Swim Video Analysis from a non-TI coach

[CoachSuzanne]

Originally Posted by drtse

Thanks for the advice so far!

I feel most comfortable breathing every other stroke to the right side...I am able to get a bite of air without rushing or feeling anxious. I practice some left sided breathing but tend to rush the stroke, lift my head significantly worse than the right and overall it just seems to worsen my balance and whole stroke. So basically I'm trying to "master" the right side first before doing too much with the left.

Whenever I've tried to kick more strongly, I have not noticed any appreciable gain in speed per 100m and end up feeling more winded. And forget about kick board work I've done in the past...I end up going nowhere!

I've tried 3 different swim coaches up here in Toronto, Canada. All of them have prescribed more or less the same thing...particularly the kick more advice. I wish there was a TI coach based in our city but there isn't so the past 2 years I've been working with TI videos, ebooks and Terry's latest workbook. I've come a long way but get frustrated that despite my fitness level my swim speed has not improved as much as I expected. I at least find it easier to swim which in itself is an achievement of sorts.

I believe my Superman glide and Torpedo position in the water is fine. It's the addition of the arms and then the head rotation that really throws me for a loop.

I attended the TI workshop in Buffalo with Coach Gary Fahey. Great experience but I think I need to have some consistent one-on-one coaching with a TI coach in order to get where I want to be.

Celeste St. Pierre is likely the nearest coach to you, and does Toronto workshops not infrequently.

[gary p]

I just can't imagine a triathlon coach coaching anyone to kick more for better balance. It's wrong in general, and double-wrong for triathlon swimming where you want to preserve your legs as much as possible for the run and swim. A strong, 6-beat kick has it's place, but generally for sprint and (if you're really strong) middle distance races. Hell, World Record Holder Katie Ledecky 6-beat kicks a 400 M free, but not the entire distance of an 800M free.

[drtse]

Hmm...doesn't Ryan Cochrane employ a steady 6 beat kick for the 1500m (in contrast to Sun Yang who varies his kick during different portions of the swim).
In fact, I thnk the whole rest of the field in the 1500m other than Sun Yang uses 6BK...perhaps less for the 'balance' issue as opposed to supposedly constant propulsion?

[Richardsk]

It's my impression that Cochrane generally uses a four beat kick but it is difficult to tell sometimes because generally he has been further away from the camera than Sun or others in the videos I have watched. He has a higher turnover than Sun but I think he looks very smooth. He has a different physique and I suppose he has found the stroke that suits his physique.