There is the possibility of giving someone a life long complex.
I was swimming one day last year and a masters swimmer who just blows by me all the time, he and I talk, and I am always bitching about my speed, and one day, he said, “you know, you’ve got one heck of a cross over going in your arms.” That’s one problem. You are fishtailing down the lane. If you filmed it, you’d see it.
Of course, I had no idea, I thought I had a pretty good stroke.
Got out the camera. And man, whoaaa! I swim just like the dudes who I laugh at in the other lanes, who have funky arm movements. One lesson learned, don’t laugh at anybody until you see your own stroke. Odds are, unless you were a competitive swimmer in college or high school, it looks retarded.
Also, what looks like wide entry in the water, is usually not.
On a right breath, right entry, my right arm is crossing midline, and on my left the gliding arm is also crossing over across the midline. He was absolutely right. Also, this happens on a left breath, left entry. In short, a double cross over. I bilateral breath on 3.
After he told me that, last year, I have read every single book, from TI to Slowguy’s thing here about using some surgical chord, to wrap around my feet to keep my legs from splaying as I lose my balance trying to fix this. I do all the side kicking drills and, arm extended drills, catchup everything, (swim like you are swimming “rail to rail”) but it just won’t go away.
Now, I’ve just given up and accepted the crossover. Doing the extended arm, side kick and or catchup, is fine, but when the real swimming starts, back it comes. About the only thing I’m doing now is just accepting it, or I might think, on a right breath right entry. Left arm enter at 10 oclock, right arm at 2 Oclock. I thought you know what, “I think that simple solution fixed it,” get out the video camera, and what looks like a 10 and 2 entry, when I’m in the water, looks again like a “mild double cross over on tape.”
I’m glad he told me, but not glad he told me.