Michael Andrew has been in the lab working on his freestyle. In a series of Instagram posts, Andrew’s father and coach Peter Andrew displayed the new stroke they’ve been working on. Here is Peter Andrew‘s latest IG post, which shows MA doing some freestyle tune-up for the 50 free at the competition pool in Canet, France.
There are two notable things Andrew has adjusted in his stroke. The freestyle he’s swimming in the video above is longer and more symmetrical than what we’ve seen out of Andrew in the past. He’s swimming a more straight-arm stroke than what he’s usually done, which is causing him to reach further in front of himself, rather than shortening the stroke on his entry. Going hand-in-hand with the longer, straight-arm stroke, MA has also been working on increasing the symmetry of his sprint freestyle. There are a few elements we can look at when we’re discussing the symmetry of freestyle or backstroke. First, symmetry can refer to the path of the stroke on both sides of the body. In other words, does the stroke look the same on the right side as the left? The post below from Peter Andrew provides an excellent look into the symmetry of MA’s freestyle.
That video does a great job of showing how symmetrical MA has been able to make his sprint freestyle. Andrew’s right arm and left arm are following incredibly similar paths throughout the stroke. They enter in essentially the same spot and with the same arm/hand positioning relative to their side of the body. The path of the pull also looks the same on both sides.
Here is another video from the same swim above, showing a few different angles of the stroke.
The video above is great for a couple reasons. The side angles of the video really do a lot to display just how long and smooth Andrew’s stroke looks now. On top of that, it does a great job of highlighting another element of the symmetry in the stroke. In addition to the symmetry of Andrew’s pull and recovery, he’s also now keeping his arms more or less opposite of each other. What does that mean? Well, a good way to look at it is as if MA’s arms are the hands of a clock. His arms being opposite of each other in his stroke means that when one arm is a nine o’clock (full extended out in front of his head), the other arm is at three o’clock, which means that hand is down by his hips finishing the pull. You’ll sometimes hear this referred to as having “opposing arms.”
So, why does this matter? Is there any benefit to these changes in MA’s stroke? We can tackle the added length to his stroke first, because that’s more straightforward. In short, yes, Andrew’s lengthening out his stroke is an improvement pretty much universally. The longer stroke is more efficient, it leads to better distance per stroke, and it makes it easier to get a full catch at the front of his stroke.
As for the symmetry, there’s more to take into account. For the 50 free, which is the event Peter and Michael appear to be developing this new stroke for, it makes a ton of sense. You can see in the videos, especially in the underwater shots, that MA is very balanced with this freestyle stroke, meaning he’s rotating his body evenly from one side to the other, and doing so smoothly. That balance no doubt is leading to the exceptional body line Andrew is exhibiting throughout these videos. Everything is in balance, which means there are no overwhelming up/down or left/right forces in his stroke to throw his body around and that allows him to maintain this very straight body line from his head to his feet throughout the stroke.
This allows for a phenomenally smooth stroke, while reducing the drag his body is causing in the water, which is absolutely critical in an event like the 50 free.
To really highlight the differences in MA’s stroke, here’s a video from Peter’s Instagram that was posted in mid-March. Compare this video from just two months ago to the recent videos, and the differences are apparent. Pay close attention to Andrew’s body line, the length, and just how smooth the stroke looks to the eye.
You can see there’s significantly more up-and-down movement in Andrew’s body in this video than in the recent ones. He also isn’t reaching out as far on top of the water. At this time, Andrew was favoring, or rotating more, to one side than the other as well, which doesn’t result in the same well-balanced stroke he’s now developed.
It will be interesting to see what comes of this new freestyle for Michael Andrew, and the good news is we don’t have to wait long. He’s scheduled to swim the Canet stop of the Mare Nostrum this weekend, May 13 and 14. The 50 free and 100 free are both on his schedule as of now, so assuming he sticks with that, it will be worthwhile to keep an eye on his freestyle and how he’s deploying this stroke, particularly when comparing the 50 free to the 100 free.
Andrew has historically been a far better 50 freestyler than 100 freestyler, though he clearly has the endurance to be highly successful in 100s as well. Perhaps these tweaks to his freestyle will lead to a breakthrough in the 100 free.
It says a couple times that this is specifically for the 50. I’d say that’s the only event it makes sense for. But in one video he’s breathing, which kind of throws the whole thing off. Which brings me to…
In USURPT, do you have to do repeat 50s no breath? I’ve always thought the classic USURPT set was like 20x 50 @ 1:30, or until you fall off your target pace. But if you are doing no breathers, that would mean tapping out after about 3×50.
It looks like the Brent Hayden – James Gibson school of freestyle.
I know that in competitive swimming the only thing that counts is the clock, but that stroke does not look like the stroke of a pro swimmer to me. Especially the right hand entry. He seems awkward in his mobility, like some master swimmer who never trained as a kid. I don’t know. Then again, if it works …
Give the guy an opportunity to put up some times and stop being so judgmental
I judge what I see, not the person. I can’t believe he is being lauded for simmetry. Find me a pro guy who looks worse than this.
I could show you a new freestyle. How about put up times and then make me watch the video
I coach masters. I know what youre trying to say, but this is not what “didn’t swim as a kid” adults swim like.
IMO this style arm recovery has two uses, 1) as intermediate learning step, 2) as tool to use when needed in race. As other commenters have mentioned, it reveals further stroke corrections needed.
Just a thought, wonder if the training method inhibits the development of sensory awareness of movement, and over time has so myelinated pathways that refinements become challenging to achieve, e.g., head postion when breathing and hand slicing into water.
And yet this is somehow further away from what he would need to be successful in the freestyle leg of a 200 IM. Lol
I imagine Usain Bolt doesn’t have much of a kick in a 1500, either.
I hope this doesn’t adversely affect his closing speed in the IM.
Optically looks really nice. Excited to see it in an actual race, hopefully pretty soon.
Geez only 7 years after we (suit engineers testing materials in July 2016) visited his home in Kansas and I spent 10 minutes in the pool with him working on balance, symmetry, and straight arm! Unreal. With only 2 drills he looked like a sprint machine and mom walks out and says, “oh no you’re not doing that straight arm thing”… And yes I coached for 15 years prior to this day and was mentored by our Olympic coaches. Peace out. Hope it works for him finally!
Maybe doing straight arms at 17 would have shredded his shoulders. They did something right because he still has the WJR in the 50 m free at 21.75
I had a feeling the mother runs the show
Absolutely
So he has changed his breaststroke and got slower and now he is changing his freestyle and expecting to ?