I'm looking for suggestions on improving my 25m sprint speed. Here is a video of my current sprint stroke. Be warned that my sprint pace is probably like sauntering in the water for many of you.
www.dropbox.com/.../Free sprint - Feb 22.MOV
I started working on my Freestyle about 4 months ago. I couldn't swim 15m without stopping back then. Now I can swim 10+ laps at a pace of about 30sec/25m. Two months ago, I could "sprint" 25m in 29sec. With the above stroke, I can do it in 22sec.
The thing is my friend, and I like to race, and he is 4 seconds faster. I made a bet that I will beat him in a month. Yeah, probably not a smart bet :D. But I would like to give it my best.
Appreciate any suggestions.
Your elbow is dropping in the pull, like a Tyrannosaurus Rex arm. Keep your elbow higher than your wrist throughout the pull. Pretend you’re reaching over a barrel and pushing it behind you with your hand, wrist and forearm. Other than that I don’t have any suggestions; think you’ll be swimming circles around your friend soon.
You can loose seconds just from a quick and powerful start while holding a very tight streamline. the first 15m of the 25 is about 99% of how fast the swim will be. If your challenge is done one after another instead of a heat, let your buddy go first, and when it’s your turn, surprise him or her by climbing up onto the block, shaven down, and use the powerful track start that you will have practiced. Also work on25m all out kicks for time. Remember, tight streamline with arms squeezing your ears.
Once you show your buddy how it’s done by beating him, work on your stroke, narrow your kick amplitude, and learn efficiency (i.e., high elbow mentioned above)
Thank you guys for the suggestions.
Wow, my pull does look like a T-Rex's arm! One gentleman here (Allen Stark) had told me that I need to keep my elbows high during my breaststroke pull. After that, I tried imagining a barrel but ended up bending my wrists and cupping my hands. The imaginary barrel was around the hands instead of the forearm. We're going to need a bigger barrel.
I have a question about kicking. I tried a few all-out 25m kicks yesterday and noticed one thing. I felt I moved faster when I not only kicked down but flexed my ankle and kicked slightly forward. This seemed counterintuitive. Besides reducing my amplitude, what else do I need to pay attention to in these kicking drills?
I breathe every two strokes during normal freestyle and did the same during the sprint also. How often should I breathe during the sprint?
propulsion from a kick only happens when the top of the foot faces back.
Really, the fastest breathing method for 25m is as little as possible, but doing so can present a safety hazard
Also noticed in the video your hips are sinking
1 second in a few weeks for 25 is major improvement. even 0.1 second improvement is significant.
as mentioned, cramps will happen as you adapt to the training, stay hydrated and nourished
I start kicking right before glide momentum drops, but always do what works best for you and continue to experiment as you have been
If you are faster just gliding all way to the surface into stroke, then do so for timed swims, but continue to work the underwater dolphin kick because once mastered it can be quite faster. It actually took me a couple years to do it decent, and it even longer before my UWDK was faster than UW flutter kicking
Always keep in mind however, that technical precision in stroke is far more rewarding than power.
Keep up the good work man!
I have a few more questions and hope to hear your feedback. Thanks in advance
1) While doing kicking drills, my feet are sometimes cramping. Am I kicking too fast or hard? I take 1 or 2 breaths while I kick one lap (25m).
2) After push-off, how long should I keep my streamline before I start kicking?
3) This may be related to #2. I'm trying dolphin kick after push off and am not sure if this is helping or not. What I noticed is my transition from dolphin to flutter kick has been awkward as I'm still underwater.
So far I improved my 25m speed by only 1 second. Long way to go! I don't know for sure, but I think that improvement came from these kicking drills I've been doing.
I have a few more questions and hope to hear your feedback. Thanks in advance
1) While doing kicking drills, my feet are sometimes cramping. Am I kicking too fast or hard? I take 1 or 2 breaths while I kick one lap (25m).
2) After push-off, how long should I keep my streamline before I start kicking?
3) This may be related to #2. I'm trying dolphin kick after push off and am not sure if this is helping or not. What I noticed is my transition from dolphin to flutter kick has been awkward as I'm still underwater.
So far I improved my 25m speed by only 1 second. Long way to go! I don't know for sure, but I think that improvement came from these kicking drills I've been doing.
1) I’m not entirely sure, but it could be a combination of just needing more conditioning, more warm up time, and stretching.
www.kiefer.com/.../swimming-cramps-cause-cure-prevention
2) I streamline for maybe .5 to one second before dolphin kicking.
3) Try dolphin kicking to the surface, then when you break the water and start your stroke, then you start flutter kicking.
Any improvement is good. You’re already going pretty fast.
