dry land core exercising

Since this thread is about the core, let me ask something to my expert friends here. I often hear the term "engaging your core". I have gotten to the point (I think) where I do use my core without thinking about it. But I was looking at a Thorpe video I've seen dozens of times and noticed something. He seems to pull his shoulders back a bit when swimming. That reminded me of something I read on the Swimsmooth site, so I went back to it and they were talking about engaging the core by tightening the butt and pulling the scapula together a bit, like you would standing with good posture. I have never really thought about that while swimming and am wondering if I should make an effort to pull my shoulders back. It seems like that would make it harder to extend the arm, but maybe not. Anyone ever made a conscious effort to "engage the core" more besides trying to get EVF? 1. I think what you noticed about Thorpe is correct. That's an important part of good pulling technique. High elbows get a lot of attention, but high shoulders are also important. My guess is it puts the large muscles of the upper body in a better position to produce a lot of force. 2. Pulling the shoulder back isn't really a "core" thing as the word is usually used. But I hate that word anyway.

Since this thread is about the core, let me ask something to my expert friends here. I often hear the term "engaging your core". I have gotten to the point (I think) where I do use my core without thinking about it. But I was looking at a Thorpe video I've seen dozens of times and noticed something. He seems to pull his shoulders back a bit when swimming. That reminded me of something I read on the Swimsmooth site, so I went back to it and they were talking about engaging the core by tightening the butt and pulling the scapula together a bit, like you would standing with good posture. I have never really thought about that while swimming and am wondering if I should make an effort to pull my shoulders back. It seems like that would make it harder to extend the arm, but maybe not. Anyone ever made a conscious effort to "engage the core" more besides trying to get EVF? 1. I think what you noticed about Thorpe is correct. That's an important part of good pulling technique. High elbows get a lot of attention, but high shoulders are also important. My guess is it puts the large muscles of the upper body in a better position to produce a lot of force. 2. Pulling the shoulder back isn't really a "core" thing as the word is usually used. But I hate that word anyway.