End of Controversy - No catch-up or straight arm catch
Former Member
I know everyone has been watching the Olympics and if anyone sees someone (in any stroke and at any distance) not showing an Early Vertical Forearm (EVF) stroke please point it out to me. In the men’s 400 Fr Relay, Lezak’s better EVF stroke helped him touch the wall before Bernard who dropped his elbows in the last few strokes. These Olympic Games should put to rest the controversy of the catch-up stroke (never once performed by any freestyler in these Olympics). So what you see someone do in a drill (catch-up) is not done in competitive swims when it counts!! The high elbow at the front quadrant of every stroke is so pronounced that every lay-on-a-straight-arm proponent has to become a convert (I know it’s not ever going to happen). I’m anxious to hear the rationalizations and support from the opposition. If you’re watching with your eyes open, there’s no catch-up and no straight-arm catch - PERIOD!!!
If you want to make significant gains in your swimming focus on improving your Early Vertical Forearm technique. Improving your EVF should take about 6 to 8 weeks and when that becomes better you should focus on improving a good streamlined position by spending as much time as possible on your side while making sure that your catch begins early. Of course athleticism goes hand in hand with improvement. But you get my drift. Nuff-said.
Rebecca Adlington (800 Fr) has one of the best text book EVF's I've seen to date. In any and every event, an Early Vertical Forearm sets your stroke up for speed. It doesn't matter what distance, what stroke, an EVF is critical for swimming speed and at one degree or another, every swimmer in the Olympics shows they have it. Call it a catch if you prefer but technically it means the same thing. Adlington's stroke is mechanically awesome. Timing for critical speed in each stroke has been show over and over again, - when one of the hands is in the power phase the other hand enters the water. The objective of every swimmer sprinter to distance is always the same, the maintenance of peak inertia. The greatest kick in the universe only slows the loss of inertia when one of the arms is not in the peak power phase. The variables of body type, strength, flexibility, endurance and others, will always come into play but maintenance of peak speed is a common one that must be shared by every swimmer. I believe the way Adlington swims is an style that I can teach and everyone else should as well (to sprinters and distance swimmers).
I'm not arguing against the catch position you endorse. What I am saying is that a lot of swimmers have a longer glide, i.e. spend more time in an extended arm/ streamline position before pulling. In this scenario the loss of propulsion, as you describe it, is offset by better endurance in longer races. It's easy as pie to see. Compare Bernard and Lezak's underwater swims in the relay. Lezak had a much lower stroke rate, spent more time gliding, and had a lot left in the tank at the end.
Rebecca Adlington (800 Fr) has one of the best text book EVF's I've seen to date. In any and every event, an Early Vertical Forearm sets your stroke up for speed. It doesn't matter what distance, what stroke, an EVF is critical for swimming speed and at one degree or another, every swimmer in the Olympics shows they have it. Call it a catch if you prefer but technically it means the same thing. Adlington's stroke is mechanically awesome. Timing for critical speed in each stroke has been show over and over again, - when one of the hands is in the power phase the other hand enters the water. The objective of every swimmer sprinter to distance is always the same, the maintenance of peak inertia. The greatest kick in the universe only slows the loss of inertia when one of the arms is not in the peak power phase. The variables of body type, strength, flexibility, endurance and others, will always come into play but maintenance of peak speed is a common one that must be shared by every swimmer. I believe the way Adlington swims is an style that I can teach and everyone else should as well (to sprinters and distance swimmers).
I'm not arguing against the catch position you endorse. What I am saying is that a lot of swimmers have a longer glide, i.e. spend more time in an extended arm/ streamline position before pulling. In this scenario the loss of propulsion, as you describe it, is offset by better endurance in longer races. It's easy as pie to see. Compare Bernard and Lezak's underwater swims in the relay. Lezak had a much lower stroke rate, spent more time gliding, and had a lot left in the tank at the end.
