muscular endurance

Morgan and Colin: I am not a swim coach and typically only swim the 50 free at meets, so I'm not the best to answer this question. Maybe Ande, George,Terry or Paul will come back to this thread and explain it more precisely. George describes the "I" pull on the "freestyle stroke question" thread, I seem to recall. That thread is chock full of all sorts of stuff. So take a look at that. Since I mentioned the I vs. S pull, here's my very limited :2cents: on the I stroke. My hand enters sort of like a "mail slot" pretty much directly in front of my shoulder. It drifts out a tad and then I pull in a bit (but not past the center line so you don't cross over) and then pretty much pull straight down trying for an EVF. (If you let your hand drift too far to the side on the entry and catch and ride the glide too long, you might have too much of a "weighted" catch, which could cause shoulder issues.) You either finish past the hips or early exit depending on whether you're sprinting or doing mid-to-distance free. When beginning to exit, your hand goes slightly to the right at the bottom of the I and then you recover. The problem with the "S," I believe, is that it is inefficient and less powerful to have your hand sculling back and forth on the pull. I must emphasize that I'm a sprinter like Warren, so others may do it differently. (I am short and generally have a high SR and rather straight arm recovery when sprinting. I swim it differently when doing longer sets.) Freestyle technique seems to vary widely, and is definitely a different strokes for different folks sort of thing. Some have a straight arm recovery, others have a high elbow. (Dave Denniston says this is OK, Jonty Skinner says no. There are other threads on this particular issue, I think.) Some (or most) do front quadrant swimming and use an early exit. Wouldn't do this for a sprint. Most people enter fingers first, but I know people that do a thumb entry without shoulder issues. (I think even Klete Keller does this.) Not one size fits all. I'm sure someone else can describe this more eloquently than me. OK, I looked. Here is what George said about the "I" stroke on the other thread: "I put my hand in on the centerline as I extend the arm, the hand drifts out slightly and down, about 8" off center then the forearm rotates to get the little finger almost directly below the thumb and press back to the center. When I reach the catch I max it, I keep the hand on the center of the line making sure the hand and fore arm precedes (do not let the elbow precede the forearm) the elbow but the elbow is locked, the hand comes close to the body, until I get to the crotch there it extends naturally as the elbow lifts and the hand rolls out."

Morgan and Colin: I am not a swim coach and typically only swim the 50 free at meets, so I'm not the best to answer this question. Maybe Ande, George,Terry or Paul will come back to this thread and explain it more precisely. George describes the "I" pull on the "freestyle stroke question" thread, I seem to recall. That thread is chock full of all sorts of stuff. So take a look at that. Since I mentioned the I vs. S pull, here's my very limited :2cents: on the I stroke. My hand enters sort of like a "mail slot" pretty much directly in front of my shoulder. It drifts out a tad and then I pull in a bit (but not past the center line so you don't cross over) and then pretty much pull straight down trying for an EVF. (If you let your hand drift too far to the side on the entry and catch and ride the glide too long, you might have too much of a "weighted" catch, which could cause shoulder issues.) You either finish past the hips or early exit depending on whether you're sprinting or doing mid-to-distance free. When beginning to exit, your hand goes slightly to the right at the bottom of the I and then you recover. The problem with the "S," I believe, is that it is inefficient and less powerful to have your hand sculling back and forth on the pull. I must emphasize that I'm a sprinter like Warren, so others may do it differently. (I am short and generally have a high SR and rather straight arm recovery when sprinting. I swim it differently when doing longer sets.) Freestyle technique seems to vary widely, and is definitely a different strokes for different folks sort of thing. Some have a straight arm recovery, others have a high elbow. (Dave Denniston says this is OK, Jonty Skinner says no. There are other threads on this particular issue, I think.) Some (or most) do front quadrant swimming and use an early exit. Wouldn't do this for a sprint. Most people enter fingers first, but I know people that do a thumb entry without shoulder issues. (I think even Klete Keller does this.) Not one size fits all. I'm sure someone else can describe this more eloquently than me. OK, I looked. Here is what George said about the "I" stroke on the other thread: "I put my hand in on the centerline as I extend the arm, the hand drifts out slightly and down, about 8" off center then the forearm rotates to get the little finger almost directly below the thumb and press back to the center. When I reach the catch I max it, I keep the hand on the center of the line making sure the hand and fore arm precedes (do not let the elbow precede the forearm) the elbow but the elbow is locked, the hand comes close to the body, until I get to the crotch there it extends naturally as the elbow lifts and the hand rolls out."