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
Former Member
Can someone add some insight as to what Gary meant by "sweep the arm out" I thought we were suppose to lift the elbow but when I read "sweep the arm" sounds like it isn't recommended to lift up.
Here's a better pic, of what I think Gary is saying, more drag vs. less drag.
(Sorry, don't know how to quote your pic.)
I'm not sure this is what Gary is trying to tell us. I think pwolf66 has it correct...
No, I believe Gary is referring to keeping the upper part of the arm nearly parallel to the water's surface, just below the surface and the lower arm pointing at the bottom of the pool.
The way I interpret what Gary is trying to tell us...
The ideal position is to maintain the upper arm parallel to the surface of the water in the direction of forward motion (pointed towards the approaching wall) for as long as possible while the lower arm and hand are moving down during the catch. YouTube has great examples of Ian Thorpe and Grant Hackett doing this. Obviously, this is easier said than done.
Little question for Gary,
Your proposal sounds very interesting. However, it goes against that of Ernest Maglischo, who is also known for having stick to the use of both the Forward Velocity and the Hand Velocity monitoring using scientific means, for what.... around 30 years now?
How do you explain this difference between your position and his'? In his mind, and fairly consistently across all editions (Swimming Faster 1980, Swimming Even Faster 1993 and Swimming Fastest 2003), the portion of the pulling path that is the most propulsive is the upsweep, which in all cases never begins until you reach mid body line. And quite frankly I do hope that it remains true since the whole arm (from shoulder to fingers) is in a far better position (safer) at this point to apply peak torque.
Again, not trying to criticize your proposal here. Just trying to understand the discrepancy that exists between two swimming bodies that both use science to assess changes in velocity.
The thing I like about your proposal though, is this suggestion that distance swimmers would benefit from a slightly higher turnover / shorter stroke. Not talking about huge difference here, but 1 stroke or 2 per 25m at a higher rate definitely works well for me. It allows me to keep a better form throughout the event. For instance, I can race most of a full 1500 at 15strokes per 25m (lower turnover rate). It's a huge risk though. Because if I loose a stroke during the event, it is going to be because of technique related muscle fatigue. Then even if I increase the turnover, it's too late. My form degraded. If I start the same event on 17strokes per 25m at higher turnover, no way that my form will degrade. I will finish the event at this stroke count. Easier to achieve even splits in other words.
+1
I'm struggling with shoulder issues right now. Fortunately, the MRI I had last week showed no rotator cuff tear as my orthopedic surgeon thought it would. Still, I wonder how much of what I've gone through in the past few months is due to my attempts to improve my stroke, but tried to do things my aging body (I'm 56) simply won't allow anymore. Skip
That's one of the huge considerations we incorporate in our clinics, and when we do video analisys recommendations... to offer advice that an individual can attain, without injuring themselves. Musculature, age, overall health and flexibility all come into play for an average individual seeking their PB's, which is the category that most masters swimmers fall into.
On can have long term goals, like perhaps building up the upper body musculature so one can sustain the kind of a stroke Gary is talking about, in longer distances. Age and health play a big role in how aggresively one should tackle this.
The other, short term goal is to maximize what people do have right now, and make technique corrections (inefficiencies) that will lessen the drag or improve power with what they have now. Shorter, more immediately attainable goals are often things like posture and minor stroke efficiency tweaks.
In my personal case, for example, I'm very 'body aware' and can qopt and evem demonstrate various techniques very quickly. When it comes to building power and speed into it, forget about it, I have health issues that prevent muscle and strenght building past a certain level.
This is an example of a concern I often have when people focus on the stroke efficiency mechanics in such minutia that they neglect to consider the whole body. Especially when people focus on top level swimmers, and little details of what they are doing, like hand entry, or the S curve or what not... Lot of these things may be adaptations taht top swimmers developed to take best advantage of their individual physique and talents, rather then something that works for everyone.
Also, there can be a sizeable difference between working with age groupers and developing bodies and minds, and adults.
I'm a little bit confused here because it seems to me that forces (propulsive and resisting drag) correlate with acceleration rather than speed.
If minimum speed occurs when the arm is about even with the shoulder that implies that you are slowing down leading into this point, i.e. propulsion forces are less than resistance in the preceding phase, and that you are speeding up in the following phase, i.e. propulsion is greater than resistance.
I haven't seen an actual graph to see where the periods of acceleration and deceleration start and end but it seems to me that the conclusion should be the opposite of what was given here. The front quadrant is not more propulsive but is used to position the body for the period of peak propulsion in the rear quadrant, and that if peak velocity occurs as the hand exits then the propulsive phase extends all the way to the hand exit.
Is there a graph of the velocity pattern in freestyle available on the web?
Have I misunderstood the original argument or gone astray in my reasoning?
P.S. Happy Canada Day! :canada:
Is there a graph of the velocity pattern in freestyle available on the web? Yes dear.
Here... page 28. Graphs 1.18 clearly shows that Popov is indeed generating his peak power output (and forward velocity as a result of Newton's third) near Point. Fairly consistent with what I know from Popov's stroke (certainly one of my favorite technique shown by world class, as it's very safe for your shoulders).
books.google.com/books
However, previous pages, Graph 1.17 showing Perkins left arm pulling pathway show a peak when the arm reaches underneath the body.
Then page 98 shows peaks that occur across the whole cycle. Biggest peaks occurring on up sweeps. And it's normal, because the upsweep is backed up with upward body rotation.
Yes dear.
Here... page 28. Graphs 1.18 clearly shows that Popov is indeed generating his peak power output (and forward velocity as a result of Newton's third) near Point. Fairly consistent with what I know from Popov's stroke (certainly one of my favorite technique shown by world class, as it's very safe for your shoulders).
books.google.com/books
However, previous pages, Graph 1.17 showing Perkins left arm pulling pathway show a peak when the arm reaches underneath the body.
Then page 98 shows peaks that occur across the whole cycle. Biggest peaks occurring on up sweeps. And it's normal, because the upsweep is backed up with upward body rotation.
These studies and charts did more to cause and perpetuate the myths I am speaking about than anything else. First, the size of the sideview hand motion is grossly inflated compared to the images. Second, you cannot equate body velocities with power since the shape of the human swimmer and the frontal drag forces change drastically throughout the pull cycle. Third, you must really look at real video images of swimmers (not artist renditions) with the velocity meter and in order to most accurately analyze the arm pull, you must eliminate the kick by strapping a pullbuoy and band on the legs. Since the kick rate is 3X faster than the pull rate, it will throw a lot of artifact into the pulling analysis.
Gary
I'm a little bit confused here because it seems to me that forces (propulsive and resisting drag) correlate with acceleration rather than speed.
If minimum speed occurs when the arm is about even with the shoulder that implies that you are slowing down leading into this point, i.e. propulsion forces are less than resistance in the preceding phase, and that you are speeding up in the following phase, i.e. propulsion is greater than resistance.
I haven't seen an actual graph to see where the periods of acceleration and deceleration start and end but it seems to me that the conclusion should be the opposite of what was given here. The front quadrant is not more propulsive but is used to position the body for the period of peak propulsion in the rear quadrant, and that if peak velocity occurs as the hand exits then the propulsive phase extends all the way to the hand exit.
Is there a graph of the velocity pattern in freestyle available on the web?
Have I misunderstood the original argument or gone astray in my reasoning?
P.S. Happy Canada Day! :canada:
Astray...i'm afraid. If one watches a good swimmer using the velocity meter from side view, isolating the arms (legs tied with a band so as not to confuse the information), one sees a repeatable pattern of fastest speed with one arm outstretched (creating lift) and the other arm about to leave the water. The slowest velocity occurs repeatedly when the hand is about at the shoulder level underwater and the upper arm is at near right angles. The changes in velocity ranges from a drop of 30% all the way up to 50% that occurs in a matter of a few tenths of a second....over and over again. These positions of maximum and minimum velocity should not be confused with positions of maximum and minimum propulsive power, simply because the drag created by the changing position of the arm is so vastly different, these forces are more significant than the power at each position.
At the end of the arm stroke, the hand is actually moving forward again (as it was in the beginning), so there is not only no power here, but a small amount of frontal drag.
When considering where the power is it is best to consider the physiology of the two regions, when pulling. There is simply much more musculature and mechanical strength in the front quadrant.
Gary
I know Ernie...but truthfully, never read his book. He wrote 3 of them. Main features of the technical related chapters is that he classifies each portion of the cycle into phases, backed up with hand velocity analysis and forward velocity analysis. These two are tightly related since one can more easily explain the other. In other words, a hand that is traveling slowly in the water won't explain a peak in forward velocity, especially if the other hand is achieving a peak in velocity in the same time.
Each phase along with intermediate steps is illustrated with pictures taken under various angles. He was already doing this in 1980.
First, in the stroke cycle, a swimmer will spend approximately 1/2 of the entire cycle time in the front quadrant. The other half will be spent in the back quadrant and the above water recovery. That means we spend approximately 1/4 of the time in the back quadrant... That is a perfect example of one that explains the other.
Throughout the pull phase, then hand is constantly accelerating. There are probably 2 main reasons for this:
1. Easier to avoid pulling bubbles and troubled water this way
2. Safer for shoulder muscles in general, since the shoulder is in a vulnerable position with the arm stretched forward (way into the FQ)
Therefore your hand will undoubtedly spend more time in the front quadrant(**), being careful taking a safe and efficient catch. Bending the elbow for achieving a little bit of EVF, positioning the arm to pull water backward. Once it reaches near the end of the FQ, Lats are still involved followed later by triceps, your hands travels underwater so fast that it explains why less time is spent during this phase.
I agree with you that it's very hard to generate forward thrust during the final release phase, but my opinion, the most propulsive phase of the effective pulling path is the phase that comes before the release, and that comes after the catch.
(**) Not sure if I get the definition of FQ right though. For me, this FQ is stops at shoulder level. Passed shoulder level, you're into the back-quadrant. If I got that right, then somehow I'd say that little more than half of the pulling path is propulsive in the front-quadrant, and little more than half of the pulling path is effective in the back-quadrant. The peak velocity being achieved in the back-quadrant. Time wise (since it was your point), lots of time spent in FQ preparing what follows. But what.... Half of this time is lost creating drag and preparing for solid catch, whereas very little time is lost during release phase occurring in the BQ.
I take your point that the velocity graph doesn't tell us the complete story with regard to the magnitude of the propulsive and resistance drag, only what the net difference between the two is.
That said, it still seems to me that if maximum velocity occurs when the hand is straight out front and minimum when it comes even with the shoulder you must be slowing down in the period between these points. That implies that resistance drag is greater than propulsive forces during this period. That means that if this portion of the stroke is the most propulsive it is also the highest drag and that drag is winning out in this phase, thus the deceleration.
Meanwhile going from the slowest point, as the hand enters into the rear quadrant, to the fastest point, where it exits the water, implies that speed is increasing throughout this period, i.e. propulsive forces are greater than resistance forces. It may well be that the upper arm is causing a lot of resistance drag but this is outweighed by the propulsive force generated by the forearm and hand, and possibly the lower part of the upper arm.
It's interesting that good freestyle swimmers have their minimum velocity at the point the hand passes the shoulder because it implies that they aren't achieving net propulsion until this point, despite presumably having an early vertical forearm, thereby giving a clue as to how early EVF occurs. It's only a clue though as we don't know the drag profile.
What would be really interesting would be to see the velocity profile for someone doing catchup drill, then we could separate out the contributions of the two arms.
