30+ years of daily swimming, recent TI convert seeking advice and criticism (video)

[drago]

An old friend of mine, who has been swimming daily for 30+ years started to alter his stroke to be more TI than simple crawl, which did not satisfy him any more. I advised him as well as I could (self-thought TI swimmer with 5 years under my belt) but he would appreciate any input from someone more qualified than me. Here is a recent video:
http://deske.hu/iras/html-2015/uszas-2015-07-27.mp4

Thanks a lot:

György

[Danny]

From what you say and what we can see in the film, your friend looks like a proficient swimmer. So it might help to have some additional information before making suggestions
(1) what is it that he doesn't like about his current stroke?
(2) Does he have any goals that he feels he is having trouble reaching with his current technique?
(3) Does he have any limitations that should be taken into consideration? How old is he? How good is his physical conditioning?

[Zenturtle]

He should ride his extended arm more.
Now his arm is sinking like its stuck in quicksand and his head follows that arm in the deep abbys. There is no forward movement extracted from this sinking so something is going wrong underwater.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWzQc1XadHk

solid platform and anchoring catch connected to straight toned body on one side, relaxed recovery bringing the weight over and forward at the other side.

Compare his stroke with this.
Plant your arm and swimg your body around it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ8iw8q2F9U

Coach Mandy has a nice stable extended sypport here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvGRYlrpLSY
Too much glide for my liking, not connection bodyroll energy to the catch, but the essence is roughly the same as Coughlins.

[drago]

Dear Danny, thanks a lot, here are his answers to your questions. (He does not speak English but I am happy to translate for him.)

Originally Posted by Danny

(1) what is it that he doesn't like about his current stroke?

He is starting to tire more easily, has given timing his swims because of this, and thinks that TI's efficiency might be a new achievable goal.

Originally Posted by Danny

(2) Does he have any goals that he feels he is having trouble reaching with his current technique?

He has never felt okay about his flutter kick, and thinks TI might give him a more balanced legwork.

Originally Posted by Danny

(3) Does he have any limitations that should be taken into consideration? How old is he? How good is his physical conditioning?

He is 72, quite fit, runs a 1000m and swims 1200 (600 back 600 crawl) every morning, and has been doing so for a long time.

[drago]

Thanks a lot. he has been using paddles for a long time I think that must be the reason fro his locked shoulders and extensive shoulder pull.

[Danny]

Originally Posted by drago

Dear Danny, thanks a lot, here are his answers to your questions. (He does not speak English but I am happy to translate for him.)


He is starting to tire more easily, has given timing his swims because of this, and thinks that TI's efficiency might be a new achievable goal.

He has never felt okay about his flutter kick, and thinks TI might give him a more balanced legwork.

He is 72, quite fit, runs a 1000m and swims 1200 (600 back 600 crawl) every morning, and has been doing so for a long time.

Hi Drago, I think the information you provided above will be a help. ZT's comments are also useful and on target. Hopefully some coaches will chime in and address the issues you have raised above. It is difficult to see the nature of his kicking from the film you have provided, but I think balance is definitely a major issue he has. I myself don't feel qualified to offer additional advice, but I wish you good luck!

[CoachEricDeSanto]

I agree with ZT a lot. So most of this will be the same idea in different words. Hopefully one of our phrasing will work.

1. Start from the inside out. I don't see his hips at all and his front end is high in the water. Work on skating a lot to find a better balance in the water.

2. It looks to me like the arm extension is not connected to the body. One of my favorite focal points is to feel like the spearing arm is towing the body through the pool and OVER the anchoring arm. This helps to make sure there is just enough tension in the lead arm to affect the body position.

I have my swimmers do a lot of Zen Switch trying to feel a surge into skate on each stroke. I also do a lot of what I call Rediculously Low Stroke Count swimming on a 2BK. When you try to get your stroke count way below normal (think Shinji's 7 count 25 m) you are forced to connect your whole body. Then when you return to normal, the connection can stay.

I hope this helps.

[drago]

Thanks a lot CoachEricdeSanto and Zenturtle, I translated him your remarks, he is very thankful for your advice, I also pointed him to the relevant chapters of the self coached dvd workshop, I hope it will help.
Might come back with new video in a few weeks time.

[Zenturtle]

Here a nice example where you can see how a good swimmer is leaning on his extended arm, lifts the high side and slowly sinks forward on his low side, riding that extended arm slowly into catch.
Keep a focus ponting the elbow to the side of the pool and make that extended arm a stable platform, running from the hand to the ribcage. (Maybe even lower to the hip, experimenting with this stuff myself also.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dCfX8zvI9c (From 1 min 40)

[drago]

After a week's practice here is a fresh video.
http://deske.hu/iras/html-2015/uszas-2015-08-08.mp4
Would be grateful for any critique/comment.