I had someone videotape me swimming from the surface and it was quite revealing, especially the view from behind. I think I can correct the small errors in my stroke on my own.
But the symptom of my major problem is that I’m fishtailing with my torso and legs. Also, my legs are not streamlined with my body (the flair out behind me in a very non-aero manner). This seems to be caused by several things:
a) too much tilt with my shoulders
b) poor alignment with kick
c) uneven stroke
To correct my problem, I’ve told to lead the tilt with my hips, not with my shoulders. I also think I need improve my rhythm so that my stroke is symmetrical and my lower body (kick) is in sync, as was described in the freestyle kick thread, with my upper body (stroke).
I try to read all of the swimming wisdom that has been laid out here recently and I think I’ve picked up some good pointers that I plan on using. But my questions to all you swim gurus out there are as follows:
i. What does it mean to “open” your hips (this has never made sense to me)?
ii. Would a cord around my legs force me to swim in a streamlined position? Or will my leg flair problem correct itself when I gain better balance and rythmn?
iii. I hate using swim toys but would some small flippers help me work on my kick?
Please feel free to add additional comments that you think will help me use my energy to push forward instead of side to side.
First of all, swimmer use the term “streamlined” to describe what you are calling “aero” —
Opening your hips refers to the idea of rotating them as opposed to swimming flat.
Yes, try some FINS - the short ones, not long flippers. They will help with ankle flexibility.
Sorry, newbie here with a cycling background. aero/streamline, cadence/turnover, road rash/foot fungus… it’s all the same to me. In the future I’ll try to improve my swim terminology
The bad news is that the swimming club is even tighter lipped and harder to master than even the most jaded roady clubs
That is why I love running/runners - hey lets just GO! Running in itself is a prett “dumb” sport (as far as technique goes). Fitness gets you didly in the water without technique.
Have someone check to see if you are crossing over, meaning if you draw a straight line from your head, that you right arm crosses over to the left of the line a visa vera. This can make you legs fishtail all over the place to compensate.
The terminology can ever vary a great deal among the fish. Just try to get a consensus among serios swimmers about whether a lap is one or two lengths.
I’ve always called a lap = 2 lengths
at the start of a race, the officials around here say “500 freestyle, 20 lengths of the pool.” so a length is one, and a lap is two lengths!
you got waaay too much to think about here…kinda like if you tried to hit a golf ball by thinking about 4 different problems with 4 different body parts while hitting…you’d end up like a pretzel; worse than you started…i can’t imagine how a remedial swimmer would “open hips” as a way to start and improvement…you’d go from salamander to jelly fish…i’d reccomend you start with two basic drills and let your mind start to appreciate what’s going on: do kick sets, because kicking can help your back end keep in line and i bet your kick isn’t doing much to help; do catch-up drills with plenty of rotation as you breath…
Ok, I am no swimmer. Last month I swam 1.26 100, that was my fastest. Yesterday I went 1.18. this is what I did over the month. I put all the toys away, kick sets on my back and on the side, single arm swimming. I have the same problem you do, fishtailing, it myust be getting better now. I did not swim a lot a day 2000-2500 yards, but I swam 5 times a week. I have , for now, quit masters swimming do I can slow down and concentrate on form. BAsically all my workout are like this 400-600 wu, 4X400 drill down swim back. If I feel lke swimming more I’ll swim 4X100 or something similar, finish with 200 cool down.
If you read through the swimming rule book of your choice, they will never use the term lap because of the lack of consensus on the term. Instead, everything will be discussed in terms of lengths or actual distance.
For some rulebooks, there isn’t a script for gun lap races that you have to follow, so a couple of the regular starters in my area used to say “lead swimmer will get the gun with fifty plus five” instead.
It’s the back end of your stroke. As your hands and arms exit the water they create most of the errors in hips, kick and cross over. Read some of my older posts on arm recovery!
DougStern
It’s the back end of your stroke. As your hands and arms exit the water they create most of the errors in hips, kick and cross over. Read some of my older posts on arm recovery!
DougStern
Help Doug, since having my stroke analyzed by a low budget coach with a camcorder, my swimming has gone straight to hell. After starting this thread I started overanalyzing my swimming which has totally haulted all progress I had made before. It is almost like I’ve forgotten how to swim. I wasn’t great by any means but at least I felt like I was in control of my progress.
I read a post recently where you described a smooth stroke until it comes times to breath; then all hell breaking loose. You were talking about split second timing so I wrote it off as an advanced skill that I was not yet ready to attempt. But, “all hell breaking loose” accurately describes what is happening with my new stroke.
I always breath every other stroke on my left side. When I turn to breath, my right hand, which is extended at this point, has to push down on the water for me to keep my balance. Yes, I know, very unproductive if not counterproductive. On my non-breathing stroke I feel like superman – gliding through the water with my outstretched arm. I seem to be in perfect rythmn, good catch, good kick. Then, the second I turn to breath I spiral into something (I won’t call it swimming) that resembles my daughter’s pet goldfish the night before she found it belly up. What would you, and others, recommend for keeping my balance as I breath?
