I am so disgusted--I've done the TI drills, had lessons, had swim team college kids give me tips, yet I still just can't seem to get the freestyle arm action right. Do you exactly move your arm in the recovery phase the same as you move it in the fingertip drag drills? Or do you do a wind up motion of your shoulder to bring the arm out of the water? No matter what I try, I am so pathetically slow--more often than not, I am feeling like it is all wrong. I am a good breakstroker and decent flyer, and great backstroker, but geez, I need to be able to do the free - I swim about 12 miles a week. Any tips are sooooo appreciated.:bow:
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Former Member
From your post below it appears that we are on the same page...the goal of the pull that I teach is to get an early vertical forearm which requires you to have a quick catch (early diagonal forearm) prior to the vertical forearm. Like you mentioned; everything has a time and a place in freestyle.
So this is where I get all confused - what is "early diagonal" ? Is it the reaching straight towards the wall with hand/arm, then a slight turn outwards of the hand before the vertical pull? Do you really need to do that? I find when I do that, I get all messed up. Is the vertical pull really bad on the shoulders without the early diagonal?
From your post below it appears that we are on the same page...the goal of the pull that I teach is to get an early vertical forearm which requires you to have a quick catch (early diagonal forearm) prior to the vertical forearm. Like you mentioned; everything has a time and a place in freestyle.
So this is where I get all confused - what is "early diagonal" ? Is it the reaching straight towards the wall with hand/arm, then a slight turn outwards of the hand before the vertical pull? Do you really need to do that? I find when I do that, I get all messed up. Is the vertical pull really bad on the shoulders without the early diagonal?
