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 5 FREESTYLE 'SMOKE & MIRROR'  CONCEPTS IN SWIMMING..

 

The majority  of the information about swimming technique comes from observation of the fastest swimmers. While faster swimmers have more effective technique than slower swimmers, even the fastest swimmers have inbuilt technique limitations. Therefore, modeling the fastest swimmers can result in the adoption of ineffective technique elements.
 
Misconceptions often result when technique is modeled from the elements of a fast swimmer or a well advertised swimming Avatar...as opposed to the elements of fast swimming. Below we bust just some of the many "Smoke & Mirror" misconceptions that have found their way into swimming.
Your forearm is vertical at the beginning of the freestyle pull.

 

If your elbow is flexed and the forearm is vertical, your hand must be lateral (to the outside of) your shoulder. As any force is applied during this motion, torque is generated and your body twists about your antero-posterior (front to back) axis. This twisting motion will increase resistance and will slow swimming velocity. In addition, your arm is weakly positioned for the final push phase.
 
It is more effective to diagonally orient your forearm during the pull phase, so that tyour hand moves from in front of your shoulder to a point beneath your head. You will benefit from improved leverage and have your arm in a stronger position to generate force during your push phase.

 

 In Freestyle, the hand path is 'S'-shaped.

 

The path of the your hand in freestyle swimming depends on whether it is:
 
 
#“Typical”
 
# “Optimal”
 
#Whether it is described with respect to the water or the body.
 
 
For example, the typical hand path with respect to the water is often s-shaped. However, the optimal hand path with respect to the body is better described as a gradual “zig-zag.”
 
 
Since you can only track your hand path with respect to your own body, it is better to think of the path as more straight than 'S'-shaped.
 
An optimal path results from moving your hand at a gradual angle from in front of your shoulder to beneath your head, and then to change direction again by  angling your hand from under your head to beneath your thigh.

You Roll in Freestyle to Use Your Larger Muscles and Core For Power, & for a longer stroke.

 

Torso rotation (or body roll) in freestyle serves only two main purposes:
 
# To make it easier for you to recover one arm with less shoulder stress
 
#And, to place your other arm in a much stronger position to generate force with your hand closer to the center line of the body.
 
Most swimmers enter their arm with a shallow angle so that the arm is near the surface at the completion of the entry. With a typical shallow entry, torso rotation will not necessarily enable the swimmer to “reach deeper in the water.”
 
However, entering the water with your arm in a downward angle, will synchronize well with your torso rotation, and quickly achieve a strong position to begin the pull.

 

In freestyle, backstroke, and butterfly, the underwater motion is the “pull.”
 
Freestyle, backstroke, and butterfly are best described as having both a “pull” (the arm motion from the beginning of the stroke until the arm passes the vertical plane of the shoulders) and a “push” (the arm motion from the shoulders until the hand stops moving backward.
 
 
 If the entire underwater motion is called a “pull,” it is more likely that a swimmer will only make a pulling motion and not benefit enough from the “push.”

 

 

In freestyle, you generate most  of your force at the beginning of your stroke:

 

Force analysis from the Aquanex unit clearly shows that you will generate more force on your push phase (i.e. after your arm passes your shoulders) than the pull phase.
 
There are two primary reasons for greater force on the push phase:
 
 
#Your arm is in a better position to apply leverage
 
# Your hand is already moving and has already achieved a substantial velocity. At the beginning of the stroke, your arm is in a  very poor leverage position, and has not yet begun to move backward, so a great amount of muscular force is necessary to apply even a minimal amount of force on the water.
 
 
 You could very well be exerting more muscular effort at the beginning of your stroke, but will undoubtedly be generating less applied force.
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