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Yannick Agnel was a great exemple of a good head movement for breathing.

Finish push up to the waistline, keep one eye under the water (by rotating torso more, not just the head) and now tap the head on the recovery. It’s fun to work on these details and improve the style eventually. I can’t wait to try it tomorrow.

I can't remember if I ever had a problem with breathing. However, at age 74, I can see the day coming when I won't be able to swim freestyle without a snorkel. I have arthritis every where, and when Uncle Arther stops in, he never goes away. One thing I like about my over arm side stroke is that I don't have to twist my head and neck to breathe. Body rotation, which centers on the vertical shoulders moves my head just enough so that I don't have to twist at all.

Perfect. I have been struggling w my breath timing. I Will start using this drill today.

Biggest trouble for me is the pulldown to the kick to the surface after a turn. I seem to run out of speed and come to a halt many times and have to get going again. The kick after the pulldown feels really useless. Any drills to help me out?

Hey Matt -- I worked really hard to develop a crossover turn just before joining DAM, but I discovered that there's no way in hell I can go into a proper breast stroke pullout in a race pace IM without the extra oxygen of the open turn! It would be interesting to compare IM times doing an open turn/full pullout vs. crossover turn/streamline glide pullout to see if there's still an advantage. z

I'm going to give it a try!

Never worried about this turn because I can't swim breast stroke because my feet will not turn out. I do remember the "old days" before they allowed you to roll over in back stroke, and that tumble turn was essentially a back flip. It was often called the suicide turn, I am guessing due to injuries, which is probably what prompted the allowing of the roll over first. At first this did look like a back flip type turn, but after watching closely, you do kind of do a front tumble. Not sure why we call it a flip turn anyway, since a flip is 360 degrees and would end up with you facing in the same direction you were heading coming into the wall. Not sure I understand the ruling about having to finish/touch the wall in the stroke you were doing part, especially since in the back stroke they allow that turn, so kind of 'preempted' by the original.... That along with how come flip turns are not allowed with the fly and breast stroke... Makes no sense to me....

Sometimes I see people going deep when going underwater (sorry don't know the expression in English), like making a curve. Is there a good reason for this?

im obese walking 60 miles a week. down 46 lbs. achilles began hur ing. now "swimming" 2 1hr sessions per dae.. works all muscles and i don ache.. i like crawl. snorkel helps . hunger has resumed s ill less han before ea ing garbage food. love "swimming" been going 1 week, and lbs falling off. i subscribed, hoping i can learn proper, for now calorie blas ing is m goal.

This is great, Matt. Thanks for posting.

Which is better Finis snorkel non stability vs TYR ultralite

Excellent. I subscribed.

Very important information good luck 👍 ❤❤❤

Thanks Coach! Helpful tips to put into practice right away. Please, how can I determine which arm is “deeper”? (tip #3).

Thank you Matt, I have a small tear in my RH rotator cuff so I have employed a kick board quite a bit, maybe 1,800 meters during our workout and not really swimming, just some underwater recovery. I think I will ditch the board for a while.

Very much support the DMC fins. Long lasting and a wide range of sizes.

These are great tips and you have been instrumental in my improvement!

The only way I am able to get from point a to point B with that stupid thing is to use a pool buoy, and, of course, fins.

I injured my neck with using a kickboard

Thank you for these fresh ideas! I injured my lower back because of using kickboard. A swimming teacher asked me to hold it infront and me do fast kicks. The next day I felt sharp pain in my back. From that day on I've stayed away from using kickboards. Watching this video makes me want to use my kickboard again to try these new drills. Although I will take it slow to prevent any injuries from happening.

Thanks for this video! Went to look at DMZ elite max fins, and they're in the middle of a "re-branding" and apparently 'taking a break'. :).

great, really informative video. Personally I've always kicked with a kickboard, and since developing some back pain i've really focused on always having a snorkel on and keeping that good body position. It's really worked well for me and I think it will for many others.

Thx Matt! I’ve stayed away from kickboards so not to aggravate my shoulders. Love the board snorkel combo!!

I quit using a kick board years ago, mostly because it did not benefit me at all. Standard position on the board has the head way too high, and like some one said, "practice like you swim". I did see one coach, Andrew Scheaff comment that doing dolphin kicks with the board under your forearms was good for mimicking the breathing stroke on the fly, which may be a good point, but I haven't tried it. I do practice my kick laps with a snorkel, except when on my back. I do include full body rotation on each kick or stroke pattern. I make sure to include race pace kicking for 50 and 100, and even 200 yard sets. I do make sure to vary amplitude on all kicks to go for minimum kicks/length. Makes me wonder how It would work if I could hook up a scale to see how strong my kick was, and to what point can I bend before I get negative results. I did see one woman in the pool who did laps with her kick board vertical for max resistance. Her kick was almost as fast as my swim.... For fins, you really need to try the Finis positive drive fins. Very little fin on the big toe side, more fin on the little toe side. I think these are the only off set fins out there and they do push your feet into the correct position for max propulsion, which is toed in/pigeon toed. Oh, when doing freestyle or back stroke kick laps, I use full body rotation. Most of the time, I will extend the top side arm and retract the down side arm just a little. This mimics the actual swim action. Never could do breast stroke without using a scissor kick. My feet just will not turn out like that.... They will not change now because of age....

I struggle using a kickboard with breaststroke kick. I do arms shoulder width apart when working on kick.

thank you.. very helpful.. but the audio a bit smallllll

great video, I love my swim toys especially the arena fins!

That exhale is like a blast from an engine

Hi Matt! Very helpful!!

Thanks!

Wow, this is the best video I've seen! I was struggling with the butterfly stroke, and I watched the video twice before practicing each step in the pool for four sessions. Boom, it worked perfectly thanks bro.

hope you well coach matt. i have a question is a parachute ok also or its just not necessary also

Loved that tip. It defenitely helped my swimming! Thank you (:

I love this! I have those fancy expensive fins and have for 12+ years. I also really like my stability snorkel and I also use a nose clip for flip turns. Oh yeah, and I have your cap too!

DMC Elite Max are great, especially for those of us with wide feet. I also really like my FINIS ankle buoy which I bought based on rec. here. Great for ab work.

I do suggest to people just starting with paddles to go with more elbow bend to start, like 90 degrees. Then work your way up, even to going to the windmill style/50 meter sprint style with arms opposite each other and straight arm pull and recovery.

I never could figure out if it was a "Pool" or "Pull" buoy. I tried one a couple of times a long time ago, and just didn't like it. They do help you figure out what proper body posture/position should be, but I do agree that many use it for a crutch. 2 points for proper posture. One is head position as you said. The other is proper engagement of your core, or as a Speedo Coach said, "Suck in your gut like you are trying to put your belly button on your spine!" Truer words were never spoken. You do this without thinking when you are young, and as you get older, you tend to relax. Sucking in your gut locks your core, shoulders, and hips together for max efficiency.

Hmm, I have not seen those Finis paddles with the middle finger hole. I do use the ones with the thumb hole. I like them, in part, because they are slightly concave/your palm is concave, and that actually increases your pull power. I figure this is why the racing skulls and paddle boards have slightly concaved oar ends.... Discovered this by driving with my arm out the window. I may have to try the no strap variation just to see if I can do it. I am wondering how you keep from dropping the paddle on your recovery.

Have you tried the Finis Positive drive fins? As far as I can tell, they are the only fins out there that are 'ergonomically' correct. The standard frog fins are not. We do not have flat feet like frogs or ducks (I am an Oregon Duck). They make you point your toes straight out behind you, which is not correct. Proper foot position is toed in/pigeon toed. This allows you to use the side of your foot which as a far larger surface area to employ rather than just the toes. Side benefit of going toed in is that you get 10 to 20 degrees more toe point. I have heard that called both dorsi and plantar flexion. There is a lot of fin on the little toe side, and a very small fin on the big toe side. The 2 fins you showed here appear to come some what close to that, but can't really tell without having them in hand. Side note, do you have a seniors meet down there? I am 74 and want an "official" time for my over arm side stroke.... You are within driving distance as long as the pass isn't snowed in....

A snorkel has been part of my arsenal for many years. Once I picked one up, I quit using the kick board because that does put you in a non swimming posture/body position. I swim a lot of catch up for drills, and it is essential for that drill. I never liked the type with the "purge valve". I can't clear all of the water out of it and that bothers me. Well, you can clear it out, but you have to put your finger over the top of it. I currently use an Arena snorkel. Found out it is 2 inches longer than the Finis one. For some reason, if I have my head in proper position for freestyle, it seems that I get water down it on every stroke, and I am one who figures that I need to be looking straight at the bottom of the pool, and not forward at all except for spotting the X when I do a flip turn. Some do come with smaller diameters so you have to put more effort into your inhaling which should increase your muscles that are used for inhaling. I also use it for when I try to swim the fly. Butterfly was a lot easier 50 years ago when I was in my 20s.....

I'm a big fan of tempo trainer from Finis for open water and distance training. ... The single arm drill is a hard one. I coach a pre masters class with grads of Adult Learn to Swim and some who are not grads of that but still definitely beginning swimmers. Even with fins on, most of my swimmers can't do single arm with their arm at their side. They sink and get frustrated. I prefer to start them off with single arm with the lead arm out and once they are ready, will transition them to drop the other arm. Thanks for the videos!

I think the coaches that recommend head up or tarzan drill are trying to teach good underwater pull through, but I catch your drift. Johnny Weissmuller swam a heads up free for a sub 1:00 for a 100 meter in 1928!

First!

Im glad that i watched this. Im an adult recreational swimmer.. just starting to figure out flip turns. That first breakout stroke has been a missing piece of the puzzle. Thanks.

I try to put the clip on my nose but still do😊

My problem is that when I try to swim with my snorkel I still get some water inside my nose, How can I fix that problem?

Great video. My goal of this season is to focus on improving in freestyle and backstroke, so this was extremely helpful.

Hi coach Matt 😊

Substack: I am interested