How To Swim Freestyle like PAN ZHANLE

[@PropulsionSwimming]

Which swimmer do you want next on Technical Tuesday?

[@LucasSalatin]

marchand!

[@PropulsionSwimming]

Which stroke?

[@ThomasBinns-s8b]

Noe ponti’s world record

[@joepatrickswims7576]

Would love seeing pontis fly and underwater kicks, a big video of all of Marchands stroke and underwaters,and maybe someone with more of a gallop in their freestyle like Matt Richards

[@NRClips3414]

​@@PropulsionSwimming breaststroke and fly

[@grepolispolis4449]

His early breath is what makes his stroke so continuous. You can't pull properly if your face is out of the water. Pan times his breath in a way that doesn't interfere a lot with his arm pulls. You can also notice that both of his arm pulls look very similar. Even though he is swimming an assymetric stroke, he manages to balance out his pulls under water. Very inspiring!

[@case-richcompany9657]

I think that's exactly right! He doesn't need to gallop because he doesn't need to pause his catch to wait for his head to finish his breath. So he doesn't need to reaccelerate after decelerating during a pause, and that saves energy! Swimmers should be discussing inertia MUCH more.

[@DonostiGros]

Great point about his minimal rotation, and his acute knee bending kick technique. Two elements that we're taught against in training. Very interesting.

[@frankthedukes1564]

i think his kick is what sets him apart...its so powerful.

[@youness212]

I agree, it’s like a powerboat

[@aviewerfromnowhere]

so insanely powerful，just look at his kicking splash

[@NRClips3414]

This was an amazing analysis. It gives so many things I can take away with. Much appreciated 🙏

[@thatsAkeepernow]

BODY IS SO FLAT. LINE IS SO STRAIGHT. AND THAT IS A CRAZY KICK. SO MUCH BETTER THAN THE REST.

[@williebrits6272]

Winning swimmers keep on proving these coaches wrong about what a good technique is.

[@lukas94494]

100% most coaches are dinosaurs. I coach and still swim 3km still analysing in my 40s.

[@hatchegg80]

His kicks are just a different level

[@alexcave7573]

Great new channel + really good technical analysis especially how Pan has 'less' body roll compared to other swimmers but still goes faster. Looking forward to more technical Tuesday's.

[@YanmingNing]

Apart from Chinese and foreign coaches and nutricians, Chinese national-level swimmers like Pan also receive highly-scientific pointers from astronautics, aeronautics and/or hydronautics researchers, to name just a few, to improve/optimize their swimming technique to the last detail in athletic body movement, believe it or not. It's called the whole-nation approach in sports excellence.

[@othmanmajid6380]

Pan Zan Le is excellent.😊

[@HassanHassan-zx3sn]

What sets him apart is that he keeps his hand longer in front while his head is in the water, plus, he shapes his body like a needle

[@tonyshihoutang6576]

Also analyse Wang shun from china team & HK female swimmer Siobhan

[@PropulsionSwimming]

Siobhan Haughey is a great idea, very underrated swimmer because of Aussie women’s freestyle but a superstar in her own right

[@lucapappalardo5574]

It could be interesting to analize a galoping vs. fllat in long distances, for example Paltrinieri vs. Wiffen/Finke etc....

[@pritamkore4868]

Thank you very much...❤

[@PropulsionSwimming]

You're welcome 😊

[@nimuil]

If we can swim as him, why don’t his coach train 100 swimmers as same as Pan?😂 Just kidding, great analysis and video!

[@joeekaps5840]

The more you bend your knees during freestyle, the stronger your legs need to be.

[@robohippy]

Hmm, interesting comments. I am not sure if I have considered it before, but one difference between hip and shoulder rotation is that the hips are fused so have to rotate as one unit while the shoulders can move independently. I think this explains why the hips do not rotate as far as the shoulders. Not sure about the kicking part. For sure, you have to flex some at the hip to get the ankle and foot into a good position for max propulsion. By raising it to the surface or a tiny bit beyond, then you don't have to flex at the hip as much as normal, and the flexing at the hip puts your thigh into the slip stream around the body which creates more drag. It does appear that he is still swimming gallop style, but kind of modified. He is still moving up and down a tiny bit, and his head and shoulders do go mostly under water when the breathing side arm enters the water, and that is a reduced drag thing. Wish we could hook him up to Gary Hall's Velocimeter to see how much the peaks and troughs of his speed vary compared to other swimmers.

[@temolindorjan2038]

The shoulders can move independently but are linked via the shoulder girdle, ie clavicles, scapulae, and myofascia, and this is very much in evidence when generating power. Think of a canoeist using a paddle or bat swingers and the power they can generate via linked shoulders.Even throwers, eg javelin use the same principle. As soon as the shoulders are unlinked power generation declines and injury risk increases. Rotating the shoulder girdle while keeping the hips stationary requires good spinal mobility ie range of movement under control.

[@robohippy]

Land based sports that use rotational energy are totally different than water based sports, and this includes the kayak. With baseball, golf, or martial arts, the rotation starts at the feet, through the knees and hips, and out through the arms with maximum energy going towards pushing some thing away from you. This is the minimal part of swimming. Yes, the shoulders are linked, and yes, you need the rotation from the spine to make for a longer lever for more power, similar to a baseball throw which from the shoulder only is weak. The main power part of the arm pull comes from shoulder and spine rotation. Well, at least as far as I can tell....

[@snowpants2212]

when you wonder "perhaps he doesn't have the rotation needed to get his hand fully extended out front before it enters the water," I would say he *does* rotate, but he finishes his rotation after the hand enters, so that when it's time to begin rotating back towards a "flat" position, his hand has caught the water and is ready to pull back. If we were to complete the rotation by the time his hand enters the water, he wouldn't be using as much of his body rotation (back towards flat) as leverage for his catch and pull.

[@petermoore5124]

This is awesome. Thanks! But I don't get the part about a wide outside, high-elbow pull "reducing your streamline." That would only be true if the arm was moving forward in the water instead of locking and pulling the swimmer past it. If you pull right, your arm should never be moving forward underwater, so it's shape is irrelevant to streamline. Of course, the parts that are moving forward in the water, like the head and body, have a profound impact on drag, but the arms no, unless you have lags in your pull that cause your arm to move forward underwater. If you do, get rid of the lags instead of worrying making your arm more streamlined to move forward underwater. If this is wrong, please tell me why. Thanks!

[@someone5002]

I'm not the one you're addressing but you're touching on the wide swimming stroke (which I see more on his right stroke than his left and I had come across Pan's comment that his left stroke is ideal but the right could be tweaked) where the analyst said he wouldn't recommend for distances above 100, as it creates drag or something. Yet, Pan demonstrated he can handle longer distances at least for 400 and 800 (we'll have to see for the rest of the World Cup and upcoming World Championships for the 200, which he may enter, as well as 1500 so the buzz goes). He even set a new WC record for the 800, so his stroke can't be that bad? One flaw - or oddity that the Peacock swimming commentator, Bobby Hurley, kept mentioning was Pan double-breathing out of the turns, leaving him 3 strokes behind before recovering. I couldn't see how that was done. Bobby has been fantastic in his observations, including noting that Pan's turns are sloppy, but on top of the water, he's perfection. Pan has stated one of the reasons he entered the 400 and 800 was to work on his turns (longer distances, far more turns) and train more on his aerobics fitness.

[@robertocaminosolis9070]

About breathing, i dont see very well in the olimpics video, but the first 25 m...has he breathed?

[@PropulsionSwimming]

I think from the Olympic footage, the best shot to see his breathing (especially in the first 25m) is the over head camera they cut to. Looks like he's breathing every other as in the footage used in this video

[@someone5002]

@@PropulsionSwimming Interestingly, Bobby Hurley of the Peacock/NBC live streaming observed that Pan would double breathe out of the turns, which he says slow Pan down a stroke or two before recovering. Pan, himself, has admitted that his flaws are his turns (Bobby says they are sloppy but Pan's swimming on top of the water more than compensates [though the shorter distances are exposing his Achille's heel in the turns and to lower ratio of surface swimming to underwater for short course). He also mentioned his right stroke wasn't ideal, as his left was (but I can't find that particular video interview again for certainty), regarding his WR 100 free swim. Any amendment/addendum to your analysis (which is great in such detailed isolations) now that Pan has won the longer distances of 400m and 800m (which he broke the World Cup record, so it wasn't due to swimming against scrubs)? I think you mentioned that you wouldn't recommend his wide stroke range for longer distances than 100, right? Thank you for adding such great pinpoint insights (which several other swimming bloggers have done, as well - each with unique observations) of a phenomenal swimmer.

[@richardtrass]

@@someone5002yes I wondered about that too. Did he use the save stroke for the 400 and 800?

[@edwarding4355]

His stroke looks like a distance swimmer's stroke

[@PropulsionSwimming]

He put in a good performance at the 2024 World Cup Series in Incheon where he won the 400 and 800 free

[@rickken6823]

because he debut in 1500m in his first major competition debut (2019 Chinese Summer LC Swimming Championships) and won in 15:33.48 . he was 15y

[@MollyW-swimming]

Yes，Pan Zhanle was a distance swimmer +200 m IM /400m IM swimmer before 2021.😂😂 I've uploaded some old videos of his 800m free and 1500m free races.

[@fredlar9421]

Swim as you're rolling downhill of each stroke. You will be immediately faster.

[@hatchegg80]

maybe bob hawke can learn and understand lol

[@StanleyJohnson-b4v]

I thought Adam Peaty said he must have cheated.

[@jangaroo2011]

You completely missed his key to his remarkable speed!!! Nobody else does this, and thus, they're slower.

[@richardtrass]

And what is that?😅

[@rajraj-no4cb]

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[@charlieroldoni2830]

Ian Torpe !

[@PropulsionSwimming]

We've done his 400 free WR (at the time) breakdown. Check it out... kzbin.info/www/bejne/mZOofGVnr7yKd5o

[@francisneal3013]

2:55 isn't he still looking at the floor? Head position isn't high. His head is high because he's propelling himself out the water like a speedboat!

[@PropulsionSwimming]

Yes, his head is always looking towards the floor. When I say 'high' I'm talking about how far it comes out of the water.

[@edcal33166]

I saw the results of a study which said that yes we get 70% of our speed from our pull, but our pull is stronger when we can coordinate it with an effective kick. Also, in the Olympic final, at the end of the race it looked like he was pulling away from the field. In reality he held his speed in the last 25m while everyone else faded. (Except Kyle Chalmers, who was last at the 50.)

[@rajraj-no4cb]

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[@rajraj-no4cb]

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[@rajraj-no4cb]

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