Comments on: It’s all about technique http://www.theraceclub.net/aqua-notes/its-all-about-technique/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=its-all-about-technique Gary Hall Presents The Race Club Swim Camp Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:54:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Gary Sr http://www.theraceclub.net/aqua-notes/its-all-about-technique/#comment-54 Gary Sr Mon, 30 Nov 2009 13:42:44 +0000 http://www.theraceclub.net/?p=1916#comment-54 Dear James, Try to get someone to video you either above or below water, or preferably both. You will learn more about your technique that way. What you do and what you think you are doing are usually two very different things. Regards, Gary Sr. Dear James,

Try to get someone to video you either above or below water, or preferably both. You will learn more about your technique that way. What you do and what you think you are doing are usually two very different things.

Regards,

Gary Sr.

]]> By: James Stuart http://www.theraceclub.net/aqua-notes/its-all-about-technique/#comment-53 James Stuart Sun, 29 Nov 2009 19:13:30 +0000 http://www.theraceclub.net/?p=1916#comment-53 I agree what you saying about technique although its so hard cos I train alone at 25m gym pool. I agree what you saying about technique although its so hard cos I train alone at 25m gym pool.

]]> By: Gary Sr http://www.theraceclub.net/aqua-notes/its-all-about-technique/#comment-51 Gary Sr Sat, 28 Nov 2009 00:01:42 +0000 http://www.theraceclub.net/?p=1916#comment-51 Hi Michael! Nice job at Indy by the way. Let me try to explain the power in freestyle in the following way. There are generally two types of freestylers (Mike Bottom actually describes three with one in between the two I will describe) 1) hip/leg driven and 2) shoulder/arm driven. Option 1 is only an option if you have strong legs...which is what enables swimmers like Phelps, Lezak, Biederman, Meloulli, etc to have such long dps. The legs sustain their speed while their longer hold out front then creates more lift (less drag). The longer hold out front also allows more time to turn the hips. It is the counter rotation of the hip and core that creates a force against which we pull. The longer and faster the hip turn, the greater stabilizing force we create for propulsion. In other words, the power we create is not just from the arm, but the combination of the arm pull against the hip counter rotation....just as if we are pulling on a lane line instead of just water. The shoulder/arm driven freestylers rely on faster stroke rate to get back into the front quadrant position and to help sustain their speed. Virtually all of the world class sprinters are in this category (50 meters or less). From 100 all the way to 1500, you will see a mixture, depending on their strength. Finally, one cannot determine the power of propulsion just by looking at the instantaneous body velocity occurring in the stroke cycle. The problem is made more complex by the fact that both the propulsive power and human shape change drastically during a single arm stroke. For example, when one sees the huge deceleration (around 40% drop in speed) that occurs between the entry out front and the hand at the face or shoulder position underwater, one might think the slowing is due to loss of power. I don't believe it. For several reasons, I believe the front quadrant is the most powerful position. The slowing (I believe) is based purely on the huge increase of drag created by our upper arms sticking out; a very unstreamlined position. In my estimation, Michael, learning how to reduce drag (without the high tech suit) is the next frontier for improvement. Regards, Gary Sr. Hi Michael! Nice job at Indy by the way. Let me try to explain the power in freestyle in the following way. There are generally two types of freestylers (Mike Bottom actually describes three with one in between the two I will describe) 1) hip/leg driven and 2) shoulder/arm driven. Option 1 is only an option if you have strong legs…which is what enables swimmers like Phelps, Lezak, Biederman, Meloulli, etc to have such long dps. The legs sustain their speed while their longer hold out front then creates more lift (less drag). The longer hold out front also allows more time to turn the hips. It is the counter rotation of the hip and core that creates a force against which we pull. The longer and faster the hip turn, the greater stabilizing force we create for propulsion. In other words, the power we create is not just from the arm, but the combination of the arm pull against the hip counter rotation….just as if we are pulling on a lane line instead of just water.

The shoulder/arm driven freestylers rely on faster stroke rate to get back into the front quadrant position and to help sustain their speed. Virtually all of the world class sprinters are in this category (50 meters or less). From 100 all the way to 1500, you will see a mixture, depending on their strength.

Finally, one cannot determine the power of propulsion just by looking at the instantaneous body velocity occurring in the stroke cycle. The problem is made more complex by the fact that both the propulsive power and human shape change drastically during a single arm stroke. For example, when one sees the huge deceleration (around 40% drop in speed) that occurs between the entry out front and the hand at the face or shoulder position underwater, one might think the slowing is due to loss of power. I don’t believe it. For several reasons, I believe the front quadrant is the most powerful position. The slowing (I believe) is based purely on the huge increase of drag created by our upper arms sticking out; a very unstreamlined position.

In my estimation, Michael, learning how to reduce drag (without the high tech suit) is the next frontier for improvement.

Regards,

Gary Sr.

]]> By: Michael Mann http://www.theraceclub.net/aqua-notes/its-all-about-technique/#comment-50 Michael Mann Fri, 27 Nov 2009 14:12:04 +0000 http://www.theraceclub.net/?p=1916#comment-50 Gary Where do you consider the freestyle stroke in the power phase and does hip rotation increase the power? Gary
Where do you consider the freestyle stroke in the power phase and does hip rotation increase the power?

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