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Introduction

My chosen activity is swimming. I am going to analyse four core skills of swimming performed by a top performer in my sport which in this case is Michael Phelps, the stroke I have chosen is freestyle, also my four core skills are starts, turns, breathing and finishes. I am then going to compare these core skills to myself performing in my chosen activity. I will then carry out the analysis between Michael Phelps and myself, I will identify strengths, weaknesses and things which I could improve on. Core Skill 1 - Starts Top Performer http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=_lG-41G8-8k&feature=related As the top performer takes his position on the block his head is down focusing on the water in the lane in front of him and he is standing upright in a track start position, with one foot at the font of the block with his toes just going over the front edge of the block, the other foot is to the rear of the block with the heal just skimming the back of the block or just position the rear foot until it becomes comfortable for the swimmer. ...read more.

Middle

This is a technical error that always occurs when I come off the block, as this technique is very hard to perfect and I feel comfortable going into a streamlined position straight away, but this is definitely an area that I need to improve on if I want to become elite level. Another difference is that the top performer lifts his head and looks forward then puts it back down again, but when I start I keep my head lowered facing the pool all the time. The advantage of doing this is that the streamline position is held all the way through the phase so I believe I am going faster through both the air and water, but may not get maximum distance when doing so. Core Skill 2 - Turns Top Performer As the top performer approaches the wall he does not slow down at all, in fact he may go slightly faster so when he hits the way he can get the best rotation possible. Head is down facing the bottom of the pool and the athlete is not breathing from the flags to the wall to get some speed up. ...read more.

Conclusion

all from the flags to the wall, but when I do it I sometimes take a breath before I reach the wall. This can be very costful under race conditions because I may not be able to reach my full potential speed when approaching the wall and could cost some valuable seconds, also my rotations might not be as fast as if I didn't take a breath. Another error in my turn is when I flip over and my feet hit the wall, sometimes they are not in the best sideways position, they may be a bit higher or a bit lower than normal. So then when I start to rotate my body round it may take longer to get onto my front and this could also waste some time. An advantage to my turn is my butterfly kick under the water, because I am a sprinter my kick is very powerful and I am able to get a lot of distance under the water and can make up a lot of distance on opponents with this if I am behind in a race. ?? ?? ?? ?? Nathan Henderson Performance Analysis - Core Skills ...read more.

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