In a recent 50 meter breaststroke swim, the guy next to me came out of the dive and pullout about 3/4 to one full body length ahead of me (I am in the red trunks in the 'bottom' lane, he is one lane above me in the video). I caught him at the wall, but on the turn, he regained his big lead. Again, I almost caught him, but he touched me out by about .48. I am not that concerned with getting beat (nor any disresepct to this fellow swimmer), but would just like to know what I am doing wrong on the start and turn (the former I get almost no practice on). I definitely did the one dolphin kick in both directions. FYI...he did happen to be about 6 inches taller than me...I am 5-9, he appeared to be about 6-2 or 6-3; however, I am doubting that that is the whole story.
Here is a link to the video.
https://youtu.be/P6Js3VpPr_0
Again, I am in the red suit near the bottom of the screen. Any other observations, not just about the dive and turn, but anything else, is welcome.
Your disadvantage seems to be the start itself - you don't have a whole lot of power right off of the blocks, and if you don't enter the water with velocity, you don't have any velocity to maintain with the pullout.
I would encourage you to try setting up for your start from the top down instead of from a crouch. That should allow you to develop more tension in your legs which is where the power comes from.
It looks like these blocks have the fin, but it wasn't totally clear. Either way, you back foot is too far forward. It looks like you weren't sure if you wanted to lean back and slingshot or not and were unstable on the block. You didn't enter the water cleanly as your feet and hands entered at almost the same time. Entering "through the keyhole" is the most important thing for maintaining speed from the dive. Once you enter you are not in a tight streamline.Perhaps you have tightness in your shoulders, but you should work on getting your arms straight and pressed against your head. Then you take the dolphin kick too soon and further decrease your momentum.
On the turn, instead of staying in a tight tuck you lift your head up so that you are facing the far end of the pool when you take the breathe. This is wasted motion. Then your dolphin kick is even earlier than on the start, which again slows you down. On the surface your mechanics are fairly good, except you are keeping your head up all the time, which is not as streamlined as head in neutral position. I have pointed out a lot, but there is more positive than negative with your stroke, with a little work you can be much faster.
A few things that tag along with what Allen mentioned.
a) Definitely need to be more streamline at all phases of your race. Since you asked specifically about the start/underwater pullout, you want to be as "tight" as you can: elbows straight, chin tucked, squeezing your ears with your arms, knees locked, toes pointed. Hang from a pull-up bar to see what it feels like
b) Underwater pull is much too soon and your arms were straight. A long time ago, we used a phrase "3-2-1 pull-outs". No one seems to remember it. After entering the water, hold the glide for 3 seconds, then do the underwater pull followed by a 2 second glide with your hands tight to your legs, then recover your arms followed by a 1 second reach, and finally, start your stroke. Throughout this 3-2-1 pull-out, your chin should be tucked. When done well, almost anyone can make it to the 10 yd mark or further.
c) Dolphin kick timing. Some swimmers dolphin kick during the 3 second glide, some do it during the under water pull. Either way, it should be incorporated into a full body undulation instead of a kick that is just knees down. From what I saw, your dolphin kick is creating more drag than added propulsion. You might be better off with an underwater dolphin kick.
Job #1 on breaststroke is reducing drag. By lengthening your start and turns to 10+ yds, you will go a long way to swimming faster.
Good Luck
Thank you for the thoughtful and detailed reply. One follow up question: What do you mean by "setting up the start from the top down"? Also, how much faster (in a 50 meter, let's say) do you think I could be if I mastered these few changes?
Your disadvantage seems to be the start itself - you don't have a whole lot of power right off of the blocks, and if you don't enter the water with velocity, you don't have any velocity to maintain with the pullout.
I would encourage you to try setting up for your start from the top down instead of from a crouch. That should allow you to develop more tension in your legs which is where the power comes from.
Allen, thanks for your expertise. One follow up question:
What do you mean by "keep the head in the neutral position?" Does it have something to do with keeping it aligned with the rest of the body? Are there any drills for accomplishing this?
Neutral position means not arched up or down, like it is if you are standing straight up. The standard drill for this is to hold a tennis ball under your chin with your chin holding it against your neck and swimming BR that way.
