Freestyle - Martyn Forde

Important Note to the Viewer

LESSONS: 19 VIDEOS

Start Above Water

Martyn's start from above the water. You can see his angle of attack off the blocks, and pay particular attention from the side. His body gets in a perfectly straight line prior to entry into the water.

Start and Underwater Breakout

Martyn's start shown from underwater. This entry, dolphin, and breakout demonstrates how quickly he begins to initiate the dolphin and flutter kick to get up and get swimming. He also stays fairly stable on his breakout rather than bursting up through the surface. He's keeping his head down and pushes it forward

Start - Martyn

Martyn performs a sprint start shown from above and below the surface.

Body Balance

Martyn performs a very simply drill in which he's playing with figuring out the exact amount of pressure through his chest and core to require NO input from the hands. A soft gentle kick keeps him moving, and when he's confident he's found the exact right position in the water, he begins to add either a dog-dig scull, or full stroke freestyle. He sets up a foundation prior to moving to swimming.

Dog-Dig with Board

Martyn further challenges his stability in the dog-dig drill by placing a kick board under him during the drill. Placing the board under the hips helps him associate the actions of the arms with more stable hips that will aid him in sprinting. The separation of the hips and shoulders will ultimately help him achieve a higher rate of turnover than having a large rotation in the hips. It's important to kick during this drill to further challenge the full body stability.

Front to Back Pulling

Martyn continues with soft balance and pull drills. This helps him focus on a direct pull from front to back. The progression from the previous, dog-dig drill with limited rotation, now he's adding more rotation as the hand will pull all the way more like a regular pull. The hand stays under during the recovery, and extends out front as the other hand finishes the pull. The feeling should be the press of the finish helps the arm in front reach extension.

Dog Dig with Paddles

This drill focuses on the front end of the stroke. Good extension out front, and good initial fingers down catch helps Martyn focus on setting up the pull far out front. The snorkel allows him to focus on his hands and reach rather than air and breathing. The body stays fairly flat in this phase of the drill.

Sculling with Paddles and Fins

Martyn working on another feel drill, sculling with paddles, fins, and snorkel. Obviously the snorkel allows him to spend more time focusing on what his hands are doing. Watch the stability of the arms from the shoulders to the elbows with only the forearms moving. The kick is very gentle, and the fins only aid in a larger surface to stabilize on and not to add speed.

Balance Sculling

Martyn working on his body balance and sculling. A very soft kick, building into some arm action of sculling and dog-dig. Watch the stability of his core and bodyline. Nothing is rushed and all very soft.

Full Body Freestyle - Above Water

Watching Martyn from above water shows just how high his body rides while sprinting. There are points where you can see his head, shoulders, torso, hips, and legs exposed on from the surface. His recovery is and low bent arm recovery, with the hands attacking forward.

Full Body Freestyle - Sprint

When Martyn picks up the pace, we can see how little time he spends in full extension, but he does get there. We also notice the kick is a bit larger but still barely allowing the entire foot to leave the water. This hips stay a bit flatter as the cadence increases aiding in his ability for a faster turnover.

Full Body Freestyle - Side Trailing View

From this angle, we can see how Martyn gets his body rotating together, and in a direct line to the other end. We can also notice the press of the arms into a very direct line from front to back, very little inward or outward movement in the path of the pull.