite hip with my hand (I understood that as crossing the midline on the pull). Is this kind of old school or is there something I might be misunderstanding? It felt very weird trying that, very different from what I had been (unsuccessfully) striving for before. I'm kind of trying to combine elements of what he is saying with what I have read and watched in videos. He was very helpful in getting me aware of my balance and body position. On the *** stroke he was very helpful as well with the arm pull, I did much better after his instruction. One interesting thing he advocated was bringing the legs up during the pull and kicking while arm shooting, so my feet should be back together once my arms were in streamline. What I have seen in videos of olympians shows a kick that is a little more delayed; the legs come up to the butt during the shoot, then the arms are in streamline before the actual squeezing of the legs/feet. Can someone comment on this?
I think I may have screwed myself by doing so much reading and watching videos for 3 years before getting a coach. I would have been less confused during practice. That said, the net effect has been positive.
Here is a freestyle video from today. I definitely see flaws; left arm is weird, probably too high, so I have trouble catching. I look uncomfortable and twisted when left side is down. I'm still not getting the forearms very vertical, right arm in particular probably pulls too low. I wonder if I need more shoulder strength and/or more internal rotation of the shoulder. I've been working really hard on narrowing my kick amplitude, but some strokes forget. I also have problems with the kick rhythm. Please critique and offer me drills you would do when I do practice on my own (have Masters just 3 days a week). Thanks a bunch.
YouTube - Swim Dec 9
Your rotation has come a long way, as has your high elbow. Looking good!
Was this during a meet? I see both bulkheads moved to strange places.
Hey Shark! Yeah there was a meet going on. The underwater shot was in the shallow area so my son could videotape me from the side. Poor kid, I asked him to come and sit through a whole workout just to get some video from the side. iPod Touch and Kindle were put to good use.
First thing I see right off is that your pull is way outside your centerline. Try to get a little more body roll to get your catch more in front and continue the pull (almost following the black lines on the bottom of the lane) straight down your body to finish past your thigh. With more body roll and extension in front and back you'll be taking much less stroke per length of the pool.
I thought that I was rotating past 45 degrees, but are you suggesting rotating almost completely to my side? I see how that would bring my lead arm more underneath me/toward center.
Perhaps in my attempt to get a better catch I've been extending a little wide, like KPN. Maybe too wide. When you talk about pulling down the center line, do you mean the hand? I would think the forearm and elbow especially will be well lateral to the middle. You can't pull with a high elbow without the elbow going wide.
Some olympians do seem to pull down the middle more, but there are others like Kara Lynn Joyce who pull a lot wider. I'm still trying to find what works best for me. The interesting thing is that in the past experimentation would completely mess me up for weeks, but now I can tweak things much more easily without long term effects.
So here is my latest rendition. I've really been experimenting a lot, trying to catch water earlier. Not liking my hand entry on the right, will work on that. But I was really concentrating on my catch and pull. In particular, trying to maintain a high elbow. I've gotten a lot better at the initial catch, but I seem to drop my elbows on the pull and still trying to figure out why. Any advice is greatly appreciated.
www.youtube.com/watch
By the way, I've been wearing the Aquasphere face mask because I was getting a skin reaction with my last couple pairs. How much drag do you think these things add? I'm basically staying about the same speed as before on my 50's and 100's since the change, so I'm hoping that means I'm a little faster. Obviously if and when I race I will wear normal goggles.
The video says it's private.
By the way, we're at Vint Hill until school lets out. We'll be back for LC in mid-June! See you then.
The video says it's private.
By the way, we're at Vint Hill until school lets out. We'll be back for LC in mid-June! See you then.
Hey there. I corrected it, public now. See you at LC then.
So here is my latest rendition. I've really been experimenting a lot, trying to catch water earlier. Not liking my hand entry on the right, will work on that. But I was really concentrating on my catch and pull. In particular, trying to maintain a high elbow. I've gotten a lot better at the initial catch, but I seem to drop my elbows on the pull and still trying to figure out why. Any advice is greatly appreciated.
www.youtube.com/watch
By the way, I've been wearing the Aquasphere face mask because I was getting a skin reaction with my last couple pairs. How much drag do you think these things add? I'm basically staying about the same speed as before on my 50's and 100's since the change, so I'm hoping that means I'm a little faster. Obviously if and when I race I will wear normal goggles.
First thing I see right off is that your pull is way outside your centerline. Try to get a little more body roll to get your catch more in front and continue the pull (almost following the black lines on the bottom of the lane) straight down your body to finish past your thigh. With more body roll and extension in front and back you'll be taking much less stroke per length of the pool.
So here is my latest rendition. I've really been experimenting a lot, trying to catch water earlier. Not liking my hand entry on the right, will work on that. But I was really concentrating on my catch and pull. In particular, trying to maintain a high elbow. I've gotten a lot better at the initial catch, but I seem to drop my elbows on the pull and still trying to figure out why. Any advice is greatly appreciated.
www.youtube.com/watch
By the way, I've been wearing the Aquasphere face mask because I was getting a skin reaction with my last couple pairs. How much drag do you think these things add? I'm basically staying about the same speed as before on my 50's and 100's since the change, so I'm hoping that means I'm a little faster. Obviously if and when I race I will wear normal goggles.
