I have been studying videos of swimmers and find what was once called the "S" stroke has almost disappeard.
I have noticed that flyers use it. But crawl swimmers have modified it so much that it is almost gone.
Has it been replaced completely or was it an optical illusion? Did underwater film show us it did not exist.
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Former Member
Allen, I interpreted Kirk to be referring to swimming faster when drafting off another swimmer. While it's true one moves forward faster when drafting despite swimming in more turbulent water I don't think the reasoning holds, swimming in a draft is like swimming downriver, the extra speed comes from the water you are swimming in moving in the same direction.
I think it is useful to think about the movement limitations of the human arm, if you consider the hand and forearm as all one big paddle then the path of the elbow largely determines the path of that paddle. If you think of the shoulder as a universal joint then the set of places you can position your elbow is basically a sphere, any movement of the elbow is going to be an arc not a straight line, so one can at least partially explain a curved path without resorting to nonsense like hands acting like airfoils; and still versus moving water may or may not be an issue. If you go on to look at how various muscles can contribute to greater or lessor degrees when the arm is in various positions you can find some additional explanations for certain paths.
I don't know if any of these factors will help anyone swim better, but if one is going to discuss the whys of the issue, I think these basic biomechanical issues deserve consideration.
Allen, I interpreted Kirk to be referring to swimming faster when drafting off another swimmer. While it's true one moves forward faster when drafting despite swimming in more turbulent water I don't think the reasoning holds, swimming in a draft is like swimming downriver, the extra speed comes from the water you are swimming in moving in the same direction.
I think it is useful to think about the movement limitations of the human arm, if you consider the hand and forearm as all one big paddle then the path of the elbow largely determines the path of that paddle. If you think of the shoulder as a universal joint then the set of places you can position your elbow is basically a sphere, any movement of the elbow is going to be an arc not a straight line, so one can at least partially explain a curved path without resorting to nonsense like hands acting like airfoils; and still versus moving water may or may not be an issue. If you go on to look at how various muscles can contribute to greater or lessor degrees when the arm is in various positions you can find some additional explanations for certain paths.
I don't know if any of these factors will help anyone swim better, but if one is going to discuss the whys of the issue, I think these basic biomechanical issues deserve consideration.
