Swim Form Analysis

A little over a month ago I had a friend take a video of me swimming. I then took this video and compared my swimming form against some of the best swimmers out there. I noticed a few things in my technique that I'm going to work on correcting. Take a look:

So the still short on the top is of a Total Immersion Swimming Coach. The still shot on the bottom is me. Let's start off with something positive. My extension is good. I've got my head down and it's in line with my spine. What's not good is my elbow on my recovery arm. It should be high coming out of the water...look at the coach's elbow.

This still shot looks at hand entry and elbow position. Note the high elbow on the top picture...and the not so high elbow by yours truly. Also, notice that his hand is about to enter the water right above his head. My hand entry is out about 6" too far.

This last one also deals with hand entry. The hand should enter the water inline with your shoulder and hip (where the red line is). In this particular shot, my hand is entering the water way past my center line. After watching the entire video, it appears that I only do this once in a while, not every stroke. This helps explain why I tend to have trouble swimming straight in open water!

Here's the entire video, edited (click on the play button to view):



If you (or someone you know) is a swim coach, give me some pointers. My swim times have improved, but I know that I still have a lot of flaws in my stroke!

TODAY'S WORKOUT:
1 hour of weights (chest, arms, shoulders, abs)

Swim workout:
5 minute warm-up
4 x 240yd (10 lengths) with 1 minute rest in between
1) 4:14 - (31:02 min/mile pace)
2) 4:13 - (30:55)
3) 4:18 - (31:31)
4) 4:15 - (31:09)
3 minute cool-down
Total workout: 1344yd in 31:15