Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Great dive, great start, great turns, wobbly stroke!
First and foremost I cannot do better nor will I ever be able to match Michael Phelps or Peter Vanderkay in technique quality but I do see things that don't look symmetrical to my untrained eye and I like pointing them out for discussion.
Phelps has turned freestyle into a hybrid event. Underwater he's all butterfly. Even during his pull his hands end up crossing under his belly button. On top of the water he is appears wobbly and seemingly not as efficient as Vanderkay. (Too many moving parts in his stroke.)
Vanderkay's turns are too shallow whereas Phelps goes deeper and at an angle so as to not swim against the turbulent water he brought to the wall with him. (Vanderkay should do a technique clinic with Olympian Rada Owen to fix that and I am very serious. Of course you can too if you call the SCAQ office and set up a private.)
What intrigues me is how swimmers at that level do things that we are taught not to. I don't breathe off the walls but a majority of swimmers at Olympic trials did. Why?
We also saw a lot of swimmers not able or even trying to match Phelps in regards to his underwater work. Hmmm? I wonder why as well?
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5 comments:
brings to mind janet Evans and her windmill freestyle
Watching how the fastest swimmers at the top level maintain their breathing pattern I get annoyed thinking about how most coaches completely discourage breathing in the same manner during practice. Being older and wiser, I now know that I can swim a 500 freestyle exceedingly faster if I alter my breathing pattern as the race progresses. Working hard takes oxygen and it is just stupid not to take what you can get while still maintaining speed. However, growing up, I always forced myself to keep the same pattern through a race because that is what coaches reinforced. There was no sneaking in a breath after a turn or breathing on the same side twice. I think it should be encouraged to take a breath when you really need it, just try it out in practice and be sure you can maintain speed. Lack of oxygen will slow you down a lot faster than the break in your stroke to take a breath.
What Merritt says is completely true (and a practice I'm not ashamed to say I follow) but if you can hold off breathing the first couple of strokes out of a turn you conserve your precious momentum. The real trick, of course, is possessing the ability to do it on that third turn when gasping for air. Speaking for myself every time I try my lungs say f*#k that you old codger - breathe and breathe quickly! Now I've been told the discomfort isn't pain and just to swim through it. Obviously I have to get a whole lot stronger mentally.
In a race, I find I do best when I do as little breathing as possible.For instance, on a 100 sprint I breathe every fourth stroke. I don't breathe the first 6 strokes till I am at full speed.
I suspect that will be the next "innovation" in swimming. You will see athletes breathing less and less. Especially in anything under 200m
Here's a video of Crocker - 100 free in 41.6. Looks like he's breathing every stroke(or at least every other stroke) except for the last 5 yards or so.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tZMc8oMnyA
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