Don't look down!
David Marsh in the DVD Swimming Faster Freestyle says you should look down when doing freestyle. Richard Quick too tells swimmers to look down at the line. Eddie Reese on the other hand says that if the bottom of the pool were 6:00 PM and the top of the ceiling were high noon, look to about 7:30. (Out of the aforementioned three coaches I wonder who has produced more Olympians?)
Natalie Coughlin in the photo above thinks 8:15 feels just about right and who can argue with two gold medals, a couple of silvers and a Bronze. (And she is swimming faster now compared to Athens circa 2004.) She has also co-written a straight-forward book about her swimming experiences called Golden Girl which can be purchased at Amazon.
Note where the swimmers are looking and then see if it works. What I have found is that when I sprint looking up does work for me and apparently for Natalie. Does it work for you?
2 comments:
This picture of Natalie is not a technique picture. She is clearly looking at the camera.
I would venture to say that Quick has produced the most Olympians, hes 100 years old for crying out loud. Same with Eddie Reese. Look what Marsh has done in the few years he has been head coach. He is quickly matching the success of both Reese and Quick in half the years!
Dave Marsh is way commendable. In fact, I think he has left Auburn to go coach at the Olympic center as well.
I think swimming is an art rather than a science for all human bodies are different.
Look at all of the Olympians swimming from an underwater point of view and they all seem to be looking forward.
I look forward in a sprint and I look down on distance. Especially open water. What do you do?
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