ok, rip away. Maybe it will be kind of funny if nothing else as I am in a hotel resort pool.
YouTube - MOV01883
1. Your head position looks to be a little high and looking forward (not sure if it's to watch out for the kids crossing, or the upcoming ends of the pool. You should try to keep your head in a more neutral downward looking position. This will keep your body position more in-line, and raise your hips/legs up.
2. I think you can benefit by finishing your stroke more towards your thighs at the back end of the stroke. You seem to be pulling your hands out for the recovery early, and losing a lot of power from the end of each stroke. Think about touching your thigh with your thumb as you hand finishes the stroke, this will give you a full range of motion, and make use of all your muscles.
3. Keep practicing.
4. Most important...Have Fun. :banana:
Head should be down more. When you are turning to breathe, the water line was at your ear and both eyes were out of water. Water should be hitting the crown of your head during breathing with one goggle submerged. Only look forward 1-2 feet.
Try spending more time swimming on your side and less time flat on the water. As someone mentioned, finishing your stroke will help with this.
Overall it looks pretty good. I'm sure going under a minute is achievable. You are not running out of time. There is some guy out there that showed you can swim under 50 at age 65!
I agree with James about your head position. Obviously in a hotel pool you've got to look up to see the wall, but when you're in a normal pool be sure to look at the bottom, even when coming into a turn (this takes some practice).
As I mentioned in the other thread, and the video seems to confirm it, your legs really aren't contributing much. You do have a nice smooth stroke, though. There certainly aren't any major flaws you need to correct.
Is it hard to post a video from a camcorder/mini-dv?
It isn't if you have a Firewire port on your computer. That's the connection my mini-dv camcorder had, anyway. Well, actually it's not easy. First you've got to import the raw footage and use software on your computer to convert it to a video format youtube will recognize.
Another bad habit that I think you can see a couple glimpses of in this video is that I have a natural tendency to split my fingers way apart. It is likely usually worse as I was trying to look good for the camera here over such a short distance.
How much does this slow one down?
On the head thing, this video might not be too far from the truth. But why is it that I feel more resistance when I put my head straight down? I guess it is all in my head? It also makes me lose the feel for the water and the high elbow and hand entry that I have worked hard towards improving.
It isn't if you have a Firewire port on your computer. That's the connection my mini-dv camcorder had, anyway. Well, actually it's not easy. First you've got to import the raw footage and use software on your computer to convert it to a video format youtube will recognize.
Looks like I don't have this port so this isn't happening. oh well.
Most modern video cameras, DSLRs and even "point and shoot" still cameras with video use SD cards... you can connect via usb with a reader or with the cable. If you have an iPhone/itouch, Android or Flip type camera its a straight shot into the computer via the usb port. Firewire 400 is kinda dead (800 is not) as is DV tape for video.
You can get really good quality video on the cheap that is easily portable.
Thanks. I had to see what I needed to dodge but the head position is in fact something I have been struggling with. Looking ahead has always felt more natural to me.
I hadn't heard the finishing the stroke one yet so I'll try to focus on that.
