My time with USA Swimming
I was lucky enough to work with USA Swimming's national team this past weekend in Columbus, OH at the Grand Prix event. First, no, Mr. Phelps didnt swim. He backed out the day before the event. There were however a ton of other great swimmers, both from the US and abroad. World record holders, Olympic medalists, etc.
When I wasnt busy treating the athletes or in between sessions (a.m. = Prelims,p.m. - finals), I spent my time with USA Swimming's biomechanics crew, looking at video of the athletes performances. Needless to say, I had a ton of questions for them. A few points I wanted to share with the Haus:
Two essential form things, right from the head of the Biomechanics Team. All freestyle swimmers at this level have:
1. Solid initial "catch" of the water (that little bit of wrist flexion as you begin your pull)
2. High elbows
No one gets to that level with these problems, so if anything, I'd concentrate on these.
I asked what is a "common" problem among these swimmers. Answer: breathing too late, or taking to long to breathe. By doing either, you're essentially robbing your momentum and slowing you down. The breath needs to be taken sooner than much of us think/are doing. Tough for me to write about now -- I'll try to clarify more later on.
Finally, I'm going to add this next part in with a disclaimer. I love the things Rich does with swimming in our Haus. I love the TI that Laughlin pitches too. I do the drills. It helps me. That being said, the head of biomechanics said that 'no one swims on their side'. He said that even the best, no matter the distance, dont do it. He said Phelps may get to 45 degrees, not the 90 that we hear about. No one points their belly button to the wall during races. Reasons: 1. usually you get too extended 2. it slows down the stroke too much 3. swimmers lose their kick to some degree if they rotate too much.
Comments
What do you need to do in order to get the best possible catch?
For most adults learning to swim, the catch is such an elusive entity that they end up doing tons of stuff wrong in an attempt to find it. I think that the benefit of an "overextended" stroke (according to biomechanics guy) is that it teaches folks to wait and to engage the right muscles...and it makes finding a real catch much easier. But I agree that most swimmers take that to an extreme...that said, an overextended stroke aided by a massive wetsuit that eliminates the need for kicking really reduces the "cost" associated with a TI-like stroke.
So while I agree with the bio guy, I think that if you are going to err, then easier, slower, side-rotating is the way to go.
I personally feel like I'm still trying to find the catch. Sometimes I think I feel it- but it's not consistent. The side kick with 3 pulls drill is the one that I feel helps me the most. Yes, it's technically a position drill, but it's the one where I can really slow down and think about feeling the catch before I pull each time.
I've heard other coaches talk about the problem with timing of the breath. But I still can't figure out if I'm doing it right! Would love to hear more about that topic if you can figure out a way to explain it in words!
@Nemo -- My point about the breath...I'll oversimplify things here a bit, but I think we need to think about taking the breath sooner in our stroke rather than later. If you're pulling through, and you find your arm perpendicular to the bottom of the pool, and you havent taken that breath yet, its probably too late. Taking it that late will kill your momentum. Also, as the coaches point out, breathing is done with head rotation, not chin-lift-and-rotate-head. If the chin goes up, the legs go down, and you increase your drag. You can always swim on your side without having your head turned out of the water! Review the side position drills RnP have in the swim doc. Take a quick breath when you need to. Remember, you can exhale underwater. Then, when you turn your head, its just a quick inhale of air.
Anyway, it was just a few points I wanted to share. Hope it helps someone in the Haus.