I stumbled upon this article. The author says:
"Pull alongside the body, not under: You would never put a paddle in front or under a canoe or kayak. Apply the same principal to swimming. An efficient pull “catches” or “holds” the water to move you forward, with the hand entering and exiting the water at about the same location. The old “S” pull pattern moved water…you want the water to move you!"
This differs from what's commonly suggested how one should pull (most swimmers seem to pull under their bodies). Opinions, comments?
(Edit: the title of this thread should be "Pull under or alongside the body", not 'water'.)
P.S. This article says:
"A six-beat kick requires the swimmer to execute three downward beats during each armstroke.
A two-beat kick requires the swimmer to execute one downward beat during each armstroke."
Well, I thought six-beat kick means each leg kicks DOWN, UP, DOWN, which counts as three beats per leg, rather than "three downward beats" as that article says??? :confused:
I find that I start my practices swimming with an outside pull, and as I get tired my pull moves towards my body and eventually under if I am that tired, or my shoulder starts to bother me.
I find it easier to swim with an outside pull when i have a wetsuit on, because it takes more energy to move my arm under my body than to just let it stay outside...
The first article was written by Karlyn Pipes-Neilsen, who is active on these boards; why not ask her?
(I don't think anyone recommends pulling under the body, which is slow and inefficient, sometimes a sign of fatigue.)
The second seems to be referring to a stroke cycle.
I stumbled upon this article. The author says:
"Pull alongside the body, not under: You would never put a paddle in front or under a canoe or kayak. Apply the same principal to swimming. An efficient pull “catches” or “holds” the water to move you forward, with the hand entering and exiting the water at about the same location. The old “S” pull pattern moved water…you want the water to move you!"
This differs from what's commonly suggested how one should pull (most swimmers seem to pull under their bodies). Opinions, comments?
P.S. This article says:
"A six-beat kick requires the swimmer to execute three downward beats during each armstroke.
A two-beat kick requires the swimmer to execute one downward beat during each armstroke."
Well, I thought six-beat kick means each leg kicks DOWN, UP, DOWN, which counts as three beats per leg, rather than "three downward beats" as that article says??? :confused:
How about this ddl? Your fingers point toward the bottom of the pool during freestyle. With a lot of body roll, you hand still passes "beneath" your torso, but with little body roll, as in the now popular flat sprinting style, your hand would never pass beneath your body. But I think in both cases, the fingers will point toward the bottom of the pool.
Anothing to consider,does this style work for YOU? This style definitly works for KPN, but what about ddl?
There isn't a "one size" fits all model here. Watch underwater footage of the best swimmers, you will see ones that pull under the body(MP), ones that pull along side their body, and some that have one arm pull more under their body than the other one.
Experiement with the idea...check your times, stroke count, heart rate, distance you can swim with this idea to decide if it works for you.
There isn't a "one size" fits all model here.
true. another thing to consider is how much your body rotates on each stroke cycle. sprinters who swim relatively flat would have to go far out of their way to bring their hands under their body while someone who employs greater rotation might easily have a moment where their hand is under their body. this does not necessarily mean they are using the "s" stroke.
Thanks for all your comments! Yeah, it seems to be an individual thing, like many other aspects of swimming. To me, the "S-shaped" pull doesn't seem very natural, I feel like one has to make a special effort to pull in that way. It seems to me that there needn't to be any specific rule about how to pull, but one only needs to remember that you should always try to catch the maximum amount of unmoving water throughout the pull: if you can remember this, then by intuition your hand will naturally move somehow along a curve, not necessarily the same 'S' as advocated, but maybe even more turns than a single 'S'.
I use a body driven stroke.
Picture swimming perfectly over the black line in a pool, arm is held with a natural relaxed bend the entire stroke. Recovery is made almost like a "fly" recovery but a little higher, while the body is rotated to face the recovering side.
Hand enters first followed by the shoulder to drive the body behind the arm and rotate to the other side.
My Hands pulls/holds just within the width of my shoulder or if using the line as a guide the outer edge of it as I look down.
I sometime drill this "painting the stripe" as I call it.
No out or in scull just a natural arm shape.
Sprinting may call for a "shortening of the arm" by bending more to increase turnover--I'm working on this though. I haven't quite figured it out.
So I don't think it's "under" or "outside" it follows a natural path. It works for me.
