Saturday, April 19, 2008

Proper Form

My but the internet is a wonderful place. So much information out there that makes my life so much easier.

The hard part, of course, is separating the junk and bs from the real information, but that's also part of what makes it fun.

To wit -- proper form. How does one run efficiently? Swim? Pedal properly? Well, just turn to the internet. Good people have taken the time and effort to post their expertise and make it freely available to all. Love them for that.

How to swim?

Well, we started with the Total Immersion approach. It is fantastic, as everyone knows. http://www.totalimmersion.net Read the book, get the video. Roll and balance that body, baby. Basta has that part down.

Now that we're in a Build phase again, it's time to address proper form in all sports again. Basta is ready to get some finer points of his swim technique improved. Well, how about a nice little coaching session from six-time Ironman Champion Dave Scott? Beauty: http://youtube.com He has several very well-done videos there. Do a search on Dave Scott Swimming. Thanks, Dave!

Running?
Here's a cool video of Olympian Sara Hall doing running drills to improve form and thus speed. http://video.on.nytimes.com I don't know if Basta will do these but I certainly will. Anything that might improve my running speed is a good thing. Improved running form reduces injury and that's a very good thing. Plus, you can do these down the hall in the privacy of your own home. Don't have to feel like a dork out there with people watching if you don't want to.

Biking.
Finally, I like this article on pedal power: http://www.tri-ecoach.com/art13.htm Especially the simple graphic in the middle. I've watched a bunch of videos of pro cyclists on YouTube to see how they pedal and it seems pretty clear. Need to continue those one-legged drills and focus on the SpinScan readout on the CompuTrainer to get it perfected.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

oj oj oj - so much available! i will go back to your www-suggestions later on....but of course - it is a different thing to make the body to follow the instruction./Crister

Anonymous said...

Hi Crister! Ah, so true. That's why I coach and not do.