Question for all our flyers....when you are doing your recovery...how do you recover your arms? Thumbs down...ie thumb pointed at the water or Palm Down...palm looking at the water?
I have tried both and can't seem to get comfortable on either of them.
is that how you feel about the 100/200 fly too...thumbs down...lol
Hey, I just swam my first 100 fly. Doing another in two weeks. :groovy:
But that is how I feel about the 200. lol
Thumbs down, or at least trying. I usually do palm down but my shoulder has been hurting during fly so the coach had me change to thumbs down and said it will save my shoulders. I can tell you the pain is gone with the thumbs down. I just have to remember to do it that way :D
Alison
I do a 3-3-3 thumb drag drill often so I assume when swimming the whole stroke I have thumbs down also. I've noticed that since i've started doing this drill I swim fly with a lower recovery which seems to help me get my hips and legs up a bit. Maybe someday I'll actually be able to swim this stroke without swimming uphill the whole way.
John -
As an older guy, I don't fret positioning in the "recovery" as much as placement at entry and the underwater pull. I've seen folks use bent arms, straight arms, thumbs down, thumbs forward (palm down) and even thumbs back (palm up).
Have you seen the recovery you currently use, and do you have a notion that it is causing you innefficiencies in your recovery?
...how do you recover your arms? Thumbs down... or Palm Down...?
I do palm down.
But most images I see show thumbs down, leading with the wrist. I don't have enough rotation in my arthritic shoulders to do this however... so I settle for palm down.
A swim buddy I occasionally run into at the pool does their fly recovery with a sort of elbow first (and thumb down, lead with the wrist) style... very different from what I've usually seen. When I asked them about it they informed me that they were double jointed in the shoulders.
So it would seem that shoulder flexibility has a lot to do with the process.
...
What's the rationale for a thumbs down recovery? I don't swim BF that often, but these are my preferences:
Palms down recovery, breathing every stroke cycle in a flat position, emphasizing forward direction without a lot of up-and-down movement. Hips should (ideally) reach their highest point before the hands enter the water, which means you should patiently allow the chest to sink, and be sure to make a wide catch. Easy! :agree:
