In an effort to correct a "dropped elbow" problem with my stroke, I have been swimming a lot of laps with closed fists--to a point where I can swim almost as fast doing this drill as normal swimming. I do find I have to concentrate hard on extending the arm on both the beginning and end of the underwater portion of the stroke--maybe something about not having the fingers extending as usual from the hand makes the stroke feel shorter.
This drill definitely helps keep your elbow high and forces you to use your forearm and back muscles for propulsion. I've found it also seems to reduce post-workout twinges in the shoulder/rotator cuff area.
My question is: Would doing a lot of fist drill laps have the potential to create some other bad habit, perhaps in compensation for the lack of hand surface, that I might not be aware of? I try to keep everything else about my technique the same. Thanks for any thoughts on this.
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Former Member
hey, bearcat; congratulations on your finding some, maybe most, of the rewards of fist swimming. When you say you swim almost as fast, are you not experiencing almost an exact ten per cent difference in both time and stroke count? No more sore shoulders after the swim either?
hey, bearcat; congratulations on your finding some, maybe most, of the rewards of fist swimming. When you say you swim almost as fast, are you not experiencing almost an exact ten per cent difference in both time and stroke count? No more sore shoulders after the swim either?
