thumb position

Former Member
Former Member
I noticed that a lot of elite swimmers(ex., Popov) have their thumb sticking out to the side(not touching the index finger).I was wondering if that has to do with anything other than personal preferance.My guess is that gives your palm(and maybe actually the entire area from the tip of your fingers to your elbow) a more relaxed feeling but still keep all your other fingers together.What do you think?