I suspect many people (myself included) view the arm
recovery in freestyle as time to give the recovering arm
muscles a little rest.
But consider the possible advantages of working the recovery
a bit harder. (This is at speeds less than sprinting)
(a) The recovering arm could be back in streamline sooner
so less form drag.
(b) The recovering arm will be more free of bubbles
when beginning the catch,
(c) The recovered arm can begin to catch as soon as
the pushing arm leaves the water.
(d) The energy cost of a fast recovery isn't that high.
The recovering arm moves through air not dense water.
(e) Front quadrant swimming is still achieved without introducing
any delay in the pulling arm i.e. you are not waiting
for the recovering arm to "catch-up" before staring the
pull.
Any Comments?!?
Parents
Former Member
Originally posted by 330man
I think the original idea was most similar to the old military saying, 'hurry up and wait'.
Get your recovering arm out in front so it can sit there a little bit longer. Seems about as fruitful as speeding to the next red light in town. You burn more fuel but you don't get to where you are going any quicker. That is exactly how the Japnese swimmers swam in the 1956 Olympics that hand was held in front until the other hand started the recovery stage, winner of the 1500m was Japanese and that is how he swam.
Originally posted by 330man
I think the original idea was most similar to the old military saying, 'hurry up and wait'.
Get your recovering arm out in front so it can sit there a little bit longer. Seems about as fruitful as speeding to the next red light in town. You burn more fuel but you don't get to where you are going any quicker. That is exactly how the Japnese swimmers swam in the 1956 Olympics that hand was held in front until the other hand started the recovery stage, winner of the 1500m was Japanese and that is how he swam.
