Today one of my teammates, probably the fastest swimmer on our team, was telling me that I should think of aiming my hands toward the bottom of the opposite end of the pool rather than of reaching forward before catching. When I watched him swim, it still looked like he was extending forward, so I'm not sure if the move is just subtle or "a feeling" or if it is really a change of arm angle. When I tried to reach down, I felt like I wasn't getting full extension, but he said it looked better. I don't want to go through what feels like a fundamental stroke change unless I'm sure I understand what I'm supposed to be doing. Can someone enlighten me? Thanks!
Everything I have heard suggest you should reach as far as possible, however he might be referring to what they call EFV. I am just going to start practicing EFV today, but basically it means Elbow Forearm Vertical. Once you enter the water, you want to get your forearm vertical quickly and maintain a high elbow in the water on the catch.
I think what he might have meant is that the hands need to sink a bit before you start executing the pull. If you stretch out as far in front of you as possible, and your hands are still more or less right under the water's surface when you start to pull, you will be pushing on the water in a primarily downwards vector. This won't help you move forward--it will just tire you out and get you nowhere (okay, it might make you bob up a bit.)
As much of the pull as possible should ideally go in a horizontal vector parallel with your body. And you can't do this until the hands have dropped low enough so that they can start moving in this direction. Good freestylers show a little patience in this regard. Your hands should spear, stretch, drop a little, then pull. Think of reaching your arms over a large log. As you near the position necessary to grab the log, that's when you start the pull.
I think that's what your friend means...
Thanks, Jim. I think that is what he means. It's interesting because I'm always thinking about EVF, but I think because I'm extending straight forward before moving into that position, I am pressing down first. Being more angled on the entry would get there more quickly I suppose. Thanks!
I'm not sure about that.....
I suggest you search Youtube for underwater videos of Ian Thorpe, Grant Hackett, or Alexander Popov to see how your reach and catch should look.
Close...it's EVF, as in Early Vertical Forearm...Seee Hofffam's response above for examples.
Everything I have heard suggest you should reach as far as possible, however he might be referring to what they call EFV. I am just going to start practicing EFV today, but basically it means Elbow Forearm Vertical. Once you enter the water, you want to get your forearm vertical quickly and maintain a high elbow in the water on the catch.
I got a coaching tip at a meet last spring from someone who referred to this as "the press." Meaning that you should press down after you're fully extended/as you fully extend to get a deeper catch and pull. Still integrating it, but it makes sense to me when I do it.
That is probably the worst video to watch of Sullivan I would like to see a really good one of his swimming. That is a slowed down sped up one that Lindsay worked on to produce it. We have trouble of getting a good video of his swimming. What we see in that video is fiction repeated and repeated.
Just for clarity, as it says in the text description next to the video it is a short clip repeated three times, once at normal speed, once at half speed and once at quarter speed. No part of the video is sped up. I am unsure what you mean by "fiction" as it is video from one of his WR setting races.
I guess it is the worst video of Sullivan in the same sense that democracy is the worst form of government, i.e. except for all the others. :rolleyes:
It all really depends on what kind of Freestyle stroke you want to swim. The long - close to catch-up Thorpe like stroke is great for 200+ distance. But it will not work for most swimmers in a 50 or 100 (Lezak would be the exception). I read a comment by Matt Grevers that he actually had to re-learn his Freestyle by pointing his fingers down when entering the water instead of pointing them at the wall.
The new straight- arm recovery or close to it sprinters enter the water ready to pull - they don't need to reach any more.
Here is a link to the very best underwater video I have seen - the 4x100 Free from Beijing:
www.nbcolympics.com/.../share.html
You can see almost an entire 50 from Sullivan right underneath him. 50 from Phelps sprinting. You can see somebody like Bousquet doing the straight arm recovery Free, Weber-Gale seems to almost shorten his stroke on purpose, and you get Lezak swimming almost catch-up on one side.
I think the bottom line is you have to experiment and figure out what works best for you. Weber-Gale, Lezak, Sullivan, Phelps, etc. four different swimmers with four different body types. A great coach will be able to help you get the most out of your stroke. Flexibility, strength, age, height, arm length, etc are all factors that are going to influence what your best stroke is.
I would try it out and as long as you are pain free with experiment - see what is comfortable and what seems to work for you.
It is not his true stroke it is a very short sequence which is repeated a few times. I would rather watch a video that is real from start to finish. Is this a true picture of his complete swim. I have watched the original video and the underwater portion looks to be sped up.
