Some Guy/Batman:
Welcome to our disputatious/informative/amusing forum. :joker: I'm not a freestyle expert; you'll have to wait for the real gurus on this issue. But I did see what you are asking about mentioned in an article I ran across recently by Sheila Taormina.
www.slowtwitch.com/mainheadings/swimcenter/propulsion.html
Some of both. The more efficient you are the more your body moves past the arm, but there is always some "slip" or backward movement of the arm relative to the water. Clearly the arm moves backward relative to the body.
Some Guy,
This is an excellent question. The first time I have ever seen it posted on a swimming forum which surprises me it hasn't come up before. Or maybe it was before I joined USMS forum.
This was explained to me very scientifically back in the 1960s. And if a swimmer thinks about it when he/she is swimming, you will see that this is true because you can feel it.
The body moves past the arm. At the catch, which is the resistance, the arm actually moves about one foot and then because of propulsion from the lower body and the finish of the other arm, the body moves past the arm. For those swimmers with exceptionally long arms, the arm movement is a little less than one yard.
;)Donna
When Doc Counsilman filmed Mark Spitz from underwater in 1970, with lights attached to his hands and against a grid background, he was surprised to see that Spitz's hands exited the water ahead of where they entered.
To achieve that he could not have been pulling his arm past his body. If you're approx 6' tall and are able to swim 12 to 13 SPL in a 25 yd pool for freestyle, that means you're doing what Spitz did - moving your body past your hand.
I think that would be due to a delayed/slowed recovery or a powerful kick, no? I don't care how many Olympic medals you have, nobodies hand and arm are 100% efficient in the water. Slippage and drag are a part of water than can't be avoided.
