Quote:
Originally Posted by CoachStuartMcDougal
Hi Danny,
I do agree with Salvo in part in that Sam is in demo mode, rehearsing the movement, and a feeling of a "throw from pelvis", not about the timing of high/low side arms. In the full series Sam moving from drill to free there is a high and low side arm connection, not a coupling or windmill like timing. And as you noticed with the high side arm dropping in rotates your body, not the low side arm pulling into rotation. This is seen with Sam in drill mode as he vaults over the low side arm in drill - body doesn't rotate until the high side arm drops in. That rotation happens from the weight and momentum of high side arm driven forward, spine lengthens, core remains tone, vessel balanced; analogous to being pulled from lead arm rather than pushing water back with low side arm. Gravity and momentum are a wonderful thing when you work with it not against it.
Restart drill is not for the novice, but for those experienced swimmers that have been under the perception pushing water back and finishing at hip. The idea is to launch the high side arm from the pelvis with a relaxed shoulder allowing its weight and momentum to swing forward from the hip and not from the shoulder. This is something that is not easily felt and can be easily misunderstood based on ones own filters or accepted norms.
However, once you feel it and begin to get in right, you can easily send your body forward the length from fingertips (of extended arm) to toes with a *single* arm throw. Sam does this very well. I have discovered what works much better than restart drill (for both novice and elite swimmers) is single arm fly launching high side arm from hip with rotation. This releases the shoulder tension, allows limb to be soft and fluid, connects high side arm to hip/pelvis, and arm naturally pops out of the surface under its own momentum. Swimmer now has the feeling of the high side arm releasing forward and accelerating, not pushing water back and decelerating at the hip.
Have fun with it!
Stuart
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Hi Stuart,
Thanks, as always for your input. I haven't really played much with one-armed fly, although maybe I should. I'm not sure I followed your description above, but maybe I just need to try it in the water. Recently I got someone to critique my fly and she pointed out that I was recovering with bent arms. I thought about this some and cam up with the following explanation: From underwater, the classic path your hands should trace in a fly stroke is keyhole shaped. The keyhole should actually widen in the back, after it reaches its narrowest point, and mine wasn't. This widening in the back occurs by straightening your elbows, and that was a missing piece for me. When I started doing this in fly, some advice you have given on this forum concerning freestyle also seemed to click for me. You said that your arm should already be moving forward in the back when you come out of the water, if I recollect properly. So I tried this and was very impressed with the results. It prevents that hesitation in the back which slows your stroke rate. By doing this, I find that the stroke rates of 1:20-1:30/s that I have been working at become much easier, and I have started playing around with even faster stroke rates. Of course, starting your arm forward before you come out of the water in back can shorten you stroke, and perhaps this is just what I need to swim at faster stroke rates. This gets into the difficult question of what the ideal compromise between DPS and stroke rate should be. I have the feeling that swimming at a somewhat faster stroke rate can actually be easier for me, especially when I am starting to get tired. So this is all stuff to play with!
Thanks, again for your help.