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Now we're dealing with streamline. The streamline is one of the most
critical skills that a swimmer can develop
The reason that it's so critical is because it is the fastest that a swimmer
will actually move in the water
coming off the walls and on this starts with the tight streamline
you'll never swim as fast as you're moving as you explode off the wall
so it's very very important that you have a tight streamline
now essentially a streamline is making the body
as slender, as skinny in the water as possible
to cut down on resistance so the body moves more smoothly through the water
maintaining speed and momentum. Now the important parts
of the streamline--number one is the shoulders, the shoulders are the widest
part of the body structurally
so they're going to catch the most water they're gonna catch the most resistance
see you want to try to eliminate that resistance by allowing the
water
to slide around the shoulders, making them as slender as possible
in the water. I like to tell my swimmers that your shoulders are the
widest part of your body but your gonna try to make them
one at the skinniest parts of your body
Number one- hands overlapped this is a bad habit don't have your hands next
to each other
So hands overlapped, you wanna lock the streamline
just behind the head with the head resting on the biceps.
It should be nice and tight
Now the key points to locking it is making sure that you eliminate any
open space
that will be between your head and your shoulders
all right that'll kill you in the long run as far as swimmer because any open
space right there is gonna catch water
which is going to create resistance
with the legs you want to make sure that the legs are together
and that your toes are pointed behind you
One of the common things I have found with swimmers when starting to
develop their streamline
is that they allow their feet to hang off the end
Now remember, as a competitive swimmer, you're trying to cut down on resistance
so keep those pointed, just like a ballerina
and make sure that you eliminate all of the resistance that you can
Here are some secret tricks when dealing with a swimmer to help them
actually develop a tighter streamline
something that I tell my swimmers is that your streamline can never ever be too tight
he never going to hear a swim coach come up and say "ooh you need to loosen up
that streamline it's just too tight"
No, the tighter the better that is always the case
another thing that I tell my swimmers is that a tight streamline
actually makes the pool shorter. With a tight streamline
you'll come off of the wall with more speed covering more distance
and coming onto the surface with more speed and momentum
then you would with a broken streamline with something that's not very tight
so you actually have a shorter distance to swim
in the long run when you break the surface if you have a tight streamline
and you're moving faster which is an added bonus