I have watched this video several times and am still getting a lot out of it. What would be fantastic would be to have some swimmer footage matched with it - this would concretely illustrate the points e.g. showing someone using his/her lats in recovery and the effects this has.
This is the first time I spend time to comment a video, but it just so happens that this is the first video that had a material impact on my (sport) life. Thank you! I have been wrestling with rotators cuff pains for a while, while hitting a plateau on my 2000 performance at the same time. The more you train the worst you get: nightmare. A lot of small corrections on the water from the coach, physio, ice, NSAD… and finally this video made it all so simple. This is so actionable! I still have to focus on each movement to fully relax the deltoid on the catch, but I feel so light now. I am still not faster than before, but when the movement will become natural, I am sure I will be able to put real strength in it. And mainly: no more pain! No more impingement!
You are one of the best 3 coaches here on youtube. I love your tutorials. I swim freestyle a mile a day, nonstop, 6 days a week. Thank you for all your help! I learn a lot from you.
I've been trying to work on my strokes and I can feel i'm not using the right muscles, and there this is the information I need. Very insightful and this is such an important piece of tips that many MANY other swim tutorials never mention. Working / using the right muscle groups is so so important. Thank you very much. Will watch it every time before I head out for my swim practice.
The biceps! Never give this part a thought, but maybe that's where my problem lies. Thanks for making this video, really interesting, you definitely put a lot of thinking in it.
Very different perspective and very useful. Because the visual actions we see in the other videos can be accomplished by using wrong muscles. Especially by the beginners like me. Visual action combined with feeling of the right muscle together makes it very clear. Also reasoning for high elbow position is to engage the right muscles, this is very important point which is missing in all tutorial videos, I have watched so far. A right high elbow position is when the pectorails muscle gets activated. Excellent point there.Thank you.
Thank you for your video! I have been testing my shoulders in the water - i.e. trying to feel what they are doing, which muscles I use. I naturally figured out how to use an arm in the pull phase after many trials and came to see this video to confirm that my intuitive guesses were right. Definitely they were. I feel that this video is a great confirmation and reassurance as it gave me certainty that I am going in the right direction
This was just a fantastic demonstration of what should and shouldn’t happen during the front crawl. I learn something every time I watch it. While I was watching this time I used my kitchen countertop to represent the water as a source of resistance and was amazed at how much I tend to use my triceps too soon during the pull. It actually showed me how the muscles are acting against each other agonist vs antagonist leading to a gear deal of inefficiency and wasted energy. Thanks again for these great productions and instructions.
Great content coach, we are stuck indoors and I do dryland swims & pulls with elastic cord. After watching your video I went with feel, trying to turn off anything unnecessary and relaxing the upper back, already made lots of difference, will keep on concentrating while we are still on dryland without the hassle of many other factors in the water. Greetings & stay safe 🙏
WOW!! This is a GREAT video! - really broke down a lot of stuff, and it synchronizes perfectly with what my own coach tells me! I understand certain of my mistakes a lot better now! Many many thank you's!
Great Video, I’m learning Front crawl working on bio-directional breathing, especially on the Left hand side. Learning to twist my whole left side around to make it easier on the neck. But yesterday pulled muscles in my left side which aren’t as strong as the right. I’m especially interested in you’re descriptions when you show us the movement and then go to the Muscular chart. There must be a way I can make this an easier less clumsy and jerky movement!
When trying to practise rotating to your less preferred side the Kick on Side drill is great, both changing by length and changing after every breath. It takes a long time to change your muscle memory so persevere.
Thanks. I try to engage my lats and when I do my stroke is powerful but because I don't use them a lot it can hurt. It is not easy for me to get them to engage. I try. Now watching your video I can see that my lats won't engage because I am using my triceps in the pull stage. I have to change to using my pecs and biceps in the pull stage and triceps in the push stage while at the same time maintaing a high elbow. I can't wait to try this out - high elbow with no triceps in the pull but triceps in the push. Hopefully this will enable my lats to engage.
Excellent video thank you. Well explained together with the computer graphics. I tend to be using my shoulders instead of my lats as when I get out of the pool my shoulders are pumped as if I have been lifting weights. Any advice on engaging the lats more. Thanks again.
Cheers for this, I have been researching "muscle imbalance exercises" for a while now, and I think this has helped. Have you ever come across - Reenrianna Imbalances Redemption - (do a google search ) ? Ive heard some awesome things about it and my mate got amazing results with it.
Thank you for your detailed analysis of the muscle groups in and around the arm that should be working when correctly engaging the freestyle stroke. I've come on to this page because I've just done two Pilates classes on a reformer bed and my triceps are in a lot of pain. Because I swim three times a week I was puzzled as to why these muscles would be so sore, and as you have explained, these should not be employed if one is correctly engaged in the freestyle stroke (or for that matter butterfly or breaststroke). My concern was that I was not holding the catch position correctly. You have vindicated that I must be doing it correctly because if they were engaged then a dropped elbow follows and I probably wouldn't be in so much pain right now.
Excellent information with solid presentation. Thank you! Next time I swim, I will try to feel my muscles thought each phase of the stroke. I appreciate if you show your insights regarding to high elbow vs. staraight arm recovery. With the straight arm recovery, looks like more muscles involved in comparison to that of high elbow recovery..
great video, I now think I've been swimming wrong. After a mile my shoulders are worn out. I'm definitely going to try and engage the right muscles. are there any exercises on land you would recommend to get muscle memory? and and weighted exercises to build to muscles up?
A quick question on the arm stretch just before the catch, I am struggling to reach out every time and when I get tired my arms are not straight.. is this tight lats? Very useful video..
Excellent video! I recently had rotator cuff repair surgery and want to know if you have any advice about how to minimize stress on the cuff when I return to swimming. I am 68 and pre-surgery was swimming 3-4 times a week for 30-40 minutes. I prefer freestyle for a stroke
I feel fatigue in my triceps and feel tired after 50 and unable to swim continuous for long distance. After some rest I continue 50m laps but difficult to continue for longer. I do catch up, zipper, kicking on chest back and sides drills to improve my technique. Can you give your expert opinion on this?
Excellent info. Thank you. My feet keep sinking when I do front Crawl, what am I doing wrong? I self-taught to swim and I know I have bad habits or incorrect.
You need to push your chest into the water, from around the level of the nipples, and it should balance you up. Practice with fins on kicking on your side.
You are probably keeping your head up. You should be looking down at the bottom of the pool and when you want to breathe in you should turn your head to the side. One other thing is that the power from the kick is mostly in flipping your ankles if your ankles are rigid then they act like brakes and make your legs drop. I'm NOT an expert. I am learning.
How about teres major and long head of triceps during the pull phase? Those seem to work too and there are lots of mentions in different swim resources...
Hi Dmytro, interesting question. Undoubtedly the smaller muscle groups will be invoked but I question a swimmers ability to feel these and isolate that feeling. E.G. in the recovery one can feel the Deltoid but can you feel the rotator cuff muscles? Let me know what you think and feel?
Im such a slow swimmer and never feel my shoulders or arms are sore even though i hav very weak arms....i think i know where my slowness is...im not doing any pulling
I'm 63 and fairly fit, mostly 50 m 25 m pool swimmer, I went on some thousand meter swims in a lake twice a week in the summer it felt felt good I didn't feel injured when I came out (but once while swimming though I felt a very strange fear like I couldn't return to the beach ... I was using a floater buoy the water wasn't really very cold) soon after I noticed i had a right mallet thumb and still have this stiff ache from my thumb up my arm & shoulder initially it felt like a deltoids attach shoulder that were injured. It was strange because I do know how to swim with fairly proper form and I was not pulling really hard yet it came out of the blue.... Doing light therapeutic theraband and water walking it's recovered to about 60% - 65% strength after three to four months. What could be the gentlest front crawl / front crawl exercises to do and for how long? Thank you I realize it's hard to diagnose this way I did go to a physiotherapist once. Any advice would be welcome.
Hi William, It sounds as though you should get a proper diagnosis on this. Pain through the thumb to the deltoid might imply that the pain is being cause from a nerve, not a muscle. There is very little to explain a pain in the deltoid also being felt in the thumb, unless it's neural and a neural problem may even be coming from the spine. It may require more investigation, even an MRI.
Hi Kartik, pain is never normal, could be an indication of overuse, just a slight strain or an impingement. Initially it would indicate rest and then investigation if it doesn't clear up. Cheers
I feel it in the back of my shoulders when I am swimming. It is always the reason that I have to stop. It also really burns in the upper part of my lats. Why do I feel this?
It's difficult to say without seeing you, you could send a video if you have one and I could analyse it here if it's good enough quality. But it sounds as though you're not relaxed swimming. Keeping your muscles tight is likely to cause knots and tightness.
This seems to be on the wrong video - However, you can do what you like it just might require a new hip earlier (from what my wife tells me). Certainly her fitness is great and there is no pain from her joint, so the exercise is of immense benefit.
This is puzzling. Most other channels emphasize hip rotation so that the core muscles are used in the post-catch pull. Maybe I misinterpreted your instruction?
Best video ever to understand stroke movement. I asked my swimmers to watch it.
I have watched this video several times and am still getting a lot out of it. What would be fantastic would be to have some swimmer footage matched with it - this would concretely illustrate the points e.g. showing someone using his/her lats in recovery and the effects this has.
This is the first time I spend time to comment a video, but it just so happens that this is the first video that had a material impact on my (sport) life. Thank you!
I have been wrestling with rotators cuff pains for a while, while hitting a plateau on my 2000 performance at the same time. The more you train the worst you get: nightmare. A lot of small corrections on the water from the coach, physio, ice, NSAD… and finally this video made it all so simple. This is so actionable!
I still have to focus on each movement to fully relax the deltoid on the catch, but I feel so light now. I am still not faster than before, but when the movement will become natural, I am sure I will be able to put real strength in it. And mainly: no more pain! No more impingement!
You are one of the best 3 coaches here on youtube. I love your tutorials. I swim freestyle a mile a day, nonstop, 6 days a week. Thank you for all your help! I learn a lot from you.
Thanks for your kind words
Really useful video thank you. Could you do a video about the muscles used in the core, posterior chain, and leg?
I've been trying to work on my strokes and I can feel i'm not using the right muscles, and there this is the information I need. Very insightful and this is such an important piece of tips that many MANY other swim tutorials never mention. Working / using the right muscle groups is so so important. Thank you very much. Will watch it every time before I head out for my swim practice.
Best channel for swim technique
First one which clearly emphasises the mechanics of forward crawl, detailed muscle in use identification . Commentary is superb. Great job.
The biceps! Never give this part a thought, but maybe that's where my problem lies. Thanks for making this video, really interesting, you definitely put a lot of thinking in it.
Now that is exactly the way I need to be taught things. Yes even sports things.
among so many videos he did the most reasonable technical video! thank you a lot!
Very different perspective and very useful. Because the visual actions we see in the other videos can be accomplished by using wrong muscles. Especially by the beginners like me. Visual action combined with feeling of the right muscle together makes it very clear. Also reasoning for high elbow position is to engage the right muscles, this is very important point which is missing in all tutorial videos, I have watched so far. A right high elbow position is when the pectorails muscle gets activated. Excellent point there.Thank you.
Thank you for sharing this! I’m going to take this to the pool this week and see how I can improve
such a precious lesson that i am looking for. Thank you so much
Thank you for your video! I have been testing my shoulders in the water - i.e. trying to feel what they are doing, which muscles I use. I naturally figured out how to use an arm in the pull phase after many trials and came to see this video to confirm that my intuitive guesses were right. Definitely they were. I feel that this video is a great confirmation and reassurance as it gave me certainty that I am going in the right direction
Really interesting video - Especially more of the scientific side of swimming.
This was just a fantastic demonstration of what should and shouldn’t happen during the front crawl. I learn something every time I watch it. While I was watching this time I used my kitchen countertop to represent the water as a source of resistance and was amazed at how much I tend to use my triceps too soon during the pull. It actually showed me how the muscles are acting against each other agonist vs antagonist leading to a gear deal of inefficiency and wasted energy.
Thanks again for these great productions and instructions.
Great content coach, we are stuck indoors and I do dryland swims & pulls with elastic cord. After watching your video I went with feel, trying to turn off anything unnecessary and relaxing the upper back, already made lots of difference, will keep on concentrating while we are still on dryland without the hassle of many other factors in the water. Greetings & stay safe 🙏
WOW!! This is a GREAT video! - really broke down a lot of stuff, and it synchronizes perfectly with what my own coach tells me! I understand certain of my mistakes a lot better now! Many many thank you's!
Extremely informative and precise! Congratulations!
Really informative video that helps with the understanding of stroke
Ta
Amazing! Thank you very much!
Great Video, I’m learning Front crawl working on bio-directional breathing, especially on the Left hand side. Learning to twist my whole left side around to make it easier on the neck. But yesterday pulled muscles in my left side which aren’t as strong as the right. I’m especially interested in you’re descriptions when you show us the movement and then go to the Muscular chart. There must be a way I can make this an easier less clumsy and jerky movement!
When trying to practise rotating to your less preferred side the Kick on Side drill is great, both changing by length and changing after every breath. It takes a long time to change your muscle memory so persevere.
Thanks a lot for the video. I feel most of the load is on the triceps.!!
wow, I never knew this, thanks :)
Thanks. I try to engage my lats and when I do my stroke is powerful but because I don't use them a lot it can hurt. It is not easy for me to get them to engage. I try.
Now watching your video I can see that my lats
won't engage because I am using my triceps in the pull stage. I have to change to using my pecs and biceps in the pull stage and triceps in the push stage while at the same time maintaing a high elbow.
I can't wait to try this out - high elbow with no triceps in the pull but triceps in the push. Hopefully this will enable my lats to engage.
Learnt a lot from this video. Thank you!
Such a great video for beginners.
Excellent video thank you. Well explained together with the computer graphics. I tend to be using my shoulders instead of my lats as when I get out of the pool my shoulders are pumped as if I have been lifting weights. Any advice on engaging the lats more. Thanks again.
very useful video...with substantial instructions .. I am a master swimmer and thank you a lot
Great approach. I learn so much on your channel.
Thank you Sir . I did like your vidio
and I did learn a lot from you....
Great video, well done, thanks
That was really really helpful!!
Thank you for the vid - very informative and useful - I learn something new every time with your videos.
Cheers for this, I have been researching "muscle imbalance exercises" for a while now, and I think this has helped. Have you ever come across - Reenrianna Imbalances Redemption - (do a google search ) ? Ive heard some awesome things about it and my mate got amazing results with it.
Excellent teaching. Thanks.
Thank you. This is very helpful.
Важное и очень полезное для понимания своих ошибок в технике видео. Спасибо автору!
Which upper body muscles and how should I strengthen on land training to swim faster, please? Many thanks
It is very enlightening 🎉 thanks for your contribution man. I will try it. And like ur idea of using only the right muscle , same as my theory haha
Thank you Sir
Thanks for video
Brilliant video.
Many thanks!
Fantastic explanations!
Thanks!
Thank you for your detailed analysis of the muscle groups in and around the arm that should be working when correctly engaging the freestyle stroke.
I've come on to this page because I've just done two Pilates classes on a reformer bed and my triceps are in a lot of pain.
Because I swim three times a week I was puzzled as to why these muscles would be so sore, and as you have explained, these should not be employed if one is correctly engaged in the freestyle stroke (or for that matter butterfly or breaststroke). My concern was that I was not holding the catch position correctly. You have vindicated that I must be doing it correctly because if they were engaged then a dropped elbow follows and I probably wouldn't be in so much pain right now.
Thank you for sharing !!!
What about activation of core muscles during this process or hoe much of an impact do they have... thanks!
Excellent information with solid presentation. Thank you! Next time I swim, I will try to feel my muscles thought each phase of the stroke.
I appreciate if you show your insights regarding to high elbow vs. staraight arm recovery. With the straight arm recovery, looks like more muscles involved in comparison to that of high elbow recovery..
Nice explain
Thanks for liking
do you have a similar video for other strokes, back and so on?
Great video!
Ta
great video, I now think I've been swimming wrong. After a mile my shoulders are worn out. I'm definitely going to try and engage the right muscles. are there any exercises on land you would recommend to get muscle memory? and and weighted exercises to build to muscles up?
A quick question on the arm
stretch just before the catch, I am struggling to reach out every time and when I get tired my arms are not straight.. is this tight lats? Very useful video..
Great!! Thanks!
Excellent video! I recently had rotator cuff repair surgery and want to know if you have any advice about how to minimize stress on the cuff when I return to swimming. I am 68 and pre-surgery was swimming 3-4 times a week for 30-40 minutes. I prefer freestyle for a stroke
Excellent, really useful. As a mature beginner, I also struggle with rotation - what is the best zone of angulation if that makes sense?
Great video! Very informative. Can you do a video like this but about butterfly, breaststroke and backstroke?
Sure thing!
@@SwimCycleRunCoach thanks
impressive
I feel fatigue in my triceps and feel tired after 50 and unable to swim continuous for long distance. After some rest I continue 50m laps but difficult to continue for longer. I do catch up, zipper, kicking on chest back and sides drills to improve my technique. Can you give your expert opinion on this?
l recently fot knew with your channel increadible
Excellent info. Thank you. My feet keep sinking when I do front Crawl, what am I doing wrong? I self-taught to swim and I know I have bad habits or incorrect.
You need to push your chest into the water, from around the level of the nipples, and it should balance you up. Practice with fins on kicking on your side.
You are probably keeping your head up. You should be looking down at the bottom of the pool and when you want to breathe in you should turn your head to the side. One other thing is that the power from the kick is mostly in flipping your ankles if your ankles are rigid then they act like brakes and make your legs drop. I'm NOT an expert. I am learning.
good share
Great video, What's the joint action at the shoulder during the recovery phase? (for PE)
You are the best
How about teres major and long head of triceps during the pull phase? Those seem to work too and there are lots of mentions in different swim resources...
Hi Dmytro, interesting question. Undoubtedly the smaller muscle groups will be invoked but I question a swimmers ability to feel these and isolate that feeling. E.G. in the recovery one can feel the Deltoid but can you feel the rotator cuff muscles? Let me know what you think and feel?
Im such a slow swimmer and never feel my shoulders or arms are sore even though i hav very weak arms....i think i know where my slowness is...im not doing any pulling
Thank you! I pulled my calf muscle training for my first triathlon. Is it ok to front crawl while my calf is recovery?
Use a pull buoy in training and don't push off hard with that leg.
does having very strong triceps and lats help you pull harder and faster in freestyle?
All improved upper body strength helps, however it's your technique that needs to be right when using that strength.
I cross the line with my left arm and feel the trapezius. How can I correct this?
Will be doing a triathlon with 1000 m swimming.
Thanks 🙏
Stretch forward with your shoulder, effectively pushing your shoulder ahead of you and your hand ahead in the direction you want to go.
I'm 63 and fairly fit, mostly 50 m 25 m pool swimmer, I went on some thousand meter swims in a lake twice a week in the summer it felt felt good I didn't feel injured when I came out (but once while swimming though I felt a very strange fear like I couldn't return to the beach ... I was using a floater buoy the water wasn't really very cold) soon after I noticed i had a right mallet thumb and still have this stiff ache from my thumb up my arm & shoulder initially it felt like a deltoids attach shoulder that were injured. It was strange because I do know how to swim with fairly proper form and I was not pulling really hard yet it came out of the blue.... Doing light therapeutic theraband and water walking it's recovered to about 60% - 65% strength after three to four months. What could be the gentlest front crawl / front crawl exercises to do and for how long? Thank you I realize it's hard to diagnose this way I did go to a physiotherapist once. Any advice would be welcome.
Hi William, It sounds as though you should get a proper diagnosis on this. Pain through the thumb to the deltoid might imply that the pain is being cause from a nerve, not a muscle. There is very little to explain a pain in the deltoid also being felt in the thumb, unless it's neural and a neural problem may even be coming from the spine. It may require more investigation, even an MRI.
If it's a nerve pain then ulnar and radial glides may help. It is a physiotherapy exercise. Look it up on youTube. I am NOT a doctor
Having pain in deltoid of the right hand while recovery of the stroke is it normal
Hi Kartik, pain is never normal, could be an indication of overuse, just a slight strain or an impingement. Initially it would indicate rest and then investigation if it doesn't clear up. Cheers
@@SwimCycleRunCoach Thanks sir 🤟
I feel it in the back of my shoulders when I am swimming. It is always the reason that I have to stop. It also really burns in the upper part of my lats. Why do I feel this?
It's difficult to say without seeing you, you could send a video if you have one and I could analyse it here if it's good enough quality. But it sounds as though you're not relaxed swimming. Keeping your muscles tight is likely to cause knots and tightness.
Sir, no running with replaced hip joint. Just a recipe for disaster and future headaches. But please, do your research.
This seems to be on the wrong video - However, you can do what you like it just might require a new hip earlier (from what my wife tells me). Certainly her fitness is great and there is no pain from her joint, so the exercise is of immense benefit.
This is puzzling. Most other channels emphasize hip rotation so that the core muscles are used in the post-catch pull. Maybe I misinterpreted your instruction?
Thank you, that was very helpful.