Pool Session – December 5
Hi Doug!
As you swam a couple laps, I watched for something to work on and decided upon making an improvement to your connection with the catch to torso rotation to extension.
The first thing we worked on was to improve the catch shape to get bigger grip on the water, to create more resistance behind that catch arm. I noted that at the very start of the catch, you have been bending wrist too abruptly, grabbing water with the palm only, rather than with more of the forearm.
Another way of looking at that problem is that the elbow is pulling back too far ahead of the hand – so the forearm cannot get vertical enough to build up more resistance against it.
When you do gather with the forearm first, you will feel more resistance build up against that forearm and hand. The shoulder muscles will have to work in a slightly different way, and a bit harder, to hold this arm position, to hold this grip on that resistance. Then, while holding that forearm shape, you pull against it with the hip rotation, levering your Skate side of the body forward, past that holding point.
We can break the choreography into these three parts:
- gather with forearm (let hand come almost level with elbow)
- start pulling with hip rotation
- then start pulling the shoulder back
In the full, fluid motion, the gathering and the hip rotation start together, and the pull of the shoulder happens slightly after that. But for drill purposes, you can break it into the three steps noted above.
Focal Points
- Straighten wrist and emphasize building pressure on wrist
- Gather with forearm, hold that shape, then pull with hip
- Gather with hand even farther before pulling, let hand catch up to elbow before pulling
- Steeper forearm angle (down and inward at 45 degrees)
- Hold water in that layer just below the body’s layer at the surface
- Hold steady pressure through entire pull
- Transferring into skate, sliding farther
Activities
- Whole strokes on single lengths
- One Arm Swimming, no breathing
- Open hand
- Fist swimming
The measure of progress with these focal points is sensing that you are able to slide farther in Skate Position on each arm switch. The better the catch shape, the more force is generated. The better the catch is connected to the torso rotation, the more of that force is transferred by the torso. The better that the entry/extension is tied to that torso rotation the more force it receives and transmits into Skate, into forward motion.