Video - feedback please

[lmonson]

I'm about 2 years into TI and can swim quite lengthy distances but only very slowly -- despite self-guided attempts to speed up. Below are two short clips of me swimming. I'd appreciate any and all feedback.

Side view
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tntYD_iuY1U

Head on
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HERunF1Bpyo

[DVLAswim]

I'm sure you've already seen this demo clip from Youtube. But, it might be worth taking a look at it again especially around the one minute mark. Pay particular attention to where Shinji's hips are in the water.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJpFVvho0o4

The biggest difference I'm seeing is that your hips are about 10-12 inches below the water. Ideally, it seems, your butt should be grazing the surface and streamlining behind the hole your lead hand is creating and then your torso is widening through the water. You may be getting a false sense that you are more streamlined than you are because your feet ride pretty high, so you may, at times feel your heels breaking the water.

The cool thing is that with a little re-jiggering on your balance and streamline you ought to see a big improvement in your speed.

Good luck and keep posting.

[CoachKris]

It looks nice and smooth however few things require some attention ;)
1) your hips are dropping down, try to work on balance a bit bringing your lower back up closer to the surface (lean forward)
2)Kick a bit more from your hips rather then your knees
3)I believe you are doing 4 beat kick rather then 2bk so try to eliminate that second kick
4) this is the main reason why you are missing speed in my opinion, you lead your propulsion with your elbow, as a result you don't have a firm support on the water and you are loosing your grip

so resuming work on
balance
2-bk
early vertical forearm

Keep it up you are doing a great job :)

[lmonson]

Thank you so much. Watching the video along with your comments was an eye opener for me as the video doesn't lie and it definitely didn't square with the image in my head of how I was swimming.

Having something specific to work on lets me enjoy the journey rather than worry about the destination. I guess I should go search the forum and re-read books/dvds regarding balance, kick, and EVF. Thanks again!

[lmonson]

I've found that I can improve my balance and position if my lead hand position is a bit lower in the water. This also makes it easier to work on the EVF technique. Does this sound like the right approach? I have to ask because a lower hand makes it much harder to breathe -- so much so, in fact, that I can't rhythmic breathe at all and am having to relearn.

[HydraFx]

So as stated your hips are low in the water. Remember your lungs are your fulcrum for fore aft balance in the water... not your core or belly. One can transfer weight forward by having your recovery arm in a more forward position just prior to the spear. Practice "patient hands". Also a good drill is pulling 3 consecutive times with one arm leaving the other in skate position- then switch sides. Your focal point can be proper lateral balance, or finding your rotational "sweet spot", which when achieved, translates to longer a glide which helps facilitate the recovery arm being in the front quadrant.
I hope this helps.

[DVLAswim]

First off, I have to thank you for posting your video. As I was typing out my suggestion to focus on bringing your hips up it suddenly dawned on me that I very well might be doing the same thing. On my next swim I took time to really feel out where my hips and lower back were in the water. Surprise! I had a bunch of room to improve. If it weren't for your video inviting me to think about that midsection approach to stream line I think I would have continued to miss a great opportunity to improve.

On the breathing, I can't say if this is proper TI form (I've been doing a lot of experimenting) but I keep returning to the idea of a bow wave that Shinji has mentioned in a number of his posts. I have found that if I tuck my chin back slightly toward my shoulder on the breath I can keep my streamline and breathe slightly below the surface of the water because of the bow wave. But, I can't say that my approach is perfect because I do ship a lot of water when I forget my head position.

I'd love to hear your feed back on the chin tuck. Will it work for you?