6. Legs
A common problem with the freestyle leg kick is kicking too wide, outside of the body width. This causes resistance and therefore slows the swimmer down rather than being propulsive as it should be. It will also affect the body position as it will cause an unnatural roll in the lower body making it more difficult to maintain the skills the stroke requires in the upper body. By changing the position of the upper body it will also cause increased resistance. A problem that the legs can cause in racing is over kicking. The legs hold the biggest muscles in the body and if they are overused in the early stage of a 100 metres or longer race then this will cause lactic acid to build up more quickly and therefore decrease the time before fatigue sets in.
Weakness – Breaststroke
Undulating styles in women and with flat styles in men. This is comprehensible because women, using more undulating styles, are lifting 1/3 of the body mass out of the water, while men, using the more flat styles, generate a peak acceleration during the squeezing of the arm. The fastest breastrokers are those that swim with the least resistance and therefore the aim is to swim with the least resistance.
- Kick
There are two different types of kick that can be used the wedge kick or the whip kick, I take my knees out to far and tend to perform a wedge kick however if I brought them in slightly I would perform a whip kick. In the Wedge kick the knees are recovered wide of the hips then driven outwards backwards, downwards and inwards. The range of sculling movement is wider but it has a slower tempo than a whip kick. Also when bringing my knees together I create little propulsion due to the knee angle. A whip kick has far less resistance because the knees remain inside the body width with the lower leg whipping around as the heels snap together. It is important that the legs are straight at the end of the kick to allow the heels to snap together to finish the end of the propulsive phase of the kick.
2.Turn
When hitting the wall in the breaststroke turn I make two mistakes, when hitting the wall you bring your heels up to your bottom and your knees are tucked underneath your body, before bring the feet under the knees and planting them on the wall. The tighter the tuck the more velocity you are going to have going into the wall, and therefore the more speed and power you will have going out of the turn. I do not tuck my legs in tight enough and therefore my turn is slightly slower. Also I will have a greater inertia During the underwater pull down phase I tend to look around me at other swimmers, therefore I move my head and on the push off phase it means that I have a greater resistance. It can also mean that I drop my head and that then takes me too deep off the turn meaning that I am not able to start my break out stroke as earlier or as powerfully as I should. Also by sweeping legs around rather than banging feet on wall bringing knees under body. Again slows down into wall, therefore, less power coming out breaststroke turn a fault is to turn the whole body off the wall as this causes a lot of resistance. One hand comes away from the wall - elbow led, head stays looking at wall, feet snap onto wall other hand comes over head and snaps to meet recovery hand.
3. Arms
When performing the outskull my hands continue until wide of the shoulders however they go to far and therefore I increase resistance this also means that I drop my elbows going into the down sweep, which reduces the power through the stroke. The breaststroke pull starts slow and strong and increases with speed as the pull develops. This means that the fastest part of the pull should be the insweep through to the recovery. However, because I have gone too wide at the beginning of the stroke I am not able to increase speed into the recovery, therefore, because my leg recovery begins at this time the resistance in my stroke is increased and therefore my forward propulsion is slowed.
4. Start
Breaststroke common on the start is the under water pull out. You are now legally allowed one fly downbeat which some people don't do therefore others have the advantage. You do your under water A pull and as the hands push back past the hips you do one fly down beat. another common problem at this point is arm recovery with the elbows outside of the body (wider than body) when for less resistance / increased speed the hands should come under the body hands palm upwards towards body and elbows inside body line. If you go too deep on breaststroke there is a danger of starting the in sweep on the second stroke before your head breaks the surface in which case you would be DQ'd.
If track start which tends to be favoured these days, the feet should be shoulder width apart with the back foot a comfortable distance from the front, depending on size of swimmer and size of block. Most seniors will have the foot at the back of the block. The back leg should have a slight bend and the hips should be higher than the shoulders. Hands shoulder width apart on front of block with elbows bent and high, when the go sounds the hands should push back on the block, the high bent elbows help to give more power off the blocks along with the leg drive.
5. Position
The body position will depend on the type of stroke the individual favours. Breaststroke more than any other stroke does vary according to the individual. Some swimmers have a stronger arm pull and this means the stroke is likely to be flatter than those who have a dominant leg kick. Where the leg kick is more dominant the stroke will be more undulating this means the hips will rise and fall more. In a flat stroke the hips will raise and lower with the leg kick, but it will be far less than the undulating or wave style. The stroke starts in a streamline position before the arms outscull to make a Y shapeas the arms start the insweep the head shoulders and upper body rise when your head has reached its highest point, you are still looking down. Your arms are finishing the inscull by squeezing into a compact line. Your hips are also at their best point for using them as a platform to launch your upper body forward as you kick. Some people describe it as a bow and arrow, your body becomes a bow that stores energy in your hips; in the next moment it becomes an arrow as you dive forward and release the energy from the shoulder end. It is important to keep a low, narrow profile as you get set to dive forward as streamlined as possible for the least resistance. As you dive forward the hips raise and the head and shoulders lower at an angle, the angle of entry into the water is important to making sure the wave length is as long as possible, however it does need to be shallow. The arms and legs are now fully extended and momentarily the body is in a flat streamlined position
6. Breathing
Don't lift your head to breathe. Keep it in the same position at all times. As your hands squeeze on the inscull, they lift your shoulders up and forward; it is often described as the "shoulder shrug"; and upper body lift carries your mouth clear of the water. You should move your whole body as a single unit, including your head. This means that the breath is taken on the insweep and then breath out as the arms recover to the streamline position.
Elite Performance
Front crawl
1. Breathing
A technique that can help an athlete swim at a higher performance level is proper breathing techniques. Breathing correctly can make the swimmer swim faster and with less fatigue. Competitive swimmers take in one breath and gradually let it out over three to four strokes. As the race progresses and the swimmer becomes tired, less oxygen from those breaths reach the muscles. It is possible to teach the body to run on less than normal levels of oxygen. Elite performers generally use the ‘breath holding’ technique, this is needed in competition’s. Correct measure to sort out the breathing would be to follow the thumb throughout the arm cycles. By using this type of breathing method, it will help to perfect the technique. The distance you swim will decide what sort of breathing you would use, short distances, try to breather as little as possible, longer distances would need a constant alternate breathing pattern throughout the durance of the race.
2.Arms
The catch stage is the first stage the hand reaches full extension, with a very slight bent elbow the elbow not higher than the hand. The arm should be in the form of a straight lever. It has a stabilizing influence. From this position the hands flex then scull outwards,backwards,downwards and inwards, the sculling pattern makes a figure of S, the elbow then exits the water first followed by the little finger. the benefits of ‘highelbow' is to use your entire forearm and hand as a paddle, rather than just the hand. This pattern is followed to ensure that the hand is always in contact with still water. If it were to pull in a straight line the water would continually be moving and the swimmer would be said to be slipping water. This can also happen if the elbow is dropped. Elite swimmers create huge upward and forward force one the first stage which is followed by the in sweep which takes place in the medial plane, entry in the in sweep is important the entry for maximum benefit is between headline and shoulder line, of the body, which is then followed by the upsweep, elite swimmers create huge forward propulsion.
Position
The body lies almost horizontal at the surface of the water with the head, but in line with the body, the eyes looking forward and downward. In this position, the water surface will be somewhere between the eyes and the hairline. The position of the head is important. If raised it will cause the hips and legs to drop which will create a turbulent flow, thereby increasing the resistance to forward motion. If the head is lowered in to the water the hips will be raised and the kick will be less effective. The head movement should be confined only to the action of inhalation which should be completed with minimum interference with body balance. The necessary and unavoidable rotation which takes place around the longitudinal axis of the body allows the strong muscles of the chest and shoulder to act in the most effective manner. This lateral body rotation is used to increase stroke length therefore increasing speed. The hips will be slightly lower than the shoulder, and the legs should be out stretched.
4. Starts
The feet should be shoulder width apart with the back foot a comfortable distance from the front, depending on size of swimmer and size of block. The back leg should have a slight bend and the hips should be higher than the shoulders. Hands shoulder width apart on front of block with elbows bent and high, when the go sounds the hands should push back on the block, the high bent elbows help to give more power off the blocks along with the leg drive. .First stroke must be taken with head in streamline position. First stoke (break out stroke) should be powerful to continue power from dive on starts streamlining is vital, fast fly kicks on freestyle.
5. Turn
On all turns you need to be as fast coming in as possible for power out and that includes speed around the wall. Streamlining is important when coming away from the wall to reduce drag and resistive forces by coming out of the wall powerfully the glide will be of a longer distance this streamline body position should be holded for as long as possible with a powerful flutter kcik and then stat the normaly cycle of the stroke this creates a greater advantage for the swimmer. . Elite level performers turn with the use of flexion of their neck and spine to help drive their head and shoulders forward and downward below the surface of the water, and bring their legs together.
6. Legs
In the freestyle, their are three types of kicks: The six-beat kick, the two-beat kick, and the two-beat crossover kick. The six beat kick is favored by sprinters while the variations of the two beat kick are favoured by distance swimmers. However there is no proof that one kick is better than another. However, the six beat kick might help lift the sprinter higher in the water, while the two beat kick retains the stabilizing effect while conserving the energy of the long distance swimmer.
Breast stroke – elite performance
1. all elite performers perform slightly different and when watching them this become apparent that they all have slight variations of their stroke., they all perform slightly different, depending on whether a swimmer has a more dominant leg kick or arm pull, If the swimmer has a dominant arm there are more likely to use a flatter stroke, this generates a screw like propulsion, the flatter stroke generates a peak acceleration during the squeezing of the arms. If the athlete has a dominant leg, they use undulation, by lifting about 1/3 of body arms out of the water.
Men usually do the flatter style stroke, and women usually use undulation. In a narrow whip kick the knees are close together and in a vertical line under the hips. The feet are dorsi flexed and initially both the lower limb and the inside of the foot unite to forma compounding area of lever in the drive backwards. Elite performers have the coordination and ability to finish the inward circular scull with the feet nestling into each other. The first part of the leg action is circular with the legs then squeezing together on the inward phase, some degree of knee angle will be maintained to create a high level of propulsion. Stronger swimmers would use a wide out scull followed by a high elbow to get more power in the stroke
- Turn
The turn is initiated by touching the wall during the gliding or during the recovery phase of the arms, depending on how the wall can be touched faster. After touching the wall, the legs are pulled underneath of the body. The body turns sideways while one hand is moved forward along the side of the body. Led by the elbow When the body is almost completely turned, the other hand will be swung straight up through the air such that both hands meet at the front at the same time. The head stays looking at the wall and moves around when the second hand is removed from the wall. At that time the body should also be almost in the horizontal and partially or totally submerged. After the body is completely submerged, the body is pushed off the wall with both legs. Doing this under water will reduce the drag. After a gliding phase, an underwater pull-out is done, with a fly downbeat of the legs followed by a leg kick to coincide with the arm recovery followed by another gliding phase and then regular swimming. The head must break the surface before the finish of the outscull on the first stroke after the under water pull. The power of that first stroke is vital to continue to make the most of the power and speed off the wall.The head is a very important lever during the turn during the underwater pull down phase, the head needs to be kept still and looking directly toward the bottom of the pool to minimize turbulence
3. The movement starts with the outskuul. From the initial position, the hands sink a little bit down and the palms face outward with the hands at 45 degrees, as they part just outside of shoulder width, During the first outskull speed increases and therefore you acclereate. The outskull is followed by the inskull and down skull, the hands point down and push the water backwards. The elbows stay in the horizontal plane through the shoulders. The hands push back until approximately the vertical plane through the shoulders. At the end of the inskull the hands come together with facing palms in front of the chest and the elbows are at the side at the body. In the recovery phase the hands are moved forward again into the initial position under water. The hands increase speed throughout the stroke cycle. At the point they start the recovery, this should be the fastest they move as the are now providing no forward propulsion and the legs are starting their recovery phase again providing no forward propulsion and infact at their maximum point of resistance.Elite performers produce maximum thrust trying to keep resistance to a minimum
4.
Section B strategic and tactical weaknesses
Motivation
A couple of days before the competition I feel that my motivation drops and that I feel continued concerns with thinking that I am going to lose, or perform badly or let my squad down. Also if progress at training is poor or my performance suffers for a long period of time I feel it very hard to motivate myself to continue and with low motivation levels my performance will continue to worsen. I tend to feel demotivated for a competition due to feelings of failure which is known as learned helplessness. Learned helplessness is feelings experienced by an individual when she believes failure is inevitable because of negative past experiences. There are two types of moviation which is extrinsic and intrinsic.
Social loafing
A definition of a social loader is an individual who attempts to ‘hide; when placed in a group situation and does not perform to his or her potential.
When I am performing a relay, and I am the second leg of the relay and I no I am swimming with lots of very good swimmers on my team, I sometimes do not work as hard as when I am swimming a solo race on my own. I feel that I do not swim to my best potential and tend to slack off only doing enough to keep position.
Goal setting
Over trained
Section B: psychological and physiological weaknesses
Self efficacy
Self efficacy is the degree of self confidence experienced by a performer when placed in a specific situation. Just before a big competition, or swimming gala, I feel myself have constant doubts about my ability. When I compete in butterfly which is my lease favourite stroke and the one I find most challenging, my levels of self efficacy decline and my confidence levels drop and my performance suffers as a result. By losing self confidence before a game it can lead to a bad performance and this may lead to increased anxiety. By having low levels of self efficacy I feel that motivation drops and the amount of effort applied will fall. Also my commitment and effort may drop and this will affect my performance and training dramatically.
Information processing
Anxiety/ over arousal
Trait anxiety refer to the general disposition of an individual to perceive situations as threatening, just before a competition I feel really nervous which means I feel I am unable to mentally prepare as I should be, I lose concentration focus on other unimportant things, become very tensed and feel I do not listen to my coach but constant concern’s about my performance. There are two types of anxiety cognitive and somatic, cognitive anxiety is experienced before an event and it involves the performer’s thoughts and worries concerning his or her ability to complete the task successfully. This anxiety is what affects me most. Somatic anxiety is physiological responses where you are placed in a situation and are unable to complete the task successfully. My attentional narrowing decrease, this is when arousal theories directly relate to my ability to focus on relevant cues. I tend to focus on irrevlant cues are my concentration is misdirected, for example I will have a slow start of the blocks or a slow changeover. This is known as attentional wastage and it decreases my performance.
Section B : Physical and physiological factors
Acceleration
It is important when completing short distance swimming races for example 50m and 100m that you have power coming off the blocks and out of turns also power to gain advantage over performers. I feel I have a problem with anaerobic fitness and that the last sprint of the race is poor as I lack power and acceleration to finish well.
ATP/PC system
Long term training methods
Section B strategic and tactical weaknesses – elite performance
Section B: psychological and physiological weaknesses :elite performance
Section B : Physical and physiological factors :elite performance
