The purpose of the test was to create an awareness of the timing of your stroke. Most swimmers have a great catch and pull on one stroke and not on the other. When they swim without breathing, their strokes are beautiful and their bodies are streamlined. As soon as a breath is included in the swim all hell breaks loose.
Before I go into the explanation there are certain beliefs that I have about teaching and swimming.
The power in the stroke is a result of the summation of forces, which means that the kick initiates the power phase, followed by the hips, shoulder and finally the hands/forearms. If your hips lead your shoulders and arms you must not move your arm until your hip is in position to apply power.
We have two alignment issues, fore /aft and side/side.
Turning your head has nothing to do with body rotation. Your head rotates in line with you shoulder when you take a breathe.
Newton’s Third Law of Motion (action/reaction)influences how we swim .
A.The back end of the stroke influences what happens to the front end of your stroke. If you fling your hand back at the end of the stroke you will lose control over it and in all likelihood your arm will enter crossing your shoulder line on entry. If you lead your recovery by lifting your shoulders up and forward your will have more control of the recovery arm.
B. There is a relationship between your hip and opposite shoulder. As you shoulder moves forward your opposite hip opens.
You must have fairly flexible shoulders in order to keep your arms close to your body on recovery.
There is a catch up in your stroke (not a drill catch-up where both hands meet at full extension).
Swim with your head in a neutral position in line with your shoulders.
Now, for the “how to.” It is all split second timing. It involves every part of your stroke.
If you are breathing on the left side, as your right hand enters the water in line with your shoulder and between your left elbow and wrist you are now square in the water. Your left arm sets up the catch position (fingers down and straight line between fingers and elbow) your hip starts to open causing your shoulder to rise pulling your arm back. Allow your head to move in line with your shoulder to get your breath. You will be breathing fairly early in your stroke and you will feel as if your body is pulling over your arm. As this is happening as your right arm is extending causing your hip to open even more.
Your left hand finishes its power phase at your hip which is opened maximally. Your shoulder leads the recovery with your fingers close to the water. Your right arm feels as if it is stilll moving forward. Your head returns to the water as it leads the left hand. You are now square in the water ready to initiate power on the right side of your body. Your right arm is setting up its catch position as the left arm touches the water in line with your shoulder and between your elbow and wrist (just as your right hand did). Since your head leads your arms on recovery you can see your extended right arm.
Learning this pattern requires that do a preliminary head positon set up. Swim a length of the pool with your head in the water looking at the bottom of the pool. Raise your line of sight until you can just see your hands. Use your periferal vision as much as possible and not just lift your head (eyes forward).
In my world the is no favorite body side. Each stroke is the same because it is initiated in the same way. Once you have mastered the sequencing of the stroke, you have also aligned your body side to side you can now drop your head a bit more at aid in fore/aft alignment.
I am definitly looking forward to working with you again in Curacao. I think my stroke is better than when you last saw it, but I’m sure you’ll find plenty of room for improvement!
ok Doug, I read this thread (sorry, I missed it the first time…probably since so few people responded to it, it quickly dropped off page 1).
Anyway, I’m still lost…in particular, I’m not clear on where you think the head should be pointed as the hand enters the water. If I’m initiating a breath (on the left), as my right hand enters the water my head has already begun to rotate to the left as my shoulders have begun to open. If I understand your test correctly, you are advocating that I should keep my head in a position that allows me to continue to see my right hand entry.
Is this correct??
FWIW, I’m a sub 1hr IM swimmer (been swimming since I was 6, I’m 35 now) with pretty decent mechanics already. I’ve always learned that the head should stay in concert with the shoulders during the breathing phase, not oppose them.
LOL, yeah, I had to back into this from the other thread. I’m the poor swimmer that could probably benefit much from this…if I can figure it out. I’m off to get Babblefish to translate from swim-speak to that of land based animal.
ps. Okay, I’ll probably just print it and re-read it a bunch of times.
pps. Thanks
Doug, I appreciate you taking time to post your great points and coaching on here. Where would you suggest someone who has no swimming background and has taught themselves to swim begin in trying to learn the right way to swim. I live in a relatively rural area, we really do not have anybody in the area to give swim lessons. Would you suggest a weekend swimming camp as a good place to start, if so with who? My kick is nonexistent, and I know my form is not very good, I can swim but I am slow and I know I have a lot of room for improvement. Many of your points are great but I need a place to start. I am not sure if taking a camp with you is to advanced for my ability right now or not. any suggestions are appreciated.
JFlores,
You are absolutely correct in that your head moves with your shoulders when you take a breathe. If you are breathing to the left, your shoulders are squared off as your right hand enters the water. As soon as it does, you start your rotation to the left side. Your right arm entering the water is not at full extension. It is entering just past your opposite elbow and is extending. Your right shoulder and left hip are connected in the rotation process.
It is all split second timing.
DougStern
Lactic,
Actually, while I was writing the thread I got a call from my wife’s gym. It seems she made a wrong turn and got lost on the tread mill and can not be found. My daughter was riding her bike on the turbo trainer and biked off the terrace. My mom called to say she was disinheriting me because she felt that I was wasting my life sitting at a computer console writing threads and too indecisive as which pedals I should race in.
DougStern
Ok! I’m not entirely clear. When I swam last night I saw my right hand entering (out of the corner of my eye) just as my head was turning to breathe. When I turned back, I saw my right hand and forearm pointing at the bottom and my elbow up near my forehead. What do you think?
The down beat on the right leg drives the right shoulder and arm forward and opens the left hip and vice versa.
DougStern
Thanks for the information you have posted.
I am confused about the timing of the kick. I regularly refer to the analysis of Grant Hackett’s stroke found here http://www.svl.ch/CrawlAnalysis/
It seems to be saying that the down kick with the right leg is used to initiate the rotation of the hips from a right hip down to a left hip down position and to help drive the left arm and shoulder forward.
This seems to me to be the opposite of what you are saying. Am I misunderstanding what you or the other author is saying?
Please understand I have great respect for your knowledge of swimming and appreciate the information you post. I am new to swimming and am trying to understand things better.
Think for a moment. If your right leg kicks downard what is happening to your left leg? It kicks up. Your left leg is attached to your left hip causing it to rotate upward. You will notice that as you kick down with your right leg your right arm drives forward. There is the a relationship between your right arm and left hip and vice versa.
DougStern