General Discussion Triathlon Talk » Please help my swim....please Rss Feed  
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2011-12-21 6:59 PM

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Subject: Please help my swim....please

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cBzTNIKVsc&feature=g-upl&context=G2cf3c84AUAAAAAAAAAA

 

I can not seem to keep my hips up.  And I am not very good.

 

Thanks  Dan



2011-12-21 9:47 PM
in reply to: #3948874

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Subject: RE: Please help my swim....please

First, my disclaimer that I am not a great swimmer (but my wife is... 12x all american!!) but I do love it!!!

Tough to see with just the straight on shot, but a couple of things that I noticed... as you pointed out, the low hips, you are pushing through a large surface area that you don't need to...  Try a couple of things!  First, just think in your head to swim downhill leading with your chest... i.e., push your chest down in the water.  The second thing that I noticed is that your first move with your hands/arms looks to be down (likely pushing your upper body "up" and your hips "down")... think of reaching over the top of a barrel with a high elbow and start your pull much earlier in your stroke.

Good job on getting a video...  I do my own video review of myself every once in a while and find that old habits have a quick way of sneaking back in!!!  Cry

2011-12-22 8:38 AM
in reply to: #3948874

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Subject: RE: Please help my swim....please
2011-12-22 8:49 AM
in reply to: #3948874

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Subject: RE: Please help my swim....please

Another thing that can help with the sinking hips is to tuck your chin to your chest and look down rather than looking ahead. This will help lead with your chest as the other poster mentioned and help bring the hips up.

 

good luck.

2011-12-22 9:47 AM
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Subject: RE: Please help my swim....please
Nipper - 2011-12-22 8:49 AM

Another thing that can help with the sinking hips is to tuck your chin to your chest and look down rather than looking ahead. This will help lead with your chest as the other poster mentioned and help bring the hips up.

 

good luck.

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2011-12-22 9:51 AM
in reply to: #3948874

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Subject: RE: Please help my swim....please

left arm is crossing over your centerline as you pull/breathe. this is creating that wiggle in your stroke. You're a better swimmer than you think. A couple of tweaks and you'll see big improvement.

Good Luck!



2011-12-22 10:01 AM
in reply to: #3948874

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Subject: RE: Please help my swim....please

This is something I wrestle with, too. I have found a few things helpful:

1) catch phase, as someone else noted above. If your first move in your stroke is to push down with your hands, you'll become a see-saw with your upper body going up and your lower body going down. This video is somewhat amateruish production quality, but does a very good job explaining the catch dynamics

 
From your video, you are actually doing pretty well on this to my mostly-untrained eye.
 
2) engage core muscles - don't let yourself droop in the water. If you tighten your abdominal muscles and maintain some tone there, you will feel your lower body at a higher position in the water. Ie, be a board, not a wet noodle.
 
3) head/chest postion - be careful here. The advice to push the head, chest, or shoulders lower in the water seems to work for some people, but for me, it was creating a tendency to "bury" my head too low in the water and create a lot of drag. I actually picked up some speed by extending my neck somewhat and keeping my upper back flat - think of a military posture, rather than slumping shoulders. This is almost the opposite of the usual advice, but helped me a lot. Swimsmooth.com advises to experiment with different head positions and see what works, and to do this periodically as your technique develops. For me, that was more helpful than the set advice to look down or press down in the water.


Edited by alath 2011-12-22 10:10 AM
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