well.blogs.nytimes.com/.../
The better choice for human propulsion, he says, was the paddlelike deep-catch stroke, which actually produced more lift than sculling, along with a hefty dose of drag.
“All things being equal, our data show that the deep-catch stroke is far more effective,” Dr. Mittal says.
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It is great to see research on the sport we love and we all know we need a lot more research! This article looked at the video of a few elite swimmers to drive their conclusions.
A lot of variables constitute a perfect stroke for the individual. More importantly, the distance of the race, as physiological fatigue is believed to increase at a greater rate with a stroke resulting in higher force.
Exert from July Swimming Science Research Review on the article:
"This study suggests in freestyle and backstroke lift plays an integral part in propulsion, supporting the 'lift-based' theory. The findings in the study bring to light the importance of a straight line catch, to maximize force production. However, this limited study only analyzed a few swimmers, without indicating the event analyzed, questioning the validity of this study across all swimmers and distances (Mullen 2012)."
It is great to see research on the sport we love and we all know we need a lot more research! This article looked at the video of a few elite swimmers to drive their conclusions.
A lot of variables constitute a perfect stroke for the individual. More importantly, the distance of the race, as physiological fatigue is believed to increase at a greater rate with a stroke resulting in higher force.
Exert from July Swimming Science Research Review on the article:
"This study suggests in freestyle and backstroke lift plays an integral part in propulsion, supporting the 'lift-based' theory. The findings in the study bring to light the importance of a straight line catch, to maximize force production. However, this limited study only analyzed a few swimmers, without indicating the event analyzed, questioning the validity of this study across all swimmers and distances (Mullen 2012)."
