In her book Speed Demon Fiona Holt recommends you stroke on the side which is angled down to the bottom of the pool after the turn. So if you place your feet in the two o' clock position on the wall, you will turn with your right hip angled down and, therefore, your break-out stroke should be with your right arm. If you turn at the 10 o' clock position, you should stroke with your left arm first. The reasoning behind this is that the lower hip facilitates a longer reach and thus puts you in a more powerful position. She also goes on to say:
"If you're not already doing this the implications are huge because transforms you from a swimmer that typically breathes on the first stroke after surfacing into one that breathes on the third stroke after surfacing."
I turn to the right but up until now have always pulled with my left hand first. This is because when I am in the streamline position my left hand is under my right hand. Also, I remember reading somewhere (and of course I can't remember where now) that the break-out stroke should be with the left hand.
So which hand do you stroke with after the turn?
I agree with what has been said. The big benefit of pulling with the bottom arm is it almost always prevents breathing on that very first pull and helps complete rotation and gets you into swimming position before breathing.
The big benefit of pulling with the bottom arm is it almost always prevents breathing on that very first pull
Why would this be the case? It seems to me this is wholly dependent on what side one breathes to. My personal philosophy is to pull with my left arm first since I breathe to the right. This definitely prevents breathing on the first arm pull. I will admit when I get tired I sometimes pull with my right arm first to get a breath right at the breakout.
Why would this be the case? It seems to me this is wholly dependent on what side one breathes to. My personal philosophy is to pull with my left arm first since I breathe to the right. This definitely prevents breathing on the first arm pull. I will admit when I get tired I sometimes pull with my right arm first to get a breath right at the breakout.
This is me as well. I rotate toward my left off the flipturn, so my left arm/hand is closer to the bottom coming off the streamline. Our coach is always preaching "No one stroke breathers!" When I'm in distance free events I catch myself doing this 1 stroke breath though, but I am in more need of oxygen as well. For maintaining speed off the turn, you should pull with the "bottom" arm and not breathe.
During freestyle flips, I push off on my back, use the SDK to start rotating clockwise, but I my right hand is on top of the stack. I pull with the right hand to finish the flip onto my chest, and try not to breathe on that first stroke. Not a problem during a 50!
The thing to avoid is breathing on that very first pull. Pulling with the bottom arm usually helps avoid this tendency when you are real tired and need air, not so much the sprints.
I always come off the wall on my left side, so I pull with my left arm first. That lets me fully utilize the torque of that twist in the water, and gives a noticeably stronger initial pull than if I pull with my right arm, the one that's closer to the surface.
I personally don't think it matters which hand is on top. I can't see how it would affect your pull, since it doesn't alter your arm and body position. While my left hand is always on top, and I pull with my left arm as I come off the wall on my left side, it hasn't made any difference that I can feel when I've consciously pushed off with my right hand on top, but still pushing off on my left side and initiating the pull with my left arm.
Great question. We were just debating this in a Starts and Turn Clinic yesterday. If you come out on your side, using the bottom arm for the breakout stroke helps complete the corkscrew off the wall. In this method, you want to make sure the hand of the bottom arm is the lower hand in your streamline. But, there is also this philosophy. With the advent of many dolphin kicks off the wall, many swimmers are already flattened out when it is time for their breakout stroke. In that situation, the bottom hand should again be the driving force.
I am right side dominant. When I flip, I do flip straight over and then plant my feet at 45 degrees, angled to push off on my right hip. That 45 degree angle allows me to push off the wal slightly riding that right hip. I make sure my right hand is positioned under my left hand and try to execute a strong breakout stroke. That means no breath on that first stroke!
The biggest mistake I see as a coach is that many swimmers flip crooked. Instead of flipping straight over, they flip angled to one side and often that causes a skewed foot plant, sometimes past 90 degrees! The second common mistake is that they flail their arms as they are flipping, which causes resistance. Improve those two areas, and you are on the way to perfecting your flip turn.
