...was the proper way to kick. I remember at age 7 hanging on to the side of the pool, practicing the "scissor kick" over and over. Yet, yesterday, I saw two adult women trying to swim and both were "bicycling" with their legs. So, surely at some point they were taught how to swim...and yet there they were, not making much progress because of the legs being all curled.
Do you think the more-or-less straight legged way of kicking is not at all "natural" for a person to do? Is that why we see beginners struggling so much to keep their heads near the top of the water while their feet nearly touch the bottom of the pool?
In a related note, I regularly see people attempting to swim the crawl with straight arms. They move their arms forward from the shoulder joint only, keeping their elbows stiff and straight. Is this a natural movement and is that why so many people do it? It doesn't seem natural to me.... I see two- year olds with more flexibility in their choice of arm movements than this straight-arm effort I see in adults.
In a related note, I regularly see people attempting to swim the crawl with straight arms. They move their arms forward from the shoulder joint only, keeping their elbows stiff and straight. Is this a natural movement and is that why so many people do it? It doesn't seem natural to me.... I see two-year olds with more flexibility in their choice of arm movements than this straight-arm effort I see in adults.
I was 15 and they learnt me to swim crawl on straight arms (the same with back). I rember that I was given 5+ ( in 1 to 6 scale) for these styles !!! I don't think it is a natural movement. For adults who haven't swum before nothing is natural in deep water. In my opinion they simply do not know that they do something wrong.
I was 15 and they learnt me to swim crawl on straight arms (the same with back). I rember that I was given 5+ ( in 1 to 6 scale) for these styles !!! I don't think it is a natural movement. For adults who haven't swum before nothing is natural in deep water. In my opinion they simply do not know that they do something wrong.
Gosia
Rereading what I wrote, I realize I was not entirely clear. I am not talking about the arms being straight while underwater--- just absolutely straight when they are brought forward through the air portion of swimming.
Rereading what I wrote, I realize I was not entirely clear. I am not talking about the arms being straight while underwater--- just absolutely straight when they are brought forward through the air portion of swimming.
I swam with straight arms under and above the water and had to wait some years for someone who said me that. I thought that while swimming free and back I should make circles normal(perpendicular)to the bottom of the pool with straight arms. Propably my elbows were not completely stiff but I remember exactly the day when I started to bend them. My point of view is that autodidacts and people that are only seasonal swimmers or beginners and weren't training any sport in the past have not developed movement imagination. Even if they watch technically good swimmer they do not notice that for example his wrist is below the elbow. Even if they see more details they dont' have the move pattern and could not control the arm - being sure that the move is right when in fact it has different shape than they wanted.
"Pat" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:
Rereading what I wrote, I realize I was not entirely clear. I am not talking about the arms being straight while underwater---just absolutely straight when they are brought forward through the air portion of swimming.
Don't worry about it. Many of the greatest swimmers do that. E.g., Inge DeBruijn and Michael Klim. Inge is a world record holder!
Rereading what I wrote, I realize I was not entirely clear. I am not
talking about the arms being straight while underwater--- just absolutely straight when they are brought forward through the air portion of swimming.
Quoted message said:
Don't worry about it. Many of the greatest swimmers do that. E.g., Inge DeBruijn and Michael Klim. Inge is a world record holder!
Don
These people I have been seeing using the straight arm method have their arms barely an inch above the water line and sometimes their arms skim the water. I'll bet your two examples have their arms high.
Rereading what I wrote, I realize I was not entirely clear. I am not
talking about the arms being straight while underwater--- just absolutely straight when they are brought forward through the air portion of swimming.
Quoted message said:
Don't worry about it. Many of the greatest swimmers do that. E.g., Inge DeBruijn and Michael Klim. Inge is a world record holder!
Don
These people I have been seeing using the straight arm method have their arms barely an inch above the water line and sometimes their arms skim the water. I'll bet your two examples have their arms high.
You are right. Janet Evans is perhaps the most famous of the windmill straight arm strokes. The straight arm stroke you describe is often a cause of shoulder pain. My own stroke tends to be too straight, but it isn't nearly as bad as you describe.
