Total Immersion origins/theory

There's another way to think of this, though. If you want a full extension out front your arm must go through some range of motion before reaching 30 degrees, so why waste that part of the stroke even if it is only contributing a small amount to forward propulsion? I just looked at this again. The problem, in my view, is that for the first 30 degrees (and possibly the last 30) you are using a huge percentage of your available energy (and the force you are applying) to simply push you upwards rather than propel you forward. And so I wonder if there might be a way to improve upon this. I know that in competition even a 1% advantage is important, particularly when a sprint race can be decided by a difference of 10 milliseconds. Still, if one could do something different during those initial and final 30 degrees to direct the force away from lift and towards forward propulsion it could make a huge difference. In watching the "Mr Smooth" simulation I see that they are promoting the idea of tilting your hand markedly downward (bending at the wrist) as soon as the stroke begins. This would re-direct the portion of the force produced by the hand more towards propulsion rather than lifting you up. The rest of the arm is still wasting a lot of power...but this might be the best we can do. I wonder, how many use this "phase 1" hand tilt in their swimming?

There's another way to think of this, though. If you want a full extension out front your arm must go through some range of motion before reaching 30 degrees, so why waste that part of the stroke even if it is only contributing a small amount to forward propulsion? I just looked at this again. The problem, in my view, is that for the first 30 degrees (and possibly the last 30) you are using a huge percentage of your available energy (and the force you are applying) to simply push you upwards rather than propel you forward. And so I wonder if there might be a way to improve upon this. I know that in competition even a 1% advantage is important, particularly when a sprint race can be decided by a difference of 10 milliseconds. Still, if one could do something different during those initial and final 30 degrees to direct the force away from lift and towards forward propulsion it could make a huge difference. In watching the "Mr Smooth" simulation I see that they are promoting the idea of tilting your hand markedly downward (bending at the wrist) as soon as the stroke begins. This would re-direct the portion of the force produced by the hand more towards propulsion rather than lifting you up. The rest of the arm is still wasting a lot of power...but this might be the best we can do. I wonder, how many use this "phase 1" hand tilt in their swimming?