Just published -Thanks to all my friends

Knelson, As coaches and swimmers we've taught and have been taught to use the "S" shape pattern in the pull. Sculling in the freestyle, backstroke, butterfly, and in the breaststroke takes a back-seat in terms of propulsive force in competitive swimming. The scull is vital, not because it's vital nature (unless you're a synchronized swimmer) but because it allows the most effective maintenance of drag forces. Think of the hand as a tire on a track, sculling allows the hand to maintain tackiness, once it begins to slip, the hand must move into still water. Your body type and strength is a variable in the pulling pattern you should have. If you’re rounder (fatter) the hand should stay outside the mid-line longer. Why? Because eddy currents that surround your body constitute "moving water" and the hand should avoid moving into that turbulence. I call it a synergy because one helps the other maintain efficiency. In the breaststroke and EVF is vital and the aggressive sculling motion helps keep the drag-force that you first acquire. The quadrants of the breaststroke are compacted but the principles of an EVF still apply. The breaststroker is a weird and complicated breed (I was one) timing is vital in all competitive strokes but losing the timing in the breaststroke may take an entire length to correct. I've tried the fulcrum forearm trainer on at a clinic and they felt cool. They're very interesting because on the one hand, by themselves they force an EVF position, on the other hand, when you put on hand-paddles and use them, I think they negate what they're designed to do. I think if you'd close your fist and use the fulcrum forearm trainers, by themselves, they’re EVF trainers but add paddles to that formula and I don't get it. I like head-up water polo drill because the stroke uses an EVF pattern. Water-polo players are like dragsters (10yard sprinters) where drag force is everything. Don't make too much of it, I just like how it reinforces the concept. I think water polo is ideal as a conditioner too. I wrote another article that I'll post after I've written this and I think you'll better understand the point I'm trying to make. I hope this is clearer than mud. I appreciate your thoughtful questions and appreciate your reply. Coach T.

Knelson, As coaches and swimmers we've taught and have been taught to use the "S" shape pattern in the pull. Sculling in the freestyle, backstroke, butterfly, and in the breaststroke takes a back-seat in terms of propulsive force in competitive swimming. The scull is vital, not because it's vital nature (unless you're a synchronized swimmer) but because it allows the most effective maintenance of drag forces. Think of the hand as a tire on a track, sculling allows the hand to maintain tackiness, once it begins to slip, the hand must move into still water. Your body type and strength is a variable in the pulling pattern you should have. If you’re rounder (fatter) the hand should stay outside the mid-line longer. Why? Because eddy currents that surround your body constitute "moving water" and the hand should avoid moving into that turbulence. I call it a synergy because one helps the other maintain efficiency. In the breaststroke and EVF is vital and the aggressive sculling motion helps keep the drag-force that you first acquire. The quadrants of the breaststroke are compacted but the principles of an EVF still apply. The breaststroker is a weird and complicated breed (I was one) timing is vital in all competitive strokes but losing the timing in the breaststroke may take an entire length to correct. I've tried the fulcrum forearm trainer on at a clinic and they felt cool. They're very interesting because on the one hand, by themselves they force an EVF position, on the other hand, when you put on hand-paddles and use them, I think they negate what they're designed to do. I think if you'd close your fist and use the fulcrum forearm trainers, by themselves, they’re EVF trainers but add paddles to that formula and I don't get it. I like head-up water polo drill because the stroke uses an EVF pattern. Water-polo players are like dragsters (10yard sprinters) where drag force is everything. Don't make too much of it, I just like how it reinforces the concept. I think water polo is ideal as a conditioner too. I wrote another article that I'll post after I've written this and I think you'll better understand the point I'm trying to make. I hope this is clearer than mud. I appreciate your thoughtful questions and appreciate your reply. Coach T.