Swim Technique and Videotape Analysis
17 August 2006
Analyst and Coach
W. Jason Gallaher, Head Coach of Women’s Swim Team at Sweet Briar College,
VA
Click here
for Jason’s coaching and athletic bio
To make an appointment with Jason, you can contact him at:
jgallaher@sbc.edu
434-381-6549
Cost of Session
C’ville Triathlon Club Member discount rate: $20
An outstanding value. This kind of analysis can cost anywhere from 4-10
times as much as Jason is charging. Jason is also willing to do
follow-up tapings and analysis, and is available to answer questions in the
days following your taping.
Opening Thoughts
I want to begin by saying that, whether you are a new swimmer or have a few
years of experience, videotaping and technique analysis from a good swim coach
is one of the most helpful things you can do to improve your swimming. A good
swimming coach can really accelerate your progress in the pool, and videotape
analysis allows you to see clearly (and repeatedly when you re-watch the video)
where your stroke needs improvement.
Analysand’s Swimming Background, Statistics, Goals
Swimming experience: 2.5 years swimming; no formal swimming background
Current LT pace: 1000yd TT at 1:24/100yds
Goals: Reduce TT pace to 1:15/100yds at double the distance by March 2007;
become more proficient in all four strokes (basic competence in all four
strokes at present)
Focus of Session
Single Stroke Analysis (Freestyle); Jason will analyze all four strokes if
you are interested
Protocol
Sweet Briar’s pool is SCM (25 meters)
Warm-up was my choice
After the warm-up, Jason had me do 100 meters at LT pace and filmed me from
the side for that distance. Then he instructed me to go to the middle of the
pool and swim back to the edge, during which time he filmed me head on. Each
angle revealed different strengths and weaknesses.
Method of Analysis
Jason plays the videotape back for you at full speed and in slow-motion,
and then analyzes various frames using some ultra-cool voice-over and video
chalkboard technology
Click here for a brief example
(Your take-home copy of the tape contains the real-time footage and Jason’s
frame-by-frame analysis)
He then provides a series of recommended drills to address problem areas of
the stroke (see below)
Notes
What follows are notes on Jason’s ideas for improving my stroke. These
notes will give you a sense of what kind of advice you will receive during a
session. Of course, Jason’s recommendations for you will differ from what he
recommends for me.
Side view analysis:
--slight arch in my back is the result of my hips being a little “behind”
in the stroke; initiating the stroke from my hips and core will flatten me out
more and reduce drag from arch
--lead arm needs to be more horizontal before initiating catch, and this
will also extend my body length
--hand entry is going down rather than forward, and this is leading to
increased elbow drop, late catch, and a bit of lift
--recommends a 2-3” scull with pinkie on catch to ensure strong catch
--left side breathing: head comes up just a bit too much out of the water
and needs to stay closer to shoulder (think beard stubble rubbing shoulder)
--left-side crossover is pronounced enough for Jason to notice it from side
angle! Need to think straight ahead with hand entry and not toward opposite
wall
--head positioning is good in general (Jason likes head down)
--more thoughts on early catch: Jason recommends trying to push elbow forward and feel for water pressure over
entire arm, not just palm
--left-side catch is much later than right, and I am missing a lot of
opportunity to catch and pull water
--hip roll is solid
--flip turns look very solid; hands are backsculling nicely to reduce drag,
feet pushing off properly, and good streamline
--Jason likes a ¾ hand entry; hand enters water at ¾ of full extension of
arm and completion of extension happens with fingertips moving forward to finish extension and staying
just right below water surface (I tend to press down too much)
--my left leg kick has a lot of knee bend and this comes from lack of ankle
flexibility; Jason says it’s tough to increase flexibility while running and
biking
Front view analysis:
--although right-arm catch is a little late, I have a good, strong angle on
my pull; need to keep pulling-hand a touch closer to the body
--left hand, fingertips and half of palm, is crossing over center-line
--Jason says some coaches don’t have much problem with this cross-over but
he recommends against it on the grounds that it puts less pressure on your
shoulder
Recommended Drills to
Address Problems
1.
“Overlap
freestyle” drill (Jason’s term)
Similar to the catch-up drill, this drill aims to keep the lead arm fully
extended and in the glide phase while the recovering arm gets to the point
where the arm muscles are “loaded” and stretched, just prior to the point where
the hand begins its downward and forward phase before entering the water; it is
at this point that the extended arm catches and pulls; this will help with
elbow drop
2.
Shark fin
drill
This drill is illustrated nicely in Sweetenham and Atkinson’s Championship Swim Training, pp. 101-3.
For new swimmers, Jason recommends doing one recovery-arm raise, lowering,
then breathing before doing the next raise and entry; this will also help with
a nice, long reach, extended body position, and high elbow
3.
Front
sculling drills
Also nicely illustrated in Sweetenham and Atkinson; these are useful for
developing a good catch and feel for the water
4.
Snorkel
swimming
Despite trying really hard not to (!), I have a tendency to cross over my
midline with my left hand on entry. Jason recommends getting a Finis center snorkel
in order to help me watch my hands enter the water and avoid crossing over.
General Questions on Technique and Training
Jason was kind
enough to answer a bunch of questions I had about technique and training. Here
are his thoughts on a few of the questions I posed:
1.
Pitch of
hand on entry: Tre Harris and I have been discussing the merits and demerits of
various hand entries. I had been told that a 45 degree pitch outward to scull
and set up the catch was the best method; and Tre had been told a flat hand
entry and a quick straight catch and pull was the way to go. Jason likes a flat
hand entry (but not a straight pull or catch) in order to keep the shoulder
muscles unloaded. He demonstrated the point by having us raise our arms
straight up and then rotating our arms to make the hand pitch outward. He has a
good point there—you could definitely feel the tension. All of the
illustrations in Maglischo’s Swimming
Fastest show the outward pitch, and Sweetenham and Atkinson also say that
this is the standard hand entry. Plus, my fast swimmer buddy, Casey Hughes,
likes the outward pitch. Tre’ swears that the hand pitch is old school and that
lots of fast swimmers have ditched it. Jason said he thinks both approaches
have merit. I’ll have to do some more research and look at the various scientific
arguments. The battle rages on . . .
2.
Training
schedules: I asked Jason for his thoughts on both periodization and weekly
scheduling. He believes strongly in periodization and uses a 19 week macrocycle
(which corresponds to the swimming season for Div III schools) and mesocycles
of varying length (with a 6 week general endurance and preparation phase to
start the season followed by shorter periods of increasing specificity as the
season goes on). He works all systems and intensities during the majority of
the season in varying amounts. For weekly scheduling with his athletes, he
usually does something like the following: Monday: base; Tuesday: event
specific; Wednesday: LT work; Thursday: event specific; Friday: quality;
Saturday: event specific; Sunday: off. Most of his swimmers do one-a-days, but
some of the more committed do two-a-days. Tuesday and Thursday is where he
offers focused second workouts. They are not high yardage sessions, but are
focused instead on drills and technique. He likes athletes to be fresh for
their main evening workout. This is good for Division III swimmers who attend
schools where the focus is on academics. As a side note, Sweet Briar’s swim
team had the highest average GPA of any athletic team in all divisions in the country last year. Guess he and his athletes
take the academic stuff seriously.
3.
Paddles:
Jason thinks small paddles are good for new swimmers and highly recommends
them, specifically the TYR
Catalyst. Make sure not to get ones that are too big. Yellow (youth and
beginning masters level) should be just about right for me. He does not
recommend doing high yardage with them, though. When pressed for a specific yardage
amount, he thought that 400 yards or so in a given workout would suffice for a
swimmer at my level.
4.
Swim-focused
period: I plan to focus primarily on swimming from October through March and
asked Jason for his thoughts on how to organize this period. I asked
specifically about the role of speedwork and whether I should wait to include
any LT efforts until later in the period. He recommended that I include LT work
all along and use a kind of bootstrapping method where endurance and LT rise
concomitantly (after a brief general prep period, I assume). I’ll write up a
schedule for that period and see if he thinks it makes sense.
References
Maglischo, E. W. Swimming Fastest. Champaign, IL.: Human Kinetics, 2003.
Sweetenham, B. & Atkinson, J. D. Championship Swim Training. Champaign, IL.: Human Kinetics, 2003.