Stroke feedback

[westyswoods]

I have posted some video for review any feedback will be greatly appreciated.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQYAgmbP_yU

Special thanks to Elk-Tamer for walking me through this process.

Westy

[Lawrence]

Try reaching further and more slowly with the leading arm. At the moment the leading arm has something of a jabbing action when entering the water. I can't quite tell from the video but it might be that you can reach further by allowing the shoulder of the leading arm to move forwards relative to the other shoulder as you reach. That is what should happen.

[Lawrence]

Oh, and lead with the elbow. At the moment your recovering arm is led by the hand.

You have the makings of a natural two-beat kick.

[shuumai]

During the push-off, your arms and head are positioned too low. (Flexibility?) Just think of standing straight and tall with your neck in alignment, or like you're going to ram something with the top of your head. hehe You did that during head-lead flutter. Try having your arms at shoulder width and more in line with your body; Superman flutter position for now instead of a tight powerlock position.

Your roll timing seems good. Your entry is very clean. I'd say you have a 4-beat kick which is not a problem.

As far as the stroke goes, there are pauses before entry and in skate position and the pull seems a little hurried. I'd just suggest working on getting the arms to flow more smooth.

BTW, if you want to push-off below the surface, your feet should follow you down. Don't ask me how to make it happen. hehe You could either level off and float up similar to what you're doing now, or angle up a little to gain some speed.

[shuumai]

Originally Posted by shuumai

As far as the stroke goes, there are pauses before entry and in skate position and the pull seems a little hurried. I'd just suggest working on getting the arms to flow more smooth.

I take back part of that. A little pause in skate position is good. I tried not pausing tonight and the tempo went up fast and I liked it. Then again, even Karlyn says to extend a pause, if only briefly.

Pausing during recovery, maybe not so good.

Looking at the 4-beat kick again, I wonder if you are over-rotating and using the second kick to counter act it.

[elk-tamer]

I think you're trying to move your arms too fast, which is messing up your timing with your body roll, and giving you less propulsion. Do you ever try to use as few strokes as possible for a length?

westy thanks for sharing - video picture is very clear and your pool is very nice!

great suggestions so far from above posts. it seems that the arms are not quite working together with the body - do you feel like you are leaning into the water with your body? looks like you are leaning with the arm more. imagine that balloon under your armpit and you want to keep it there instead of it wanting to pop out as you lead into glide.

you look very comfortable in the water, keep up the good work!

dinah

[westyswoods]

Thanks to all who have responded. I am off to the pool in few minutes and will attempt to see how some of the suggestions feel. The one common thread I see is timing, for all the drills and practices I've done it has never felt like my whole body is in sync. I've played with fast, slow, glide, you name it but just have not yet felt that fluid seamless motion. Fore aft balance has also been an issue but I believe that is getting better.

Westy

[naj]

Westy, the comments posted so far cover just about everything and I apologize if I'm repeating this but make sure your spearing arms are on wide tracks. Right now your almost spearing towards the head which will make you sway to the right or left. Your swimming very quietly, look very comfortable, and your skating position looks nice. Keep up the great work and I look forward to your next video!

Naji

[Ken B]

Hi Naj

Congratulations. Not to steal your thunder but I've just had a couple of breakthroughs too. It feels great doesn't it!

While becalmed on Lake Taupo I swam off the boat, tried CoachShanes's chin tuck and head extension along with tummy tuck and found to my amazement that I could float horizontally in freshwater. My feet quietly floated to the surface. It took tremendous concentration and I couldn't always achieve it. I had despaired of ever doing this in freshwater. The second event was that I tried an exaggerated cross crawl freestyle and it felt good, if clumsy.

When I got back to my estuary I set off with a couple of glides and skates left and right then swam determined to focus on posture (the chin tuck) elbow lead, and the cross crawl 2bk. The posture concentration was too hard so I simply rested my head on the water but the elbow lead felt right and the exaggerated kick quickly settled to a vertical flick. I usually swim round a pole about 300m out but it flashed by so quickly that I decided to carry on to a jetty. I hung onto the jetty thinking about what I had just done then swam back past my landing place realising that in about 1200 metres I had only thought to check my vertical forearm a couple of times and hardly noticed the pull. I was surprised at how late in the stroke the kick (toe flick) is. It accelerates the weight shift rather than initiates it. I stroked back to the landing as fast as I could till the rythm broke down. It's taken two and a half years but I may be about to really swim.

It's exciting isn't it? I'll be watching for your Cook Strait swim.