Freestyle Swimming Stroke Video - Almost
I wanted to have a look at my swim stroke, and figured that the best way to do this was to get it filmed. So I asked the management of the gym I use if they’d allow me to do this - normally there are very strict rules about cameras and filming at poolside.
They agreed, and came up with a perfect solution for me. If I did it at 10 pm, which is when the pool closes, they’d let me stay in for 20 minutes or so, and the lifeguard would work the camera. So not only would their staff help me . . . I’d have the pool all to myself for the session.
Well, we’ve just filmed three clips (breathing right, left, and bilateral), using my stills camera’s “movie mode”. The resolution’s not great, and neither is the frame rate, but it should have been good enough. The trouble is, I forgot that poolside is kinda humid and warm, so the lens misted up! Only the first film is really at all legible, so I’ll be going back later in the week to repeat the exercise, only this time I’ll give the camera time to come up to temperature / humidity first!
For what it’s worth though, here’s the film:
You can see that my stroke’s not bad, but I’m still lifting too much of my face and shoulder out of the water when I breathe. Now I’ve seen what I’m doing, I can really go to work to correct this. It scores pretty well on efficiency though - that’s 17 strokes for a 25m pool.
Oh, and finally, I’d like to pass on my thanks to the staff and management at the Village Hotel & Leisure Centre for helping me do this.
I agree with your analysis…
The stroke looks nice and easy, but you do appear to be flipping your head and neck around particularly as your come up on your right side. Remember to concentrate on rolling.
Also, it’s hard to see, but it looks like you’re kicking your legs very wide open particularly when you come up to breath. As if your “falling off your stack” backward. Does that make sense? That will definitley upset your balance and cause you to want to struggle to get back to sweet spot. Or worse, you’ll feel like you’re going to go too far and so you’ll over compensate back and go too far under. This may also cause sinking.
I’m no expert… but I recall the coach saying something similar to me when I had a few particularly bad pool lengths at the TI weekend camp.
This is a great idea though… I need to find someone who can do video stroke analysis for me. Probably something I’d get if I hired a good coach.
Yep - pretty accurate. The leg kick is also timed with the roll, so I think I’m using legs to drive the twist, rather than my core. More work to do here too!