WEEKS 5 – BREATH TIMING FOR RHYTHM AND POWER
There are many places in the
arm cycle where you can take a breath, but only a small range where it works to
keep your stroke consistent and powerful. The idea is to put the breath in a
place where it makes it easy to get a consistent shoulder motion. You never end
up stalled on your side, needing to move your arms in asynchronous ways in
order to continue swimming. Basically, you don’t want to be waiting until
you’ve already rotated onto your side before you start your breathing motion.
This is too late. Early in the arm cycle is best.
Michael Phelps – example of early turn of the head to start breathing motion; note that his body position does not change as a result of doing this, he's simply getting a small “head” start. His opposite arm has not yet entered the water.
Michael Phelps – example of early turn of the head to start breathing motion; note that his body position does not change as a result of doing this, he's simply getting a small “head” start. His opposite arm has not yet entered the water.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax77_hHq9Dc&feature=related (the above image is from the first 20sec)
Here he is moments later after his breath. He has turned his head back down and can see his arm out front making the next catch. This is crucial positioning to ensure an even and powerful stroke.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ8iw8q2F9U
This is the Natalie Coughlin
video from above at ~45sec. As a result her mouth comes up early and she
breathes as early as possible. Her opposite arm has just entered the water. She
actually began her head turn before it touched.
Here’s a video of Bob Bowman, Michael Phelps’ coach, talking about
breathing. He discusses many of the things we go over in class. It’s good to
know the pros are at work on the same techniques. We can duplicate many of the
things they do, we just won’t move as fast. J
Key points:
·
The head moves in line with the body – no
lifting of the head or raising of the chin.
·
He discusses the bow wave created by keeping
your head in a steady position, just breaking the surface, and that a good
check is to get a goggle in the water. Many of you are currently able to
demonstrate this. Keep it in mind during your warm-ups.
·
Even in the first underwater frames where
Michael is breathing, you can see that 1) he moves his head early toward his
breathing side and his mouth comes up first, and 2) that he gets his head back
in the water early, able to see his extended arm making his next catch. This is exactly what we’ve worked on in
class.
Practice Set:
Warm-up (500yd: 200 easy free, 200 as 25kick/25swim (choice of kicks), 4x25 fast with 20sec rest between each.
Early Breath:
·
How to do it: Just before your opposite hand
touches the water, while it is passing your head during the recovery, start to
turn your head for your breath. Your body won’t have rotated all the way around
of course, but this will get you started early and provide some power at the
front end of your breathing side pull. You may feel as if you’ve been lifted
out of the water a bit, but this is okay.
·
Make sure your breathing side arm is out front while
your other arm is recovering. This way you will have it to use to assist in
rotating your body to breathe.
Note: it’s easy to start to move your arms quickly when you begin to
move your head a bit early, but there’s really no hurry. As your recovering arm
comes over the top, turn your cheek into your extended arm’s armpit. Then keep
it turned as you pull, seeing how early in the pull you can get your mouth up
for air. Your arms should move very slowly for this one and as a result you’ll
have to be well balanced to avoid bouncing.
Pre-Set (2-300yd): Swim slowly and work on turning your head to the breathing side as your non-breathing arm recovers over the top.
Main Set:
5x200yd continuous as:
50yd – slow early breath timing as described above
50yd – slow early breath timing as described above
Rest 10-30sec
50yd – "lay it out", rotate fully into the non-breathing side after each breath
(your breathing-side shoulder will rotate under your chin as your arm extends
out front)
Rest 10-30sec
50yd – see the non-breathing side arm out front after each breath (if
you can’t see it, try a Catch-Up stroke, touching both hands out front every
time – this is a good intermediate step)
50yd - "Gallop" - This is a stroke many pros use and amateurs can learn from and perfect to gain a lot of power. Start by using the very front of your breathing side stroke to start your breathing motion. Press down with your hand and turn your head to breathe, then pull hard with the breathing side arm. Grab a breath and get your head back down. Your non-breathing (extended) arm will have barely moved during this time. You'll be able to feel yourself rise a bit as you pull and breathe, but you'll be able to lay your head on its side very easily and create a deep trough in which to breathe. This is because you'll be accelerating forward with the most powerful part of your pull. Then you'll feel the weight of your body coming back down on the non-breathing side extended arm, which gets stretched out and creates a ton of potential energy for the next pull on that side.
Note: With practice, you'll be able to do this stroke without the press out front, and be able to wait until your catch is made - a more perfect stroke. But in the beginning the front press must be used dramatically to get the feel for the "gallop".
Cool Down (200):
200 easy swimming
Here are a few good video examples:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l48Kwa6izsE
This is a horse galloping. Imagine you're the horse and you're breathing as you push off and leave the ground. Then you get your head back down as you land powerfully, ready to push off again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imNApHWTyfs
Here's a pretty good amateur video of a swimmer doing a "gallop" stroke. You can see the early head turn and quick breathing side pull. The stroke looks asymmetrical but the time spent on each side is the same. The catch motions are different on each side - that is the difference you see.
http://www.theraceclub.net/aqua-notes/the-hybrid-freestyle-for-middle-distance-events/
And finally, a great article I just found from one of the top coaches around, Mike Bottom. He has three versions of freestyle and a "hybrid", which is the "gallop" stroke I speak of and teach. He has some great videos of these different versions and I see them regularly through the various classes I teach.
