My swim video (be kind!)
ok, read this before you view it...I learned to swim a little over 2 years ago.
I am not fast or good and certainly not fast AND good.
What should I work on first?
In previous lessons, I feel like I get too many things to work on at once.
I want to try an approach where I work on my BIGGEST weakness...get it fixed...then move to the next biggest...etc.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WtC_TltKNM
P.S. I swim 1.2 miles in 47 minutes
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Comments
You raise too much your head while breathing, making your arm too high and your elbow is totally straight, there's a drill which you can do, your left Google, in this case, should not be on the surface, try to keep it below the surface, with this you could get a better movement in the surface with your arm. Also bilateral breathing a should help you to get that balance
At your gliding Your arm goes to low so your catch is not that efficient, if you do some catchups drill you could nail it very fast.
Try to bend your knees a little more, your legs looks stiff.
By the way really cool that you have the pool for yourself
Don,
Overall, looks pretty good. Your body position is decent, with your legs close to the surface . . . until you breathe. You're over-rotating to the R, lifting both eyes (maybe even your L ear) out of the water to breathe. This sinks your legs. Watch 1:45-2:05 and see your heels near the surface, then sink a good foot below the water when you breath. You have to kick more to re-gain balance. Why? Simple. You're holding your breath. Watch 1:45-2:05 again and look for bubbles. You start to exhale through your nose about 1 inch before your head exits the water. That means you finish your exhalation above the water, then start to breathe, spending way too much time out of the water, wrecking havoc on your balance and rotation. Instead, calmly start exhaling through your mouth as soon as you're done inhaling. Then you'll be ready to inhale with only one eye out of the water the millisecond your mouth reaches the surface. This is a pretty easy fix that will help with both your balance and rotation.
BTW, I like your 2-beat kick from the hip (not the knees). Work on ankle flexion, as Jay mentioned.
As Jay also noted, you reach/catch way too low, especially your R hand. Look at your R hand at 2:12. It's gotta be 2 feet below the water. It should be about 4-6' below the surface. That easy fix will instantly add a few inches to your stroke length and shave several seconds off your 100 times. But . . . when you adjust your reach upward, you must also raise your elbow and keep it above the hand/wrist. Go to Swimsmooth.com for details about the high-elbow catch.
Once you have those pretty fixes knocked off, re-video to confirm, then move on to developing the catch/pull and increasing your stroke rate.
Just my $0.02.
Don, as another adult onset swimmer, I'm no expert. The only thing I would add is that from my experience over 3 years and from everything I've read, breathing every 4 strokes is probably not enough. Oxygen debt/CO2 buildup will ultimately force you to swim slower than you can breathing every R or L stroke. Some people favor bilateral breathing, but most folks seem to feel that in a race setting that you will be able to sustain a better pace with a breath every R or L stroke (every 2 strokes). I have this season learned to breathe to my left (former only R side breather), but I did this for two reasons: 1) my coach told me I had an unbalance stroke and encouraged me to learn the other side to create more balance (and surprisingly, I'm a little faster breathing to the left!) and 2) to allow breathing away from waves or sun in a race.
So, my only addition would be to maybe transition to bilateral breathing (every 3rd) or practice both sides equally. I now swim every 25 alternating sides. Other folks do 10-20 strokes one way and then the other....makes no difference, just easier for my small mind to handle this method.
I agree with the low catch/hand drifting down observation, but I fight this every stinking day too, so since I live in a glass house I will not throw that stone! Catch-up drill should help with it, but I find that if I just pay attention I can fix it (which then causes some other form degradation of course!).
Thanks for sharing your video. I plan to do the same soon. JL
Don, You've gotten some good advice already. One thing I would suggest is to make the most use of the swim e-book in the wiki and the video's that coach Rich has provided. Take the material in the wiki and drill, drill, drill until you get them down. Work on them 1 or 2 at a time and improve your body position first. Then propulsion. Your ankle in-flexibility, ie not pointing your toes is a huge source of drag for you right now. My old high school swim coach had us sit on the floor with out feet pointed straight back under us. Start by kneeling with your feet pointing back and sit back, butt on heels. This stretch may not be very comfortable for you in the beginning, so go slow, use a foam roller or something between your heels/butt until you get better flexibility.
Lots of great material in the wiki on this. Good luck