Abigail

Time key frames:

0:00 – 0:15 You are doing 3 kicks, remember in fly is just 2 kicks.

You are not doing on time the second kick, the second kick comes when your arms finish pulling, it is the strong kick, the first one (when your arms enter the water is a smaller one).

0:16 – 0:20 When you are doing your underwater dolphin kiks remember to put your head under and between your arms in order to reduce drag.

0:20 – 0:26 Your hands are too close to each other, the arms should enter at the line of your shoulders, right know the arms are entering almost touching each other.

0:30 – 0:43 Do not put bring your arms too deep when you have them in front of you, keep the arms closer to the surface but your head and chest does go deep.

Start the pull before you are taking too long gliding.

Areas to work on, in general:

• Your butterfly is on a good path, start working on Synchronization, then one thing at the time, first focus on your kick, then on your propulsion.

Time key frames:

0:00 – 0:10 Before pushing off the wall you need to put your arms in streamline position, right now you are doing it during your underwater dolphin kicks.

You want your arms to alternate during the pull; when one arm is up getting ready to pull, the other one should be finishing the pull. Notice how this is not reflected on your stroke, you wait until one of your arms finishes the pull completely before even bringing the other one up to begin the pull. Again, alternate is the key word here.

Notice how you bend your wrist (specially left arm) just before entering the water, keep it straight 

0:11 – 0:18 You are pulling with your arm straight, the arm needs to be bend while pulling underwater like grabbing and pulling from the lane rope.

You need to do the full movement of the pull do not rush it, let your arm go in straight, bend your elbow to pull and finish all the way to the end then bring the arm up, the more strokes doesn’t mean you will go faster on the contrary, you will go slower and get more tired.

When your arm/hand enters the water let it go a bit deeper keeping it straight, then start bending your elbow so you pull the water backwards, it will help you grab more water and have a cleaner pull without many bubbles.

0:04 – 0:20 Use your shoulder rotation on your favor, when your hand goes in rotate and pull, it will be easier for your shoulders.

Your kick frequency is too high, you are kicking too much and is not in sync with your arms, slow down a bit your kick

Areas to work on, in general:

• Work on one thing at the time. Focus one day on one thing, then the next day another point, do not try to correct it all at once.

Backstroke examples:

Time key frames:

0:00 – 0:16 The pull make it shorter/smaller, your arms are pulling too far back. Your elbows should never cross the line of your shoulders, when you arms pass the line of your shoulder they should be already touching your body.

Take the momentum from your kick and use it to bring your hips up to the surface when you finish kicking, it will help you have a better body position In the water.

0:17 – 0:25 One of the most important things in your breaststroke is that you learn how to glide, remember that gliding makes your stroke more efficient and faster, you need to stretch and tighten your arms to the front. Rigth now you are not gliding because as soon as you finish the stroke you are starting another one, try to maintain a streamline position for more time.

The knees do not separate too much from one another, there is a small opening but not to wide. A good drill is swimming breastroke with a pullbouy on your legs or a stretch band above your knees. 

When finishing your kick, extend your legs and point your toes as much as you can doing butterfly kick, Work with you breast kick, you can practice even outside of the water: Breast kick video. This drill will also help your hips going closer to the surface.

Remember that, in fly and breast, you must touch the wall with both hands at the same time before the turn.

Do not rush the pullout, push of the wall, stay a bit in a tight streamline, then when you start to lose speed, do the dolphin kick and the pull, then wait a bit to take advantage of the pull and then do a breast kick and a stroke to do the breakout strong and to carry the speed.

You are doing your kick and your stroke at the sametime, it should be your stroke first then your kick, so when you begin throwing your hands to the front you should be starting your kick, and when you have them on the front you finish the kick (it will be the fastest part of your stroke)

Areas to work on, in general:

• Work on your body position, your hips and legs should be closer to the surface in order to reduce drag.

Breast examples:

Time key frames:

0:05 – 0:11 You are taking your head out too much to breath, remember it should only come out half of the face.

You need to grab and pull the water strong every time, the more strokes doesn’t mean you will go faster on the contrary, you will go slower and get more tired.

0:13 – 0:19 You are pulling with you left arm straight, bend your elbow more. When your arm goes in the water, try to glide more with your arms and do not drop your arm, when your hand enters the surface, rotate and glide it as much as you can to the front, right now you are gliding diagonal down and front (specially your right hand).

In general, make sure that when your arms enter the water you fully stretch your arms to the front before starting the pull.

The strength of the kick does not comes from just bending your knees it starts with your hip and core, and a small bend of the knee, when your leg comes up have it straight then start the kick from your core down to your toes. So, If you are sprinting you should narrow your kicks and have them in a faster tempo.

Areas to work on, in general:

• Overall your freestyle is good. Be sure to practice sets like counting your strokes and reducing them so you start to have a stronger pull and grab more water. 

Free examples: