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:
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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'.
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'.
