Ian Thorpe swimming freestyle 4 - kick and rotation

[andresordo]

I see Ian's knees bend so why some people say that the correct kick should be with the legs straight, i.e. without bending the knees?

[doomkizar]

does his legs got bones

[Benne9999]

i'd like to see him, competing in a 5km race against thomas lurz, would be really interesting, because it looks like thorpe could keep his leg kick over really long distances without really tyring..

[NewYorkPixels]

No matter how many world record other swimmers can brake or how many gold medal they win, Ian Thorpe has the best swimming style ever. No one is so elegant.

[T1mp89]

@NewYorkPixels Popov?

[MMM63631]

hi is really really good

the best swimmer i ever have seen on YouTube

[kimcheboy]

having size 17 feet doesnt hurt either

[omfgthisisaname]

wow :O

[aSWF2go]

Ian has a MAGNIFICANT stroke 1of the best ever! Great hand entry extension catch pull & rotation He rides higher in front w/ head up lowering hips & feet causing more drag & big bow wave Its by design 2 take advantage of his powerful kick Otherwise his feet would come out of the water Without HIS kick its best 2 have hips & feet @surface -less drag No doubt he's tried both styles It's a trade off that works for him because of his huge kick Most pros ride more level due 2 lesser kick than Ian's

[coltononline]

Any experts out there? Is that the proper angle your head should be at. I've always heard you were supposed to look at the bottom of the pool. I'm just starting to learning how to swim so I'm trying to establish good fundamentals from the beginning.

[ZOPTILLIAN]

@coltononline It is important to stay streamlined, but a lot of people misinterpret this for facing your head directly at the bottom of the pool, which is wrong. Try a 45 degree angle, in which effectively, your vision is free to look ahead, and so that you create a more streamlined shape.

;) I'm not really a professional, but you cant exactly call me bad :)

[SwampyQ2]

@coltononline dude, if you're learning to swim your head-position should least concern you :P

[Freakyboy109]

anyone else think his head position is too high?

[glaucopassalacqua]

La perfezione non ha bisogno di spiegazioni, basta guardare. La perfezione è comprensibile, incanta anche coloro che non praticano.

La perfezione non ammette critica.

Grazie Ian

[jhobbz45]

When I swim, I think I'm on top of the water more. Is that bad? Anyone know have any ideas?

[203132]

@jhobbz45

you have less muscles than thorpe...therefore you float better.

[jhobbz45]

@203132 I doubt my density is less than thorpes.

[203132]

@jhobbz45

upload a video of your technique. So many factors

[scrumpymanjack]

I know next to nothing about swimming but even I can tell that this guy's technique is just awesome. What a kick. Beautiful.

[vasgeorge]

Phelps is greater swimmer....

[lexsoft]

I can only resemble him in the catch and body rotation; as for the kick, I am still terrible.

[extrasyn]

What a beautiful tecnique! Awsome

[Tex259]

you like his kick dont you

[Temible]

you can never kick too much

[antokindness]

HE can...

[Temible]

hahaha, i meant for 99.99% of us swimmers

[antokindness]

I agree with you, dude!

[UnworthyPot]

omg, the kicking resembles the fishkicking, so naturally and smooth!

[Op0sum]

his leggz are mashine !

[maxxxkiller]

Damn, what a powerful kick

[Webrider101]

How do you breathe with this style?

[123shahan]

when you breathe have half of your goggles underwater

[Webrider101]

what's that got to do with helping breathing?

[Temible]

practise, practise, practise, practise, practise, practise, practise, practise,

[handsandleet]

@Temible you mean practice?

[mcm1337]

@Temible

PRACTISE?? WE TALKIN BOUT PRACTISE MENG!

[papiulik2kno]

OMG, It´s perfect!

[dimadeloseros1]

i want that kick!!!

[dodonat1991]

It's perfect!!

[justuser82]

Hello guys, it seems like he breathes out twice under the water, is it a common practice, because i do once usually, maybe that's the reason i get tired after doing two three laps in a 25 m. pool? please answer and give your recomendations on not getting tired and breathing correctly while freestyle

[bmxcristian6]

what i do, is i breathe in every stroke like he does on my left. Try to only breathe out once right before you turn your head to breathe in, u will never get tired

[skopjem]

it's not the breathing the reason why you get tired after 2 laps, it's the technique i think...you are loosing to much energy becouse you are not working right with you're hands and legs...and for the best way for to start practising is to breathe on every third stroke...as the time goes you will know the best way (for you) to breathe ....... :)

[skopjem]

i ment to say /// and for the breathing the best way **** ....

[justuser82]

maybe, you are right! thank you! but i'm pretty sure that my breathing also has to do something with...

[skopjem]

Maybe, but more important is to make sure you're working right with your hands and legs ....look at this video....u can see how is Thorpe just sliding ...it looks like his skating in the water ... i'm sure if you try this you'll see the diference

[1000MileLost]

his breathing, looks weird, his mouth doesnt reach the surface

[sharpentheshears]

It looks that way because the camera is underwater. There is a bow wave created by his head, so if you looked at it from above, his upper back and the back of his head would be visible. When he breathes, he moves his mouth to the air above the water behind the wave.

[willchang1978]

足、神の脚は容易ではない！

[andereh678]

can someone please help me? i dont understand the concept of kicking from your stomach. i go a 21 for my 50yards, but if i were to kick on a kick board for 50 yards, my time is like a 45. i just dont get it. whats the magic, i work really hard but it doesnt work for me, any comments would seriously help me. thank you.

[rs1893]

a 21 is VERY fast so u shouldn't have to change ur stroke too much. to help your kick, just visualize ur hips where you nipples r. also try swimming a little on your side on every stroke. good luck

[stinkypillow11]

so when i kick...is there more emphasis on the hips,ankles or kness?im a bit confused ..

[Monatee]

amazing! look at that kick! how does he do it?

[tHEnOOSEsWING]

effortless rhythm and power.

[ezyroller]

Look at that kick... incredible power. I read once that Thorpe could do 50m in 26sec just with his kick.

[eljamo17]

his style is a lot smoother than phelps's

[LuN4T1Ko]

@eljamo17 because phelps is "butterflyer" =)

[cmahlke]

Thorpe always seems to appear like he's putting in less effort in his stroke than Phelps.

[superdave31]

a lot of olympic athletes are like super humans - they can do more exercise than most ppl on the planet (like phelps doing a 6beat kick the whole way for a 200m for example) - i get the impresion with thorpe tho that he was of normal fitness, but only really 'pwoered' up on the last 50m where his kick was so strong and powerful that he just over took / pulled further away from everyone with it. So would have been interesting if he kicked like it for a whole 200m race / 400m race!

[vasgeorge]

@cmahlke this is not true. Phelps is much better in everything.

[bionicle960]

He only looks to one side to get air, not very efficient, work on that....

[eljamo17]

not true buddy.

when ur at that level and putting in 20+hours a week in the pool, breathing on one side can be a lot more efficient, as your breathing more. Something I do occasionally Is when I need to breath alot to alternate sides each lap, like if im swimming a 100free, ill prolly be breathing once every 6 or 4 strokes and ill alternate breathing sides. I would totally discourage doing that unless you are very expirience, because then you will prolly be messing up your form on that side.

[gasmaster01]

DarkAgeSlight, another issue might be that your ankles aren't being flexible. The kick isn't from the knees, its from the butt and thighs. if your feet are inflexible, they might be dragging you down. try doing a quad stretch on the floor , or sitting on your ankle/foot to increase flexibility. Also, kicking alone isn't very fast, it's more of a way to sustain speed, if you're doing kickboard drills, be sure to get a nice kick off but don't slow down, start kicking almost immediately.

[giorgiobello1]

Amazing kicks but I get back pain just from watching his head looking ahead. If I try to look ahead and swim, I get an awful back pain.

[vockla]

you have to look ahead no more than 6 feet.

[chinese0o]

thats insane technique

[nadador1515]

Omg beautiful technique!Love you ian!

[DarkAgeSlight]

i have a problem kicking. even though i kick fast, im still not moving fast im moving very slo

[12josefer12]

i know. your problem...

you just need to kick a litle bit slower so your feet is underwater then you will move..

lil bit stupid but true.

[kristianelim]

you need more ankle flexibility.. a kickboard and fins will imrpove it.

[nadador1515]

I have a question. The kick "flexibility". Is it more like your feet being loose or more like a snap?

Thank you=)

[kristianelim]

feet being loose.. so that youd be able to catch more water as it flexes backward and forward.

[nadador1515]

Ok i get it...Much easier to do than that snap thing=) Thanks

[kristianelim]

sure thing. no  probs.

[djobeat]

i don't know why. But i felt faster with my feet being snap. if i make it loose, i have to make strengthen my thigh more. help me man

[kristianelim]

that is the idea there. strenthen your thigh more so that you will have a powerful kick, not strenthen the snap of your feet. just let it hang loose and flexible.. a good exercise will be lying flat on the floor and flexing your foot as far as you can go away from you. elite swimmers can touch the floor while doing so.

[skopjem]

Look...the flexibility is more like loose...but in case like these ( thorpe ) if you swim long cources, concentrate on the arms, thay are more important in long cources .... watch Ian hes just ovineg with his arms so smood like he's skating on the water

[usbilge]

....Don't - his answer that's disrespectful..Heres my opinion it's like flippers if you let your feet loose then it goes faster than making it pointing down. It also has to do with the motion and the more your pushing the water the more your moving concept just control where you move.

[BWpepperr]

I disagree with whoever gave you thumbs down. Kicks are very important, no doubt. But 80% of the power in swimming is upper body.

[mittrocar]

thanks. this will help me

[LucyGenevive]

As an amateur, I do appreciate his strength and flexibility...what a move!!

Beautiful swimming^^

[HoopsAvenue]

why does he look up the whole time, wouldn't he get less drag looking down?

[gasmaster01]

he is but the camera makes him look straight at it.

[Stingerbillion]

Thorpe is clearly legend! He has mastered the art of swimming the right way. If everyone watches these videos 100 times, then everyone will be winning gold medals.

[westogmoney]

well.......not quite lol. if everyone watched this video a 100 times and put it to use, they will get better and faster. getting gold medals and all that comes from the head a lot more than you think

[kristianelim]

couldnt agree more

[Sm3gH3adx]

crazy aussies must have secretly mated with fish

[kungpaui]

HA! that's funny!

[MrKalentine]

ok i can understand an awesome arm technique but just LOOK at his kick. it's PERFECT. it looks like a PROPELLER for goodness sakes.

[VICHDOCTOR]

my idol

[jaminramin123]

i swear this mans a fish

[Donoeoa]

The kick demands the most energy from a swimmer, however a strong kick leads to a good time! Many Swimmers need to look at maintaining a constant kick.

[timothyjesus]

beautiful

[joansbrosgrl473]

good kicking..........very good! ^_^