Friday, August 16, 2013

Swim video....oh dear.

Monday I had another lesson from Laura, the swim coach I have been using.


After 6 sessions or so, I was not doing well. I have a smidgen more fitness so I *thought* i was doing better, but in reality my form had regressed. How do I know? I brought my video camera and Laura took some videos of me and I looked at them during the session after each drill.

I'm convinced after this that the only way to improve in swimming: be checked after every few practice sessions  so that you are not spending your time reinforcing a crappy form.

Video is key. If a picture is worth a thousand words, when it comes to learning a complex set of motions like swimming, a video is worth 100 thousand words.

Here's an 18 second video of my last lap during the 30 minute session. I'm trying REALLY hard to keep my left ear down on a very extended left arm during the breath.

Everything else is a mess as I focus on this: my legs are all over the place..there's a little scissors kick, like MANY people, when I'm on my side breathing. My elbows aren't high enough, etc. 


You'll notice I didn't show you the first video in the session....a bigger horror. Hopefully in a few months I'll look a better. I (and you) shall see...


5 comments:

  1. Attended the contra costa county swim meet last weekend. Some kids swam the entire 25 yards without breathing. The meet was dominated by country club swimmers.

    Good luck and looking forward for the next video.

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  2. Yeah, you're right. It's not the prettiest stroke I've ever seen. I bet I'd look worse though.

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  3. I wouldn't dare put a video of me on here. You're brave.

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  4. How is your left shoulder range of motion? Have you ever had a problem with it? Rotator cuff tear or frozen shoulder?

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  5. You're still a much better swimmer than me no matter how bad you think you look :-) I have a race involving a 75 metre swim next month and it really scares me!

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