What Do You Think Of Mr Smooth?

[velvetparlour]

Adam / Paul (or anyone else who can comment)

Is Mr Smooth's stroke perfectly symmetrical?
maybe I have just stared at my screen too long but it seems to me (looking at perfect front view) that he looks around the corner a little more when breathing to the left compared to the right

maybe around frame 133?

apologies if this has already been discussed

cheers
Julian

[nanoRat]

Is it true that Mr. Smooth emulates the stroke of Murray Rose? If it is true, it is interesting that things haven't changed much in 60 years. A great stroke is a great stroke.

[KonaBoy]

Mr Smooth is a Stud! I have seen more things in swim technique shown by Mr Smooth than the last 4 years I have been swimming. I know the Aussies love swimmers so I bet Mr smooth is popular with all the ladies down under! LOL.

Paul or Adam, My question is, does Mr Smooth rotate less on his times he doesn't breathe? Also how do you know if you are rotating enough or to much?

[DaveH]

Fantastic app and site
After many years out of the water due to many different ear, nose and throat problems, it's proving a great help to try and iron out my now poor technique. Even the wife who is a regular middle distance breast stroker has found it useful for her freestyle technique.

[Carol]

I love Mr. Smooth--what a terrific tool. Visualization is great. I am rotating and catching--which I've never done before--and have found it's actually not impossible to breathe on the non-dominant side if you get the rotation down. Now if I could just film myself to see if I"m doing it right and make further improvements!

[manilenio]

Adam / Paul (or anyone else who can comment)

Is Mr Smooth's stroke perfectly symmetrical?
maybe I have just stared at my screen too long but it seems to me (looking at perfect front view) that he looks around the corner a little more when breathing to the left compared to the right

maybe around frame 133?

apologies if this has already been discussed

cheers
Julian

I second that! I thought I was imagining it

[manilenio]

Hello from the Philippines!

Just sounding off about how thankful I am for Mr. Smooth. I think my catch, pull and recovery improved because of him. Some suggestions I have for the program though:

1. Maybe we can have a right-side view too? Even better if we're able to pan the camera all around him (if possible).
2. A box where we can enter a frame number so we can remove the hit and miss timing with the pause button when we want to look at a specific frame?
3. Option to toggle between 2-beat and 6-beat kicks?

I won't bother with replacing Mr. Smooth with a Ms. Smooth, I'm not too keen on a virtual woman .

Also, some suggestions on your articles on the site:

1. Maybe it would be helpful if you had an article about correct head position for freestyle (pool and open water). Should it be neutral (looking straight down) or slightly ahead (between neutral and front sighting), why and what the effects are to overall buoyancy, balance, and breathing.
2. Saw a video about how to keep your legs up and minimize drag by tilting your pelvis. Tried it and it actually works! Maybe you can incorporate it into your articles about body position, kicking and minimizing drag.
3. I've watched a lot of videos to get tips (aside from watching Mr. Smooth), and most of the freestyle swimmers seem to have a bit of an outsweep before their actual catch commences, probably due to sculling/EVF drills. Since Mr. Smooth does not show this, I'm thinking you guys have thoughts about this too. Maybe you can elaborate further on your articles about the catch/pull.
4. On that note, how about an article about sculling and how it helps (or not)?
5. How about some articles on the benefits/dangers of hand paddles, and how, why, and how often they should be used? Maybe you can also throw in something about using a pull buoy too (I tend to over-rotate when using one)?

Overall, great work, I love your site, and thanks for the help!

[Adam Young]

Hi Julian,

You're right, he's not quite symmetrical! There are two or three areas where he's not - I'll leave you to find them all. When we started out with the animators I said to them, just animate one side and reflect it onto the other but they didn't do that - they did both sides seperately. The result is a more organic style I think and not quite symmetrical...

Hi Manilenio,

Some fantastic ideas there - thanks very much for writing them up for us. All I can say, watch this space - many of them are in the pipeline... plus a few more

BTW, you can enter frame numbers, rewind and do some rotational views in the pro console: http://www.swimsmooth.com/proconsole

Cheers!

Adam

[Paul Newsome]

Further to what Adam has said manilenio,

1. As Adam mentions, this very cool feature has already been added to the PRO console (available for purchase as an Enthusiasts or Coaches edition) and looks somewhat similar to "The Matrix" effect I guess!
2. This feature is also available in the PRO version as well as a fine-control slider as well to advance or rewind very slowly through the footage.
3. Watch this space...!

Articles:

Here are some old archives from my comments on the www.tritalk.co.uk forum (some lively discussions in the past!):

1. http://www.tritalk.co.uk/forums/viewtop ... ht=#165208 - the key here is that there is no right or wrong and many KICKTASTICS (from www.swimtypes.com ) have actually been hindered (especially in the open water) with the whole notion that EVERYONE should swim with their eyes down. Equally, looking forward doesn't suit everyone either - especially the ARNIE / ARNETTES with their sinky legs.

2. ...erm, I'd like to think that this has been sourced directly from us as its been something we've been teaching and included in the original Swim Smooth DVD Boxset back in 2004.

3. Here's some info on that precise topic: http://www.swimsmooth.com/aboutmrsmoothcatch.html

4. Sculling drills: http://www.tritalk.co.uk/forums/viewtop ... ht=#277531

5. Paddles: http://www.tritalk.co.uk/forums/viewtop ... ht=#196514 & Pull Bouy: http://www.tritalk.co.uk/forums/viewtop ... ht=#202771

Hopefully that gives you some "homework" for the weekend!!

Cheers

Paul

[manilenio]

Good stuff! Thanks for the clarifications, guys

[Lindsay Patten]

I think Mr Smooth is great but I'm worried that he's headed for shoulder problems due to bringing his elbows back too far during the recovery. You can see that his elbow gets behind his back even in the view selection control. Interestingly he doesn't do it on every arm recovery but he does do it on most. Is there a benefit to bringing the elbow this far back?

[SolarEnergy]

Very interesting critic here Lindsay.

It's true that Mr.Smooth shows a very high level of shoulder flexibility, probably higher than the level that most of us could show, including me here.

However, with the time spent swimming and more importantly, the high focus put on flexibility as part of dryland daily routine (very intense active/passive flex exercises), club or varsity level swimmers, well some of them at least , do show a level similar as that of Mr.Smooth.

How many of us spend time every workout dryland getting someone crossing our arms behind our back this sort of thing? I almost never do. Thanks for reminding me this

[Lindsay Patten]

How many of us spend time every workout dryland getting someone crossing our arms behind our back this sort of thing? I almost never do. Thanks for reminding me this

Is that stretch the one that is illustrated directly to the left of the "What not to do" header (page 2) of this article?

I have to admit that I tend to project my own shoulder issues on others, but I'm far from alone in needing to avoid letting my arms get behind the plane of my body. I still wonder if there is a benefit or whether it would be better to teach everyone to avoid a movement that causes problems for many. I'm still working diligently to change my stroke to be more like his and am getting good results so let me reiterate that I think Mr. Smooth is great!

[SolarEnergy]

Thanks a lot Lindsay for the pdf. Yep, that what I was talking about. The image of this coach controlling the swimmer's arms, euhh well first things first. It's not the best manipulation, although we see this often. It's far better (both safe and comfortable for the swimmer) to take the swimmer by the elbows, to avoid putting pressure in overextending the arm.

Then, you take just the avg age group swimmer, 14-15 around that age, their hands will touch, and some even cross their arms in the back, and quite a lot.

Don't know the translation here, I think it's called Neuro-Proprioceptive Facilitation something like that. Asking the swimmers to force against the resistance you impose, kind of breaks the muscle a bit, then you ask the swimmer to release force and you stretch further than any previous levels.

That's (in part, and for some) how you can get Mr.Smooth sort of recovery flexibility. We often mention EVF being hard on shoulder flexibility (not even that sure about that any more but that's not the point), relaxed passive recovery, those that we admire from top level swimmers are achieved at the price of some time spent stretching.

I also think that it's good to have an extended range of motion during the recovery, as it allows for pitching the forearm (giving the right angle) on the entry. When swimming fast, it then has an impact of your ability to take safe, healthy, unloaded but very efficient catch (angle). The hand enters far, but with an angle. Also, the problem is the blood rush. You have to account for it in your flexibility requirement, otherwise you begin the distance all right and then loose some efficiency due to muscles being loaded with blood (stiffer).

My entire post isn't a claim in favor of stretching, it isn't a claim in favor of a method of stretching. Flexible and relaxed recovery would require more than this exercise on Page 2 of this doc (which pertains more to fly specialists anyway).

[SolarEnergy]

Hello from the Philippines!

I think my catch, pull and recovery improved because of him.

I have very little doubt. We are monkeys (well, me at least). We learn better by imitation. Kids learn this way a lot. The idea is to not loose it cause it's very powerful.

Lately I was trying to learn a new turn (back-to-breast) and there are fun executions on youtube.

Darn, I understand everything whilst being in my living room with the computer on the couch, but once I see the darn wall approaching, it all becomes blurred.

Best layout for a coach I guess nowadays is to use those iPads to show Smooth on wide angle display, under all relevant angles, and compare it on the same display with the swimmer's footage captured 3 minutes ago with the built-in camera.... oupsss. sorry. The iPad doesn't have a built in cam yet

Here's an idea for Adam. Capture those footage, turn them into robots, calculate the delta between techniques, and recommend the appropriate drill. Kidding don't do that else we're all loosing our jobs. No coach anymore on the deck, just an ATM printing training and recommending drills demonstrated on displays

[trisole]

Guys

I can't begin to tell you how helpful Mr. Smooth has been to me and I tell all my tri friends to look him up. You want to see the proper catch, watch Mr. Smooth,
body rotation, kick, high elbow with your pull under the shoulder, watch Mr. Smooth, recovery, Mr Smooth, he does it all. Nice job!

[SilverIslet]

Extremely helpful - very clear and instructional.

[pjtriman]

One of my computers crashed not too long ago. I had already downloaded Mr. Smooth onto my other computer. Is it possible to get another license for the free version?

Thanks in advance.

Pete

[Adam Young]

One of my computers crashed not too long ago. I had already downloaded Mr. Smooth onto my other computer. Is it possible to get another license for the free version?

Thanks in advance.

Pete

Hi Pete. Yes, if you shoot us an email to help@swimsmooth.com I'll sort you out!

Cheers,

Adam

[pjtriman]

Adam,
Thanks, I seem to have received another license and I have Mr. Smooth up and running again. Thanks.