What's the current thinking of where the pulling phase should end and the arm start the recovery?
I have heard that people should exit at the hips/waist area and that it should be nearly full extended down on the thigh?
What do ya'll think?
It may differ for different swimmers. For example, Jason Leezak has his hands exit just past his hip and Dara Torres finishes her pull later, so you may have to experiment some to find your optimum. I don't think you get much additional pull if you try to put your thumb all the way to your thigh, rather you may want to "karate chop" or exit by your hip in a sculling motion. I'm pretty sure you will get some propulsion out of this, because it lets you keep your hand speed higher, where you kind of "dead end" when you extend all the way back.
Finish pulling at the hips/waist.
Assume the never bend your wrist rule is valid. How far can you get your hand before it stops facing backwards? Wherever your elbow hits.
Now assume you want to use your back instead of your triceps to propel yourself through the water. How far can you get your hand using your back, but not your triceps? Same spot.
So you are pulling with your back and not bending your wrist and the propulsion ends when your elbow gets to your hips. There is a hole at the waters surface where your elbow is and you aren't pushing your hand back any more, so you might as well take your hand out of that same hole right? But if the hole is at your hip now, and your fingertips are almost 2 feet away, where is that hole going to be by the time your fingertips can get through it?
Exit the hand at the thigh.
