Nathan Henderson

Performance Analysis – Core Skills

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

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.  

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As the starter says ‘take your marks’ he then takes a sort of crouching position and leans forward, his head is now tucked into his chest. His hands and grabbing the front edge of the block to keep stability and balance

As the starter then blows the whistle or presses the start button, he then begins to lift his head forward. He drives off the block using the front foot which in theory should be his strongest, the arms drive back into a v position for maximum propulsion. The arms then begin to extend above the head into ...

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