Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Swimming Rock

It's alive..it's alive :).hahahha....I thank my friend Len for being the cameraman for the day. Before you see it, i have to let you know. This is a 10 20 (Sorry Flat, that doesn't make sense either :D) feet pool. It looks like I am moving really fast but I AM NOT. Making a lot of movement but aint' going anywhere...now that's talent. :)



Ok let's be serious now. I have been looking at this video many times and notice a few things:

- I ain't swimming tall and long. Notice my legs are not straight. Looks like I am still kicking with my knees than with my hips. As Will said, I am dragging.
- the video quality is quite poor but I don't know if u guys can see I am not rotating on my left side at all.
- also notice when I take a breathe on my left side, I hang in the air for a few sec long than it should.

I am not moving smoonthly b/c my form is poor. I need to work on my kick. Work on the hips and get those legs straight and long. In this base period, I am going to work on that.

22 comments:

:) said...

How do you swim in a 10 foot pool????

:-0

Trisaratops said...

OMG--Cliff that is SOOOOOO cool! Ya look great in there! Sounds like you have some good ideas of ways to improve your stroke even more. LOVE the music, too! :)

Boris' Dad said...

looks like you are swimming closer to the stairs each time :) perhaps you were looking for beer*

qcmier said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Nancy Toby said...

Great video! Love the music!

I'd say forget kicking for a while. My kick is too big too. It's 85% arms. Keep the kick small and concentrate on a solid balanced stroke, is my advice.

Then again, I'm a newbie too!!

psbowe said...

Where are you? All I see is a fish! haha

Mike said...

Hey Cliff,
that video is cool..I have a hard enough time getting my comments to post let alone trying to load a video....I would agree with Nancytoby re: the stroke focus...i think that is key for triathlon swimming. Hard to tell in the pics but it looks like you might have a slight bit of crossover where your arms are crossing over your body at the top of your stroke (at entry)..I had that problem so might want to take a quick peek where your hands are entering the water....technique...such a pain eh?! ;-)

Papa Louie said...

Looks like you're having fun. No obvious problems to me but I'm in the same boat with some frustrations on swimming. I recently posted my concerns. Hope you can figure out what you need to improve. Then let me know.

Anonymous said...

Cool video Cliff. Hope the job interview goes well tomorrow.

Fe-lady said...

Stupid video at work doesn't work so I can't see it..:-(
About the Helmet. It's a Giro Atmos. Mine is white and silver tho...:-)

Peter Lawson said...

Cool video mate! I would agree with the kicking comment. Reduce your kick.
Something that's recently worked well for me is focusing on your hips for your kicking and body roll. It all starts with the hips! I found that by improving my balance and body rotation my shoulders and arms didn't fatigue nearly as quickly.

Keep up the great work Cliff!

cheers

Carrie said...

Ok- here's what you gotta do (coming from a swimmer). You are not extending your reach far enough. Elbows are good and high but your hand should be entering the water as your arm extends (not from the bent elbow). Work on your reach and your hips should fall into place (hips on down are all over the place because you're cutting the reach short).

Total Immersion side drills could help. Do the freestyle stroke out of the water (through the air) and extend that arm all the way out.

Good job Cliff. You're a much better swimmer than I thought I'd see on that video from all those posts about being a rock.

Rock-n-Roll!

Bolder said...

omg cliff, that was sooooo funny!

you are a riot!! 'course you are, you're Canadian... booyah!

your swimmin' is really coming along... i think stronger gave you the salient points... but, i saw more strengths than weaknesses.

a little tweaking, and you are gonna be a FAST swimmin' machine.

well done Cliff, well done.

that looks like my infamous condo pool!!!

Papa Tweet said...

Cliff,
I have one thing to say. YOU KICK ASS! That was a treat to finally be able to see you swim. I've been reading about your stroke for months now.

I noticed the same things that you mentioned. You look to be kicking with your knees instead of your hips and you're not rolling far enough.

I have to say, I was imagining much worse. In fact, your stroke looks like you are well on your way to a great stroke. I have to say, I don't know where you started but I am pleasantly impressed with you progress. Based of course on your previous posts.

Anyway, I'm by no means a great swimmer but it seems that you are really progressing. Keep it up and post more videos when you can. That was a bloggers delight.
Benny

Unknown said...

that was awesome. seriously.

Thomas said...

Thanks for the prayers, Cliff, It looks like they're working.

Good Luck yourself on Sunday!

Anonymous said...

:( I can't see your video. I will have to try on my home computer.

E-Speed said...

HOLY CRAP CLIFF! THIS WAS AWESOME!

I love the sound effects and everything. Too cool!

You don't look like Ian Thorpe thats for sure but you definitely could be worse! You're doing much better than Flotsam and Jetsam!

Rae said...

Very cool!! Man, I'm going to have to go back and turn the volume on, I didn't know there was music!

Anonymous said...

OK,I finally got to witness the swimmng rock...

It looks like no fun to swim in such a short pool, but I don't think you look too bad.

You're right about hanging in the air too long on that breath. Stretch out that stroke and the kicking will come :)

Kewl Nitrox said...

GREAT VIDEO. Can't believe I missed it the 1st time around. You look great - far betta form than I have!

Anonymous said...

Enjoyed a lot! » » »