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Introduction

Section B: Evaluation of Strengths And Weaknesses A) Skill Strengths : I am evaluating the strengths of my performance, in swimming. Front crawl is the fastest stroke and gives you the feeling of being powerful in the water. I know that the skill of freestyle in swimming is one of the strengths of my performance because I have had video analysis of my strokes. It shows I have good arm action when entering the water, and my breathing is efficient because I breathe bilaterally. I can see that my leg action in this stoke is very strong, this is because I practise training my legs regularly with a kick-board. The overall efficiency of the stoke is fluent because it is smooth and well practised. My body position is at water level, this is the correct technical model. Breaststroke is the slowest of the four strokes, but that does not mean it cannot be swum powerfully and at speed. I also know that breaststroke is another strength in my performance because my coach tells me I have a wide leg action this is because I have good flexibility in my hips. My body position is flat and stationary in the water, the technical model states that you must keep your body level at the surface. ...read more.

Middle

A) Components of Fitness Strengths: The component muscular endurance is a strength in my performance because, it is proven that in fitness testing my level is excellent. Muscular endurance is important because it involves stamina, where the heart and lungs supply the working muscles for an extended period of time. This shows I have a high lung capacity. Swimming is a cardiovascular sport, where your arms and legs are moving, at the same time it co-ordinates with your breathing. My video footage proves that I can sustain hard training sessions involving incessant swimming where I co-ordinate my breathing well. This involves when swimming continuously through long distances such as 400m, 800m. In these swims your muscles are able to sustain maximum effort through out the race, this is an essential part to swimming. It is proven in swimming races I can maintain my highest effort because I have excellent muscular endurance. Also I know that the fitness component flexibility plays an exceptional part in my performance, because it is proven that in fitness testing my flexibility is above excellent. In swimming suppleness benefits the swimmer of having a good range of movement at the joints especially at the shoulders and hips. My coach informs me I have flexible shoulders because I extend and stretch into every stoke. ...read more.

Conclusion

There is a significant degree of technique when trying to build up speed. It's all about a mix of breathing, arm and feet movements, but you must have good muscle force behind before you can increase your speed. There is the fact that some people are just born with an ability to go faster than others. Whilst you can train faster you might never be as fast as your training partner, as they may have a different muscle composition that they've inherited. This will in itself help them go faster. So speed is most important in sprint races and starts. Another weakness in my performance is the fitness component, reaction time. Reaction time is being able to respond quickly to a stimulus. It important in many sports though it can be measured. Simple reaction time is the time taken between a stimulus and movement e.g., sprint start off a diving block. For example at the start of a swimming race the official signals a gun or a type of noise that indicates you to start the race, you have to respond quickly to this. Therefore reaction time is essential at the start of a race. I know that reaction time is a weakness in my performance because it is proven that in fitness testing a have scored below average. So when I combine my reaction time in swimming to the start of a race, I am slower at reacting to the starters gun. Therefore this is something I need to improve on. Fiona Eatherington ...read more.

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