I recently posted these 10 myths on some triathlon websites and stirred up some good conversation. So here I go again.....
Myth #1 To go faster in swimming one must push out the back of the arm pull.
I believe this myth may have originated with an article that appeared some time in the 90's. The article showed a swimming figure mimicking Alex Popov's freestyle pull. It showed the figure with the left arm in front and the the right arm in back ready to exit the water for the recovery. A graph showed the velocity of Popov's body in the water as a function of the position of the hand. The velocity ranged from nearly 3 meters per second down to about 1.4 meters per second during a single pull cycle. The slowest speed occurred when the hand appeared to be at around the shoulder and the fastest speed occurred in the position shown in the figure. The author erroneously concluded that since the speed was so high as the right hand was about to exit, that this is where the most power must be....hence push out the back.
My study with the velocity meter doing freestyle concurs that it is these two positions that consistently show the highest and lowest velocities of the stroke cycle in freestyle (though I was seeing more like a 30 to 40% drop, not 50%). But it is not because of the power out the back that we see the speed highest in this position. It is because it is by far the position of least drag (most streamlined). The propulsive power in this position actually is derived mostly from the left arm out in front and the kick, with little or no power coming from the end of the arm pull. The propulsive power may be even greater when we see the hand at the shoulder (slowest body speed), but because the arm is jetting straight out, perpendicular to the body, the drag coefficient skyrockets and our speed drops instantly.
The harm that is done by pushing out the back is that it delays the recovery and slows the stroke rate. Most of the arm propulsive power is derived from the entry to the shoulder (called the front quadrant....about 1/2 of the total arm cycle time is spent there). So the sooner one can get the hand back to the front quadrant after leaving the shoulder, the better.
If you happened to be blessed with Mercury motors for legs, like Michael Phelps, Ian Thorpe, Gary Jr, Natalie Coughlin etc, then you can afford to use a slower stroke rate...but hold in front, not in back.
For the rest of us mortals, keep your arms moving faster and in the front quadrant. Think you can't do that for a 1500? Think again. Lot's of distance swimmers use high arm stroke rates. You just have to train that way and get fit.
Regards,
Gary Sr.
The Race Club
Parents
Former Member
Thanks Gary! That is great information -- but it of course brings up the question about what do you do with your hands (kinda like the National Anthem ;-) ).
Is it better to sweep your hand out in the back half of the stroke? This should provide some propulsion, I'd think more than just dead ending your hand at the hip like we did in the 70's and 80's, and because your hand exits with some velocity to the side it would help with getting your hand around again.
By the way, I've never seen a velocity meter for swimming. How are you measuring swimming speed? Can you also measure hand speed?
Don't spend so much time thinking about your hand, but preferably your elbow or upper arm. From the side view, the hand moves in a small circle (about 2 ft diameter) underwater. At the beginning, as the hand/arm are moving forward, they act like a wing and provide lift. As the hand drops down it quickly changes direction to move backward and acts like a paddle. Finally, as it releases, it moves forward and upward again, trying not to induce any more frontal drag, sliding out of the water.
The bad boy in all of this arm/hand action is the upper arm, which is moving forward nearly all of the time (underwater). So the longer you can keep the upper arm in the line of motion, the better.
With the hand, relax it on the recovery (soft hands) and spread the fingers slightly under water, so as to increase the effective surface area. Once the hand gets past the shoulder (under water) the power drops off quickly so release it and get it back into the power position (front quadrant) asap.
Finally, in the sagittal plane, don't use the sweeping S-shaped pull of the past. As your body rotates, keep the arm to the side, with high elbow, and pull more or less straight back. You will have minimal movement of the hand in this plane (perhaps 8 to 10 inches) but no more.
Hope this helps. More on the underwater stuff to come.
Gary Sr.
Thanks Gary! That is great information -- but it of course brings up the question about what do you do with your hands (kinda like the National Anthem ;-) ).
Is it better to sweep your hand out in the back half of the stroke? This should provide some propulsion, I'd think more than just dead ending your hand at the hip like we did in the 70's and 80's, and because your hand exits with some velocity to the side it would help with getting your hand around again.
By the way, I've never seen a velocity meter for swimming. How are you measuring swimming speed? Can you also measure hand speed?
Don't spend so much time thinking about your hand, but preferably your elbow or upper arm. From the side view, the hand moves in a small circle (about 2 ft diameter) underwater. At the beginning, as the hand/arm are moving forward, they act like a wing and provide lift. As the hand drops down it quickly changes direction to move backward and acts like a paddle. Finally, as it releases, it moves forward and upward again, trying not to induce any more frontal drag, sliding out of the water.
The bad boy in all of this arm/hand action is the upper arm, which is moving forward nearly all of the time (underwater). So the longer you can keep the upper arm in the line of motion, the better.
With the hand, relax it on the recovery (soft hands) and spread the fingers slightly under water, so as to increase the effective surface area. Once the hand gets past the shoulder (under water) the power drops off quickly so release it and get it back into the power position (front quadrant) asap.
Finally, in the sagittal plane, don't use the sweeping S-shaped pull of the past. As your body rotates, keep the arm to the side, with high elbow, and pull more or less straight back. You will have minimal movement of the hand in this plane (perhaps 8 to 10 inches) but no more.
Hope this helps. More on the underwater stuff to come.
Gary Sr.
