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
I put a little bit of fist swimming into my workout today and had a major revelation about my shoulders as a result. I realized how much I'm "leaning" against my shoulder joints instead of using the muscles in my torso and back to support myself at different stages during the stroke. I've been out of the pool now for about an hour, and my shoulders usually have a little weird twinge down inside them right about now. But today there's no such feeling.
I've used fist swimming with butterfly in the past to force myself to use my core muscles a little more and improve my stroke, but never for any length with freestyle. I think this is something that will now become a regular part of my workout.
By the way, I still want to laugh when I swim butterfly with closed fists. It seems so aggressive and angry.:D
I put a little bit of fist swimming into my workout today and had a major revelation about my shoulders as a result. I realized how much I'm "leaning" against my shoulder joints instead of using the muscles in my torso and back to support myself at different stages during the stroke. I've been out of the pool now for about an hour, and my shoulders usually have a little weird twinge down inside them right about now. But today there's no such feeling.
I've used fist swimming with butterfly in the past to force myself to use my core muscles a little more and improve my stroke, but never for any length with freestyle. I think this is something that will now become a regular part of my workout.
By the way, I still want to laugh when I swim butterfly with closed fists. It seems so aggressive and angry.:D
