Does anyone use the same arm motion in freestyle that is used in butterfly? I can't seem to get the arm motion for free. Some use what looks like a windmill motion, some use a very straight "V" position, some use the fingertip drag motion. Should the shoulders completely rotate? I think my arm entry has a lot to do with my struggles in the free.
The shoulder is the most mobile joint in the body and can move all over the place. When I do a catch-up drill, at the beginning of the pull, I try to make my first motion a combination of shoulder rotation in the (para)sagittal plane and elbow flexion. That positions my forearm in the so-called "early vertical forearm" position. From there, it's as much shoulder rotation in the frontal plane accompanied by elbow extension in an attempt to keep my forearm as vertical as possible through as much of the pull phase as possible. Of course, it's impossible to maintain a vertical forearm all the way through your pull, but that's the idea, and lesser swimmers like myself would present particularly bad examples. Try searching YouTube for "early vertical forearm". Bonus points if you see some videos of people who do a spectacular job of it. ISTR Grant Hackett being particularly good, but I heard that guy,Michael Phelps was pretty good as well. Not to mention Ms. Ledecky. (Sorry, I tried to link to relevant videos, but the forum software kept screwing things up.)
As for how your arm behaves during recovery, I think that's somewhat less important, as long as a) it doesn't interfere with how effectively you set up your pull, and b) doesn't produce any undo strain on your shoulder.
The shoulder is the most mobile joint in the body and can move all over the place. When I do a catch-up drill, at the beginning of the pull, I try to make my first motion a combination of shoulder rotation in the (para)sagittal plane and elbow flexion. That positions my forearm in the so-called "early vertical forearm" position. From there, it's as much shoulder rotation in the frontal plane accompanied by elbow extension in an attempt to keep my forearm as vertical as possible through as much of the pull phase as possible. Of course, it's impossible to maintain a vertical forearm all the way through your pull, but that's the idea, and lesser swimmers like myself would present particularly bad examples. Try searching YouTube for "early vertical forearm". Bonus points if you see some videos of people who do a spectacular job of it. ISTR Grant Hackett being particularly good, but I heard that guy,Michael Phelps was pretty good as well. Not to mention Ms. Ledecky. (Sorry, I tried to link to relevant videos, but the forum software kept screwing things up.)
As for how your arm behaves during recovery, I think that's somewhat less important, as long as a) it doesn't interfere with how effectively you set up your pull, and b) doesn't produce any undo strain on your shoulder.
