Critique My Swim Vid

That is pretty good technique. The only suggestion I have now is on your kick.  Right now your kick is only providing balance to your over all stroke.  If you want any propulsion from your kick you need to point your feet much more.  Think Ballerina toes.... or waking on tiptoes.   To be effective your lower legs and feet must mimic the shape and action of a dolphin's tail.

Thanks. I can't seem to shake that runner's foot.

Looks pretty good. My $02 would be 1) to tighten your core. Really think about that pole running straight down your body and keeping those hips up.  2) when you breath think about turning your head just enough to get a breath. If you watch your video you will see that on a couple of the breaths you over rotated your head  (your head too far up & back) causing your hips to sink and "wiggle"  and giving you a snaking motion in the water.  3) I agree with above...point your toes on the kick.

That said.. Don't get caught up in over thinking your stroke...It really isn't half bad. Nice job.

Overall it's solid. Just looks like you need to learn how to go faster when you do it. I challenge you to swim with someone else who is faster and try to keep up with them.

The only suggestion I would give is make sure your elbows are high on the recovery portion of the stroke. Looks like your elbow might drop some when you pull your arm back. That's all, but even that isn't all that far off.

I think the lifeguard saw the first recovery of your right arm off the wall at the beginning of the video. I thought I saw some small pauses later, but it might be an illusion caused by the way you move your hand when you pull it out of the water.

The entry of the right arm also looks a little funky at a couple of points. During the time from :15 to :25 - It looks like you're entering very close to your head & moving your hand out before moving forward to begin your catch. Probably an optical illusion, but a front-on video would verify.

I'd work on moving the entry point of your hands out a bit farther from your head. I look at it as the less extension I can do underwater, the less water I'm pushing forward. If I can get 2/3 extended above water, then really spear that last 1/3 I'm giving up less momentum.

Your head position is OK, but if you can look a little bit forward without dropping your hips, you might find it easier to breathe without turning your head quite so much.

Kick's been addressed in other posts.

Keep up the good work! I agree with the previous poster about comparing this to a higher effort swim.

Dan

Thanks so much everyone. This very valuable to me. I'll work on the kick, entry, elbow and core and possibly post again. I think my form changes when I put forth more effort and go faster.  I was probably so intent on my stroke that I forgot to move more. ...back to the pool...

You have way too much bend in your elbow while pulling, and you're losing gobs of power by bending so much. Try pulling deeper and bending your elbow less while you pull.


Btw, that is a super clear video. Is that an HD camera or something?

I agree with previous posters, the only other comment I have is it seems there are some strokes where your elbow seems to "lead the way" under the water allowing your arm to slip through the pull rather than power through the pull. Make sure to feel the pull of the water against your palm and forearm - think "giant paddle", keeping that elbow high under the water. Overall, you're looking pretty good!

That's always been something I've wondered about. Thank you very much for pointing that out. I've been afraid to go outside "the column". Maybe that's why I always get lapped.

The camera is HD - Sanyo Xacti. It's been a good little camera so far - super compact.

Makes perfect sense. It coincides with the bent-arm pull problem.