I was wondering about people's opinions of this website. In many ways I find it helpful, but there are a couple things they say that is a little different from what I've heard from other sources. Couple examples;
1. The Mr. Smooth demonstrator bends his wrist to initiate the catch, and ultimately the elbow drops along the arc. Are they perhaps just being realists for most of us? I had sent a video of myself to Glen Mills (from GoSwim), and he suggested that I not "scoop" with my hands to initiate the catch.
2. This is really interesting. They say that on the catch, it is a myth that you should feel a huge amount of resistance with each pull. Here is the link; www.swimsmooth.com/catch.html
I like a lot of what they say, including being careful not to overreach. It kind of woke me up to the fact that I often try to hard to get distance per stroke.
I wonder what you guys think about the site, as well as the Mr. Smooth demonstrator's stroke.
Parents
Former Member
I've seen some very fast distance swimmers who use the keyhole stroke. I sweep, or use sculling as part of my stroke. Or at the very least, my hand pitch varies throughout the pulling range. If you add body rotation to this which creates lateral deviations, you get sweeping movements, which hopefully adds some lift forces to the propulsive forces.
So it seems to me that the resistance you feel from the water on a pull depends on how fast you are going and the force needed to maintain that speed. We weren't discussing about the amount of resistance felt on a pull, but rather about the level of resistance on the catch.
In my humble opinion, this varies a lot based on timing. The faster the speed, the shorter (in term of time) the catch. If you're late in catching, then it leaves less time to complete the pull and usually, this translated into more load being put on catch.
That said, there are limits to how much force you can exert on water before it simply flows around you. And that limit gradually goes away as you progress into your pulling path. The high pressure zone under the palm of the hand build up progressively, as the hand accelerates throughout the pulling range.
I've seen some very fast distance swimmers who use the keyhole stroke. I sweep, or use sculling as part of my stroke. Or at the very least, my hand pitch varies throughout the pulling range. If you add body rotation to this which creates lateral deviations, you get sweeping movements, which hopefully adds some lift forces to the propulsive forces.
So it seems to me that the resistance you feel from the water on a pull depends on how fast you are going and the force needed to maintain that speed. We weren't discussing about the amount of resistance felt on a pull, but rather about the level of resistance on the catch.
In my humble opinion, this varies a lot based on timing. The faster the speed, the shorter (in term of time) the catch. If you're late in catching, then it leaves less time to complete the pull and usually, this translated into more load being put on catch.
That said, there are limits to how much force you can exert on water before it simply flows around you. And that limit gradually goes away as you progress into your pulling path. The high pressure zone under the palm of the hand build up progressively, as the hand accelerates throughout the pulling range.
