I know I’m asking for it, but here goes.
Middle aged MOPer. Want to get faster. IM swims have been 1:18:xx (St. George 2010) and 1:16:xx (CDA 2011)
Haven’t swum enough. Avg 7500m last year, hope to avg 12-15000 this year.
Do you see the ceiling when you breathe? Your head twists far too much.
OK, back to the video. That’s what I noticed in the first 3 seconds. 
Left elbow drops on the pull.
Need footage without fins !
You don’t kick continuously. It almost stops when you breathe. Further - I think the footage at the end was finless - you bend your knees way too much. Practice kicking flutter on your back. If you bend your knees, you’ll move next to nowhere. I find that helps a lot of triathletes develop their kick.
I suspect the fins are a desperate (and failing) attempt to keep the hips up in the water. There are some body position issues that need to be fixed in that regard.
There are actually some very good swimmers who have that little bit of butterfly-like short axis undulation you’re got going on. But said very good swimmers have better body position in the water. You’re also putting your head in the water too deep, I think in an attempt to keep hips up, and the results is that you’re having to move it way too much when you breathe.
You’ve got decent body roll, but need to work on that body roll doing something useful in terms of extending the stroke on the front end. Think of how it feels when you rotate your body a little to reach something on a shelf that’s just a little too high. That’s how the start of the catch should feel. Looks like fairly decent positioning on the arm pull- forearm gets nice and perpendicular to the pol bottom, and you don’t seem to be massively dropping the elbow like a lot of other triathlete vids I’ve seen. (Even on the left side it could be worse,and I’d only worry about it after the body position issues get sorted out.)
Kick is ugly, even with flippers. If you do kicking as part of a workout, I like to see it done streamlined and on the back because it helps discourage some bad habits involving kicking too much from the knee and also feel like it helps you figure out some things in terms of body position.
Your legs are way too low which means they are creating drag. Get them closer to the surface and kick more from your hips instead of your knees. Your stroke in general is twitchy, ie not smooth. Your arms are out in front then all of a sudden you pull and I suspect you aren’t catching much water. You are also crossing the center line with both hands. Are you really going so hard that you have to breathe every stroke?
I will guess that your pace in that video is much faster than when you swim in an IM. We should see video of you at race pace, not at your sprint pace, and without the toys.
What are those things on your forearms/wrists/hands?
And it looks like there is a disconnect between your kicking and your arms, though it’s hard to tell: when one hand enters the water, the opposite foot should be kicking downwards (I think I got that right).
Your legs are way too low which means they are creating drag. Get them closer to the surface.
Watching this video and knowing my problems in the pool, this is so true. But how?
You are pressing down so much with the first part of your stroke that you are losing the whole first half. You are basically pushing downward through the first 1/3 of the stroke. This is doing nothing to propel you forward. Your pull is almost like a semi circular sweep. Watch the direction of the bubbles following your hand as they make a trail…going straight down. So as your hand enters, it drags the air towards the bottom of the pool.
ETA: Probably one of the reasons your legs ride low is because this arm action is forcing your chest and head up and out of the water.
the critiques help me too so i can pay attention as i try to work on my stroke. do you guys have any youtube videos to recommend that shows an ideal stroke to try to emulate?
I like these
Jodie Swallow
Karlyne Pipes-Neilsen
Among many others.
Well, got a lot of work to do. Not sure where to start, but I’m determined to improve the swim this winter. The issues you all have pointed out were pretty much what I’ve been told for a while. The things on my wrist were fulcrums to help me feel a proper high elbow catch. I’ve already improved a great deal from my beginnings. I appreciate your expertise. Any tips as to how to address all these issues would be awesome.
Your legs are way too low which means they are creating drag. Get them closer to the surface.
Watching this video and knowing my problems in the pool, this is so true. But how?
I think scuba diving has helped me with this. It’s balance and core strength. I think of it as a teeter totter and what I do is try to press by chest into the water, with a solid core you legs should naturally rise up. A drill or test that I do is to start off in the pool just treading water, take a breath and begin moving into the floating position by moving your head and chest down onto the top of the water and your hips/butt will follow and your legs should follow along with them.
Having said that, I’m no a good swimmer by any means, I have been working pretty hard on improving my swim this past year.
Good stuff in this thread, thanks and keep it coming.
Swimming is all in the elbows, high elbows in the recovery out of the water (which can’t see in the vid) and high elbows in the water. With top swimmers the elbow is never more than an inch below the surface of the water. Suggest doing some shoulder joint stretches to improve range of motion so you can keep your shoulder and elbow high as you looks to not have much flexibility through the first part of the stroke. Try some sculling drills with a pull bouy where you just work on getting your elbow into the correct position. Good luck!
With top swimmers the elbow is never more than an inch below the surface of the water.
I disagree with this statement. I have never observed elbows of any swimmer staying within an inch of the surface throughout their stroke.
With top swimmers the elbow is never more than an inch below the surface of the water.
I disagree with this statement. I have never observed elbows of any swimmer staying within an inch of the surface throughout their stroke.
x2. I also disagree with the statement that you have to have high elbows in recovery to have high elbows in the pull.
To the OP: As they have said, you are sinking, and it’s at least in part to an ineffective pull. I’d also like to see a video closer to race pace and without the fins, and without the flume.
If you look at your left hand around :16-:20, when your left hand goes in you are immediately cocking it down. I suspect your brain thinks that is getting you evf, when it actually is killing the early catch for the stroke. You let your hands drift/press down for the first third of your stroke, and then for the last third of the stroke, they are just kind of drifting back.
Even with the fins you look like you are bicycling your kick, and I bet it’s worse without the fins.
Both of those add up to a loss of forward propulsion which means you drift down and then have to roll and twist your head around to breathe.
John