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.
All I see is a lot of swimmers using a high-elbow catch, while galloping like a horse. Watch Michael Phelps tonight in the 200 and tell me he is not galloping.
We should have someone measure the stroke rate of individual arms to see if one arm is truly catching up with the other. I bet his left arm cycle is slower.
Park was one of the only freestylers I've seen this Olympics that didn't gallop.
The definition of a catch up stroke vs. a mirror image stroke needs to be covered. In a catch-up stroke, one arm is in front while the other arm meets it, in a mirror image stroke when one arm is ending the power phase (middle of the stroke) the other arm is entering the water.
By that strict a definition then you are probably right. No one is truly meeting the other arm out front before beginning the pull. However, other than the sprinters, most swimmers aren't using a mirror-image stroke either. From the swimmers I've seen in events 200 meters and over most use a front-quadrant type stroke, and, again, I don't see why a front -quadrant stroke precludes an EVF stroke. In fact I believe the two are generally complimentary.
Sorry you people who call front quadrant swimming a catchup stroke it is not. Just because you see something and give it the wrong name does not mean you are right. If your coach told you they were swimming catchup front crawl, better change your coach.
It seems like purely semantics to me, George. What do you consider to be a catch-up stroke? To me a catch-up stroke means there's some kind of pause out front before initiating the catch where the recovering arm is "catching up." The recovering arm doesn't have to catch all the way up.
Why don't the women gallop?
Good question. I don't really know. I have noticed that more women seem to breathe bilaterally and this probably has something to do with it. Why this is the case, though, I have no idea.
This reminds me, did anyone else notice Lezak breathes every stroke even for a 100?
I suppose it's because we have different definitions of a catch up stroke. My definition is that the arms aren't 100% diametrically opposed. In other words, one arm catches up to the other since they are not 100% symmetrical. So the hands don't have to touch one another (as they do in drills) to qualify as a catch up stroke.
Here's what I'm talking about: www.youtube.com/watch
Check out the attached picture - Phelps' arms are not at opposite ends of the cycle. His right hand is catching up to his left. That's why I called it a catch up stroke.
This video counters your point or supports mine. When one arm is pulling the other isn't.
If both arms are pulling I believe you'd be doing butterfly (OK, fly with a flutter kick).
I think we really all agree: no one is doing catch-up drill. People are doing catch-up style swimming where the recovering arm enters the water during the catch phase of the pulling arm.
I wouldn't call it "catch up". That's what we do in the drill. I would call it "front quadrant" though.
"Catch up style" might be a better term. A strong six beat kick seems to be a common denominator.
It’s so interesting that we see such different things. For instance Rebecca Adlington’s EVF(and all swimmers in events over 100 meters) is so pronounced it would be hard to argue the overt early catch. I have not seen one catch-up stroke swimmer in any the events that were covered. The definition of a catch up stroke vs. a mirror image stroke needs to be covered. In a catch-up stroke, one arm is in front while the other arm meets it, in a mirror image stroke when one arm is ending the power phase (middle of the stroke) the other arm is entering the water.
I think this discussion is very important because unless certain propulsive fundamentals are followed, swimmers are being pulled in two different camps (and there should be only one). Swimmers from the games in Athens were watched my bio-mechanist Russell Mark from the USOC and he concluded in front of USA National Coaches, that 16 of the 20 gold medals and 43 of 60 medals were won with a high-elbow stroke. In these Olympics I have not seen one swimmer in events over 100 meters showing anything but a mirror image stroke with a pronounced EVF. I can conceded that taller swimmers in the 100 and 50 have a less pronounced EVF but it can be argued that even they present the catch early during the first quadrant of their stroke. I did see Lezak’s last few strokes and he didn’t drop his elbows and it helped him touch the wall before Bernard who did drop his elbows. We should all agree that dropping your elbows is a critical propulsive flaw.
The coverage of swimming and water polo has been amazing and I will watch intently as my position is: no one swims with a catch-up stroke or with a straight arm (not talking about the arm that is out of the water). I believe that the EVF will be analyzed by our Olympic experts and will help us sort out the important propulsive fundamentals that will help all of us enjoy swimming more.
If someone would like more information on EVF and it's importance to swimming propulsion please email me at tomtopo@netzero.com
I have a powerpoint and some video's you can see. Good luck and GO USA!!!
The true explantion is to touch the extended hand then stroke the touched hand through a full cycle and touch the other hand that is still extended.
Question for you George: have you ever seen anyone do that in competition? I certainly haven't, so it isn't real instructive to start a thread noting that no one does this at the Olympics. This would be like starting a thread to tell everyone that, after thorough analysis, no on in Beijing is swimming sidestroke.
