Myth #4: The reason you keep the elbows high on the underwater pull is to increase power.
I hear this often from both coaches and swimmers. When one looks at the underwater shots of the world's fastest swimmers, sprint or distance, one finds the recurring position of high underwater elbow, also called Early Vertical Forearm (EVF). The elbows are not just high, they are unusually high...almost in a contorted position with extreme extension (negative angle) of the shoulder joint, particularly when coupled with the body rotation in the opposite direction. it begs the question, can one really be stronger in this almost contorted position? I believe the answer is no. To test this, one can go in the gym and using the Free Motion pulleys, that many gyms now have, pull as much weight down with your arm relatively straight forward, then try it with your arm at the side, shoulder extended and elbow up. You will not be able to pull as much weight in that position. With the shoulder fully extended (negative angle), it is simply not in a good mechanical position of strength.
So if this weird high elbow position is not about power, what is it about? Drag. By changing the position of the arm as it moves through the pull cycle, one can reduce the drag coefficient significantly...not eliminate it. To prove this, kick with fins all out for 25 yards extending one arm above the head and the other straight down toward the bottom of the pool. You will soon learn how significant the drag of your protruding arm becomes when it is at right angles to your long axis. In fact, you will have to work to keep the arm in the position and with any speed at all, it will shake in the water like a palm tree in a hurricane in the Keys. Now try the same drill, but instead of putting your arm straight down, let it protrude straight out to the side but bend the arm 90 degrees at the elbow, as if you were swimming with a high elbow. You will feel considerably less drag in this position. Same arm...different position...a lot less drag.
Now I realize that this is not quite the same as while swimming, when only the upper part of the arm is moving forward throughout nearly the entire underwater part of the pull cycle (In order to cause frontal resistive drag, the object must be moving forward). However, the upper arm is also the largest part of the arm and changing it's orientation in the water also reduces the drag coefficient. Achieving an EVF is simply maintaining the upper arm in a position closest to the line of motion and thus creates the least frontal drag.
The good news is that most coaches are telling you the same thing, pull with your elbows high underwater. Now you know the real reason.
Gary Sr
Parents
Former Member
Gary, how has your own freestyle evolved since your Olympic medal years? Did you used to swim with the high head position and the slight S-curve sculling kind of maneuver that seemed to be advocated back then?
What about your own elbow position then and now?
If you have made shifts, did you have any orthopedic twinges and/or shoulder problems getting used to the changes?
Knowing what you know now about optimal form (or at least as optimal as top swimming minds have been able to yet figure), how much faster do you think you could have been back in the day if you trained by today's standards?
Perhaps most importantly, to what extent would you have been able to humble your son in the 50?
Jim,
I strive to keep learning. I recently watched an old super 8 movie taken of me from the 1969 Louisville Nationals (400 IM world record...we put it on our recent DVD...Fundamentals of Fast Swimming, just for a laugh) and I did nearly everything I tell my Race Club campers not to do. We were almost oblivious to drag issues back then.
Doc Counsilman was really the first to advocate the S-shaped pull underwater because he thought it was lift (Bernoulli's principal) that was most responsible for our speed, and the S pull would provide more lift. Today, we know that both lift and propulsive drag are responsible for our speed. Lift occurs in the early phase of the arm pull (as the arm/hand is moving forward or down) and with the kick and helps reduce drag significantly (think how much faster we are in a wetsuit or in salt water). While we only use one arm/hand at a time to create the propulsive drag force (ie hand moving backward), because we spend about half of our stroke cycle time in the front quadrant, we always have one hand lifting us at all times. Typically, depending on whether one is using a hip-driven, hold-in-front stroke, or a shoulder-driven, fast catch stroke, when one hand enters the water, the other is at the shoulder or in front of it. As the hand quickly transitions from lift (moving forward) to drag (moving backward) it moves around a circle so that there are vectors of lift and propulsive drag going on simultaneously.
My strokes have changed a lot in 40 years. I now swim with a much higher elbow than I ever did and lower my head much more. Fortunately, I have never had shoulder problems but also don't do much more than 2,500 meters per practice. The biggest challenge to getting and keeping the EVF position is having enough extension of the shoulder to get there (along with internal rotation) and then not letting the arm/hand follow your body rotation and slide underneath you. The amount of side to side movement underwater in the saggital plane is much less than it was years ago and should be no more than a 6 to 8 inches, in other words, pretty much straight back. I think some movement is needed to help maximize the propulsive drag, but I may be wrong on that.
I have been particularly intrigued with experimenting with the hybrid freestyle that Phelps, Lezak, Biedermann and many others are using whereby they use a hip driven technique on one side and a quick-catch shoulder driven technique on the other, resulting in a jerky appearing swim. It appears to combine the best of the two different techniques and is ideal for middle distance.
I am afraid that even if I had perfected my stroke, my slow-twitch muscles and 36 inch vs 39 inch arms would not have allowed me to ever have been successful competing against my son, except when he was 14 or younger. That is when I gave up on racing against him.
Regards,
Gary Sr.
Gary, how has your own freestyle evolved since your Olympic medal years? Did you used to swim with the high head position and the slight S-curve sculling kind of maneuver that seemed to be advocated back then?
What about your own elbow position then and now?
If you have made shifts, did you have any orthopedic twinges and/or shoulder problems getting used to the changes?
Knowing what you know now about optimal form (or at least as optimal as top swimming minds have been able to yet figure), how much faster do you think you could have been back in the day if you trained by today's standards?
Perhaps most importantly, to what extent would you have been able to humble your son in the 50?
Jim,
I strive to keep learning. I recently watched an old super 8 movie taken of me from the 1969 Louisville Nationals (400 IM world record...we put it on our recent DVD...Fundamentals of Fast Swimming, just for a laugh) and I did nearly everything I tell my Race Club campers not to do. We were almost oblivious to drag issues back then.
Doc Counsilman was really the first to advocate the S-shaped pull underwater because he thought it was lift (Bernoulli's principal) that was most responsible for our speed, and the S pull would provide more lift. Today, we know that both lift and propulsive drag are responsible for our speed. Lift occurs in the early phase of the arm pull (as the arm/hand is moving forward or down) and with the kick and helps reduce drag significantly (think how much faster we are in a wetsuit or in salt water). While we only use one arm/hand at a time to create the propulsive drag force (ie hand moving backward), because we spend about half of our stroke cycle time in the front quadrant, we always have one hand lifting us at all times. Typically, depending on whether one is using a hip-driven, hold-in-front stroke, or a shoulder-driven, fast catch stroke, when one hand enters the water, the other is at the shoulder or in front of it. As the hand quickly transitions from lift (moving forward) to drag (moving backward) it moves around a circle so that there are vectors of lift and propulsive drag going on simultaneously.
My strokes have changed a lot in 40 years. I now swim with a much higher elbow than I ever did and lower my head much more. Fortunately, I have never had shoulder problems but also don't do much more than 2,500 meters per practice. The biggest challenge to getting and keeping the EVF position is having enough extension of the shoulder to get there (along with internal rotation) and then not letting the arm/hand follow your body rotation and slide underneath you. The amount of side to side movement underwater in the saggital plane is much less than it was years ago and should be no more than a 6 to 8 inches, in other words, pretty much straight back. I think some movement is needed to help maximize the propulsive drag, but I may be wrong on that.
I have been particularly intrigued with experimenting with the hybrid freestyle that Phelps, Lezak, Biedermann and many others are using whereby they use a hip driven technique on one side and a quick-catch shoulder driven technique on the other, resulting in a jerky appearing swim. It appears to combine the best of the two different techniques and is ideal for middle distance.
I am afraid that even if I had perfected my stroke, my slow-twitch muscles and 36 inch vs 39 inch arms would not have allowed me to ever have been successful competing against my son, except when he was 14 or younger. That is when I gave up on racing against him.
Regards,
Gary Sr.
