Deep catch

The depth and angle/rotation (from the shoulder to the elbow) will be different for every swimmer. Alain Bernard has a very deep and straight-arm catch and on the other extreme Rebecca Addlington has a very shallow and bent-arm, both are very successful swimmers. The pulling pattern that is best for you is determined by timing your 25's and deciding which pattern is the fastest and most efficient. Stay away from pulling patterns that scull toward the mid-line before a catch (straight or bent) is established. Every swimmer needs to extend their arms and at that point of extension an EVF comes sooner with a bent arm and later with a straight arm but neither world class swimmer drops their elbow (the opposite of an EVF). A shoulder that lacks muscular balance necessary to stabalize the joint is prone to tendonitis and/or bursitis. Shoulder pain should be attributed to a muscular imbalance or weakness and must be looked at as a warning sign that says: "STOP". Even a twing of pain in the shoulder tells you that you're not ready or need to adjust your pulling pattern (including how you exit or recover you hand/arm). A weight training regime that includes religious shoulder-cuff strengthening exercises is a must for every swimmer. I suggest letting a coach who's forte is stroke mechanics watch you swim for a while and let them give you some ideas. Here are some good sites dealing with the catch or EVF. Good luck, Coach T. Total Immersion EVF Video YouTube - How to swim with a High Elbow Catch/EVF - Total Immersion Israel Underwater EVF (Catch) Technique YouTube - SwimTherapy - Frontcrawl Catch EVF Article - The Holy Grail to Fast Swimming www.swimmingcoach.org/.../EVFbyTomTopolskiSMALL.pdf Underwater Swimming Techniques YouTube - Underwater Swimming Techniques Grant Hackett Swimming Technique YouTube - Grant Hackett Front Crawl Technique A lot of my EVF Videos www.youtube.com/.../tomtopo I'd love to see a video of the difference too. Anybody have a link to a clip?

The depth and angle/rotation (from the shoulder to the elbow) will be different for every swimmer. Alain Bernard has a very deep and straight-arm catch and on the other extreme Rebecca Addlington has a very shallow and bent-arm, both are very successful swimmers. The pulling pattern that is best for you is determined by timing your 25's and deciding which pattern is the fastest and most efficient. Stay away from pulling patterns that scull toward the mid-line before a catch (straight or bent) is established. Every swimmer needs to extend their arms and at that point of extension an EVF comes sooner with a bent arm and later with a straight arm but neither world class swimmer drops their elbow (the opposite of an EVF). A shoulder that lacks muscular balance necessary to stabalize the joint is prone to tendonitis and/or bursitis. Shoulder pain should be attributed to a muscular imbalance or weakness and must be looked at as a warning sign that says: "STOP". Even a twing of pain in the shoulder tells you that you're not ready or need to adjust your pulling pattern (including how you exit or recover you hand/arm). A weight training regime that includes religious shoulder-cuff strengthening exercises is a must for every swimmer. I suggest letting a coach who's forte is stroke mechanics watch you swim for a while and let them give you some ideas. Here are some good sites dealing with the catch or EVF. Good luck, Coach T. Total Immersion EVF Video YouTube - How to swim with a High Elbow Catch/EVF - Total Immersion Israel Underwater EVF (Catch) Technique YouTube - SwimTherapy - Frontcrawl Catch EVF Article - The Holy Grail to Fast Swimming www.swimmingcoach.org/.../EVFbyTomTopolskiSMALL.pdf Underwater Swimming Techniques YouTube - Underwater Swimming Techniques Grant Hackett Swimming Technique YouTube - Grant Hackett Front Crawl Technique A lot of my EVF Videos www.youtube.com/.../tomtopo I'd love to see a video of the difference too. Anybody have a link to a clip?