ARM PULL

In the freestyle, the arms stroke alternately—first one arm, then the other—recovering over the water, while the legs maintain a streamlined body position and provide additional propulsion with a constant “flutter” kick. As explained in Chapter 6, to swim well you must remember Newton’s third law: for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. When you swim the crawl, you move forward by pushing your body past your hands. If you are having trouble visualizing this, think about what you do when you use crutches: you plant the crutches on the ground and then swing your body past them.

In the crawl stroke, your arms furnish about 80 percent of your propulsion—more than in any other stroke. So using your arms as efficiently as possible is very important. The best way to do this is an elongated S-pattern arm pull, illustrated in Figure 7.1. This technique gives you a better “grip” on the water because with it you are always pushing against still water rather than water that is already in motion.

The freestyle arm stroke consists of five phases:

1. Entry

2. Catch

3. Pull

4. Follow-through

5. Recovery

As you learn the stroke, try to keep two principles in mind: (1) always keep your elbows high, and (2) accelerate your hand speed until you have completed the follow-through. If you remember these principles, you will avoid the two most common errors people make when doing the crawl.

One more thing: in the next few pages, I have broken the crawl down into its constituent phases. But remember, when you put it all together, the stroke is one continuous, fluid motion. Okay? Now, let’s get started.

The Entry

Your arm enters the water directly in front of your shoulder, with your elbow bent so it is higher than your hand. Enter at about a thirty-degree angle and as “quietly” as you can; try to avoid slapping the water.

Your fingertips enter first, thumb down, and your palm is tilted out slightly. Then slide your arm forward and slightly downward, until it is fully extended. Think of your fingers making a hole in the water. Then let your hand, wrist, elbow, and shoulder slip through the hole.

The Catch

The catch is made as soon as you have completely extended your elbow. As you begin to flex your elbow, turn your wrist downward so that your fingertips point toward the bottom of the pool. Try letting your hands scull out slightly before you begin the pull. Although doing this is not necessary, some people find that it improves their pull.

The Pull

Start the pull as soon as you have made the catch. As you begin the pull, you will feel yourself grabbing an armful of water with your hand, forearm, and upper arm, almost as if you are reaching around a very large barrel. Then—always remembering to keep your elbow high—move your hand backward in an S-pattern, past your shoulders and then under your body. Be careful not to let the pull cross your body’s centerline, as this will disturb your body position. As your hand passes beneath your shoulders, your elbow achieves its maximum bend—about ninety degrees.

The Follow-through

Throughout the pull, you have been accelerating your hand speed. Now, in the follow-through, continuing that acceleration, push your hand back past your hips. Push hard! As you straighten and extend your arm to finish the stroke, your palm will be facing your feet. This will allow your hand to exit the water most easily.

The Recovery

The final phase of the arm stroke, the recovery, is a smooth, rounded movement in which the stroke continues into the air. It begins as your elbow leaves the water, followed by your shoulder and then your hand. Your elbow should remain higher than your hand throughout the recovery, and your hand should be just over the surface of the water. Think of your elbow reaching for the sky as your shoulder comes out of the water.

Your arm should remain completely relaxed throughout the recovery. Allow momentum to carry it forward. As you complete the recovery, your hand enters the water again at about a thirty-degree angle, fingertips first, thumb down, palm tilted out. You are now ready for your next stroke.

Figures 7.2 and 7.3 illustrate the phases of the freestyle arm pull as seen from the side (7.2) and head-on (7.3).

BODY ROLL

An essential part of swimming the crawl stroke efficiently is the body roll. In fact, if you do the stroke correctly, you will actually spend more time on your sides than in a flat position. Steve Winwood is right on when he sings: “You’ve got to roll with it, baby.”

The roll is a natural motion caused by the rotating of the arm stroke. Don’t fight it! It reduces drag, allows you to put the large muscles of your back and shoulders to their best use, and helps you get more distance with every stroke. It also makes your recovery more relaxed and lets you breathe without twisting your head as much.

When your right arm enters the water, let your body, especially your hips, roll about forty-five degrees to the right. Then, when you stroke with your left arm, roll about forty-five degrees to the left. You will probably find that you roll even more when you breathe. That’s fine. Although it is possible to roll too much, a more common error is to roll too little. So relax and let yourself roll naturally with the stroke.

A new theory of how power can be maximized in the freestyle argues that swimmers need to roll even more than forty-five degrees. Using frame-by-frame underwater video and computer analysis, Bob Pritchard, director of Somax Posture and Sports in Corte Madera, California, analyzed the strokes of world-class, collegiate, and beginning swimmers. He found that the very best swimmers rotate their hips up to sixty degrees and that the hip movement precedes the arm stroke. Thus, just as with baseball players and golfers, more power is generated from the hips than from the shoulders and arms.

Matt Biondi, the world record holder for 100 meters, has his hand enter the water at a very shallow angle and lets it glide for an unusually long period of time. He rolls his hips sixty degrees, then begins to rotate them back before he starts the in sweep of his arm stroke.

In contrast, good college swimmers rotate their hips during the out sweep of the arm stroke, making only partial use of the powerful hip muscles. Poor swimmers rotate their hips long after an arm enters the water and is ending the out sweep. They make no use whatsoever of their hip muscles, essentially just dragging them through the water.