Is the-high-elbow-pull-best-for-the-freestyle-swim-stroke?
http://www.theraceclub.net/aqua-notes/is-the-high-elbow-pull-best-for-the-freestyle-swim-stroke/
Any thoughts wirthin the haus?
Any thoughts wirthin the haus?
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John, I hear you about feeling stronger with a deeper pull. I have the same sensation. Hall admits that's true, but it is outweighed by the reduction in frontal resistence accomplished by high elbows. So each stroke IS generating less power, but you can do more of them and present a smaller surface area to,the water at your leading edge. Remember, water is 800-1000 times denser than air, so water resistence is way bigger deal for swimmers than for cyclists. In addition, you spend less time pushing DOWN on the water at the start of each stroke, which does nothing to move you forward, and may even disrupt a flat body position.
I'm no longer strong enough to get a good quick grip on the water with an initial high elbow, so,I tend to wobble back and forth a bit with my hand at the start of my pull. I use paddles,without a strap, to try and build the stroke into my brain. I do 1-2 50s after warm up and between the elements of a main set with the paddles. Without the strap, you've got to get a good quick grip on the water, pushing/pulling back, not down, or they slip off the hands.
Just my $0.02
The topic has been hot in swimming community now for some time. There is a clear background to this. First, I highly recommend pulling up under water videos of 1500m swimmers, than had over and look 50m/100m recordings.
Al gives a nice intro to GH Sr. I do not need to go there. Little recent reflection on discussion with USA Swimming, articles written in Advanced Freestyle Manual from ASCA, Distance Training School......all of which I use almost daily in my work:
Deep, straight arm pull is a product of NCAA short course swimming. With certain body types, like Nathan Adrian....it has been found that force generation has been higher as that type catch recruits more motor units from back muscles far deeper and in greater numbers than high elbow catch does. As such, you all know the byproduct of that is, far higher rate of lactic acid accumulation, exceeding body's ability to clear. Usually that catch type is associated with flatter shoulder driven freestyle. It has been found that even elite level swimmers coming out NCAA ranks do not always do well swimming that stroke in LC pools. Nathan Adrian has been trained and uses 3 different free strokes in the span of 100 LC race..........there is a reason for it.
Overwhelming majority of middle distance and distance freestylers including top two, Yang and Cochran swim high elbow catch. Please pull up Barcelona videos, some awesome footage of that. High elbow catch is usually coupled with hip driven free, far more efficient for distance free, far more sustainable stroke........
While I am not a fast swimmer, I run the training program for a medium size Level 3 team. I am a team development coach and spend fair amount time looking at trends in order to bring it to the team level. None of our Senior swimmers use that stroke at this point.
This is only one angle to it. USA Swimming has much written about it. This not the only correct answer, just my 2 cents.
Ryan,
If you read Sheila Taormina's book you'll see she strongly emphasizes not worrying about the lower body as that will come around once you have the upper body mechanics better figured out.
For correct approach to stroke development, even at non pointy end of the field, after body position is achieved, side to side balance addressed properly, catch+pull are very next in line. That is not left on the table for some other time or somebody else. Without that work, it leaves one's stroke incomplete or underdeveloped, whether you are at the front or the end, technique should be the best it can be. This is an appropriate subject for all levels of swimmers.
Dropped elbow is a technique flaw. That is not to be mistaken for straight arm pull that leaves elbow in a relatively lower position, that is legitimate technique variation. Dropped elbow in swimming world is flawed catch+initial pull.......Not the same.
I did a 5-week 1-on-1 program focusing on technique earlier in the year and was taught the high elbow pull. Since then, I have gone backwards a bit for a variety of reasons and also have done some experimentation with other pull techniques. All I can say is that for *me*, the high elbow pull seems to be significantly better. Recently I have noticed that I have transitioned back to a deep arm pull instead of high elbow, primarily because I find I get much better hip rotation out of the deep arm pull and I tend to swim flatter with high elbows. I'm perceiving the hip rotation as key to me right now because I have a truly atrocious kick that I have been spending a *lot* of time on, and I find that a more exaggerated rotation helps my kick have a more even beat to it than less rotation for reasons that are probably obvious to someone who understands swimming mechanics, but not to me.
However, the end result is that I've noticed a dramatic slump in my times. Despite feeling far more powerful on each stroke and I'm sure improving my SWOLF score due to lower cadence, I'm losing up to 30 seconds on my 500 time over the high elbow. Everything far more powerful and fluid than the perceived weaker high elbow, but for me, it's plainly not faster.
I am a pretty mediocre swimmer, so I'll say that up front. My physiology (whether from genetics or from being older) won't let me do the classic perfect high elbow catch, but I suspect it's genetic because my uberswimming 12 year old daughter swims like me in the shoulders and elbows (only a lot better). Anyway, my point in bringing this up is that I went through the Taormina book on catch and high elbows, and even though I can't do it quite right, it still helped me to improve. I got a little faster on a lot less work, compared to last year.
The drag issue with deep pull also becomes more important when you are sufficiently strong/efficient that your hand is always moving forward in the water (even when you are pulling "back"). Efficient strong swimmers pull their hand out of the water ahead of where it went in...so the drag on the hand/arm matters. This will obviously be less important for those of us who aren't quite there yet.
@William, totally on tangent here, off subject, were you in Topeka last weekend for Central Zone Champs. I was with my 10 year old snot rocket, she swam for MVS.