I agree, but you gotta still take this with a realistic grain of salt - even if OP pulled dead straight back with perfect form, his pull power and turnover rate is so slow that he would be at BEST 1:50/100, and that's with perfect body position and a perfect EVF. The biggest issue for his lack of speed is pull power, not pull angle.

Again, this does NOT mean I'm recommending he just ignore the technique and go hog wild on power, sacrificing technique. He should keep a mind on improving that technique while simultaneously doing workouts that improve power (along with technique). But it's very important to be realistic about why he's not fast - the single most dominant factor is lack of fitness/power. Changing pull angles and body position will help, but will not suddenly turn his 2:00/100 into a 1:30/100 swimmer. (Whereas I and many swimmers here could take his very same technique flaws and still easily come in under 1:40/100, if not sub 1:30/100.)

No. Don't glide. ever. if you aren't actively extending forward, you should be pulling. One issue, amongst many, is that the OP has very little extension at the front of the stroke.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

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2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

The most power comes from the correct angle. Wrong angle, wrong muscle contraction worked. Sure you'll get stronger but will never reach potential.

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Formerly TriBrad02

Unless your in the 40-44AG. You should glide minimum 2 seconds every arm cycle. =)

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Formerly TriBrad02

so. the ugly truth...

dragging legs are probably at least 20 secs per 100. The big thing I see is a lack of core engagement, lack of extension out front, and the severely dropped elbows. You dont extend your shoulder and have a couple more inches available from your elbow. in essence you want to try to reach as high (far) as you can without pulling your torso out of alignment at the same time, and being careful to pull from directly in front of your shoulder (not crossing over the midline). getting that better reach will move your centre of mass forward , making it easier to keep your legs up.

You also suffer from a real lack of fluidity, so it probably feels like you are working hard, but in reality that's just muscle tension working against yourself.

Also, work on your breathing, I find that I get into a much better rhythm when I breathe to just one side. plus you need air if you swim hard.

There, I think I pretty much covered Sutto's 3 R's. Relaxation / Rhythm / Range.

I will add / reinforce that I don't think you should be thinking about a 2 or 6 or whatever beat kick at all. Work on the front of the stroke, and let your legs do what they want in terms of kick timing. Just get them up near the surface (heels should be breaking the surface, they aren't right now.) and keep your core strong.

Best 2 drills I can recommend for you (off the top of my head) are catch-up drill (make sure to get that reach at the front of the stroke, and try to keep your elbow at the surface of the water until your forearm is near vertical) and 12-kicks per side. (I forget what the name of this one is, but essentially it's kicking on your left side for 12 beats with your left arm forward / right arm at your side, one pull and repeat on your right, etc... focus on maintaining a really long body line when kicking, your ear should be on your shoulder, elbow locked, and your feet should be up bubbling the surface)

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

well, yeah, that goes without saying :)

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

Serape Kick Drill?!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjshDNJX7nk

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Formerly TriBrad02

yup, pretty much that, but switch arms every 12 kicks or so.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

How would a band help his number one problem, dorsifelxion? His flaps are fully down, he is ready for landing.

What do you say Jason, with or without fins? You know my answer ; )

Oh and call him Sutton.

He won't be able to do the drill without fins. I think in this particular case, fins are OK, because the prupose isn't to actually work on kick, but on stuff at the front of the stroke.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

I think we are talking about the same thing only using different wording. When I say glide I don't mean just float in the water. I mean gliding as in extending the arm way out in front of you and not immediately doing this windmill type stroke he was doing. Here are a few examples of that.

Michael Phelps
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax77_hHq9Dc

World record 1500 start about the 6 minute mark
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5FlDy3YmDQ

I don't think dorsiflexion of the ankles (I think thats what you're saying) is his #1 problem.

the wording matters. when you use the word "glide" it means "rest" to most people. Especially if you say you want them to "glide for a second". One second is a really long time in a stroke cycle. If you want the person to extend further, then use the word "extend".

I wish people would stop using Yang as a model of perfection. Sure, he's the fastest ever, but it is not realistic for most of us to ever get close to swimming like that. We don't have his size, his strength, or his insane flexibility. I never use Sun Yang as a model for the average swimmer to emulate, especially not a 50-something adult onset swimmer. They can't do that. There's a reason that most distance swimmers don't have a stroke that looks anything like that.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

If you look at just about every person in that race not just him they all have a "glide" or "extend" when reaching out front. To me it looks like they are gliding for a second but video is better than words in describing something so hopefully those videos help the OP understand what I meant.

Then you don't know what to look for. Most triathletes have this same problem, the ones who bother to attack the issue often follow your kind of advice, and then they don't get faster.

looks are deceiving...

The OP's turnover is already too low, combined with lousy distance per stroke, that translates to slow. (no offense meant to the OP, that's just being honest).

encouraging a "glide" will encourage the OP to drop his turnover even more.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

in fairness, while the dorsiflexion in the feet is an issue, it is far from his #1 issue. I'd put it at about #4 or 5.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

Yeah, it should be fixed, but it's not even close to what's holding him back. Even a MOP swimmer like myself can easily swim sub 1:30s/100 while intentionally pulling my toes up in the wrong direction - it costs time, but not THAT much time, whereas you're not going anywhere fast with the lack of power in that pull.

He needs to buy a Vasa Trainer and work on improving his pulling power:)

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

That's actually true for like every BOMOPer!

Ya, i think you are right:)

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

I'd recommend buying a copy of Swim Speed Secrets by Sheila Taormina for any BOPMOP swimmer. She's also just released her 2015 clinic schedule.

http://swimspeedsecrets.com/

Ya, i started to mention this in my first post on this thread, and Sheila's view that at least 80% of all swimmers' propulsion comes from their pull is what i was exactly alluding to when i said the OP needs to really PULL, not just go through the motions. I see this every single day at the pool with the vast majority of fitness swimmers, who seem to be much more concerned with going through the motions properly than with pulling hard. A lot of folks just have a hard time "getting it" in terms of how to pull themselves through the water. OTOH, I've seen some guys become proficient swimmers in just 2 or 3 months once someone explains to them what they need to be doing, but they are in the minority.

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

I read that book in its entirety.

It's good, but I surprisingly (I guess unsurprisingly to others around here) have NOT found her EVF to be the salvation of the MOPers wishing to gain swim speed. I posted about my last 4-5 wks of training in which I got a self-video that showed a still dropping elbow, and then I've taken pretty severe measures to fix/improve EVF, in particular, swimming a lot with a Finis Fulcrum, and videoing myself a lot on my Vasa to refine that pull motion.

I've really made a change in the fore portion of my stroke, and now have the right arm contour, but I certainly have not seen the 10-15sec/100 that she suggests would happen if people do the EVF. I still agree with her that it's all about propulsion, but I'm now much more skeptical as to the gains specific to EVF, which I'm finding are much smaller than she claims. (Whereas sheer swim fitness and power are tremendous - with adequate swim fitness/power, you can be a fast AGer even with a dropped elbow, but you'll never be a fast AGer without the engine, even with perfect EVF.)