Just wondering what the current thinking is on straight arm freestyle.
By this I mean straight arm recovery as well as a straight arm pull underwater.
How many swimmers are coached in this style? Age groupers and masters.
Does this style require more flexibility in the shoulders?
Is the shoulder injury rate different in this style.
Does anyone know of SWAD's (In particular Cerebral Palsy) who can swim with a straight arm recovery and underwater pull.
(ps, this was a question posed to me by a friend in another city. Apparently a new coach is now implemeting this. So was looking for some input)
Kiwi
Former Member
I think straight or bent-arm recovery and straight or bent-arm pulling depends on what feels right to you and works best for you. Some incredible swimmers have had straight-arm recoveries (Janet Evans for one). I know I always had a straight-arm recovery and I'm working now on bending my arm more - I just feel like I can recover the arm faster, and the faster I recover, the faster I start the next pull.
As far as the angle on your arm when pulling, IMHO it depends a lot on the strength of your roll and your upper body. Personally, I'm able to get more distance per stroke with my arm nearly straight, but I know swimmers who have their arm at almost a 90 degree angle, directly under their body, and they do just fine.
I'd encourage you to experiment and find out what works best for you - our bodies are all too different to generalize about something like this!
Read the current addition of Swim. there is a very long article about the straight-arm recovery. I can't do it. As to the increased flexiblity, I don't know.
