Two questions:
When maintaining a high elbow at catch, and when I've been dropping my elbow previously, am I right to assume that feeling the muscle opposite the bicep (back of upper arm) working more at catch and pull is a sign the catch position is better?
Also, I've seen many references to "reaching over a barrel" in freestyle. Does this describe the arm above the water, under the water, or both?
Thanks
High elbow is how most of us learned and practice many times with the coach working on it with us BJUT now I seed Olympic & National swimmers "windmilling" with straight arms!!?? What gives them the extra power to do this over us mere mortals?
Windmilling is not as efficient as high elbow, but it does poentially get the hand into the catch faster and also perhaps lead to a faster turn over. It can threfore be faster, but at the expense of needing more power generation, which is not sustainable for long. Big, strong elites can do it for a 50, some exceptional athletes for a 100.
Yes, your triceps will definitely feel it more when you're pulling correctly. That, to me, means you're doing it right.
And the "over the barrel" cue generally refers to under the water, not the recovery.
Windmilling is not as efficient as high elbow, but it does poentially get the hand into the catch faster and also perhaps lead to a faster turn over. It can threfore be faster, but at the expense of needing more power generation, which is not sustainable for long. Big, strong elites can do it for a 50, some exceptional athletes for a 100.
And Janet Evans could do it for a 1500...
Think that your finger tips as they enter the water are going around and sliding down the far side of barrel (or a big ball) and then when your arm is round it, you're throwing the barrel back as you pull. Your shoulder has to rotate for the hand and arm to go over the barrel and your elbow stay high.
I was going to mention Janet Evans straight arm stroke too; she is very much an exception to the rule.
There are good explanations of stroke techniques on Gary Hall's Race Club website I think in the Aqua Notes section. At one point in time there was an article describing and contrasting the straight arm, bent arm, and hybrid stroke techniques. You can use both depending on the situation.
Thanks for these added posts. Shout-out also to Swimmer magazine article in current issue, which prompted my question when it mentioned trying to keep your elbow near surface during catch.
