BASIC PRINCIPLES OF SWIMMING

Part of the charm of swimming is the constant variety it offers. But since all four strokes involve propelling oneself through water as efficiently as possible, it is not surprising that they share basic elements. Dr. James E. “Doc” Counsilman—perhaps the world’s foremost authority on swimming technique—outlines five principles that all swimming strokes have in common. It is important to keep these in mind as you learn to swim better and faster.

1. Streamline Your Body

In order to move through the water more efficiently, you should try to create as little drag as possible. To do this you must keep your body in a flat, or horizontal position. If you are swimming freestyle or back-stroke, for example, and you lift your head too high to breathe, your hips and legs will drop, and you will be moving at an angle, creating unnecessary resistance (see Figure 6.1). For the same reason, you must avoid excessive rolling from side to side, or wiggling your hips or legs back and forth. The less drag you create, the less energy you will need to propel yourself forward. I like to try to feel the water flowing around me. One swimmer I know likes to think of herself as a smooth, sleek dolphin gliding effortlessly through the water.

Figure 6.1. Dropping your hips and legs creates unnecessary resistance.

2. Obey Newton’s Law

Sir Isaac Newton’s third law of motion states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. In swimming, this means that in order to move forward, you have to push water backward. Many swimmers believe this means that if they push directly back in a straight line they will move forward most economically. However, this is not the case.

Why? Doc Counsilman explains by comparing swimming with running: a runner pushes against the ground almost directly backward and, as a result, is pushed almost directly forward. This happens because the ground does not move when he pushes against it. When a swimmer pushes her hand against water, however, the water naturally moves in the direction the hand pushes it. If she continues to push backward in a straight line, the swimmer is pushing water that is already moving backward. Thus, she receives almost no additional propulsion. To solve this problem, she must move her hands in an elliptical pattern to find still water to push against. This is true for every swimming stroke. Figure 6.2 illustrates the elliptical pull patterns of the four strokes. The following four chapters will go into these stroke techniques in some detail.

Figure 6.2. Elliptical Pull Patterns of the Four Major Strokes

A. The freestyle pull pattern seen from underneath

B. The backstroke pull pattern seen from the side

C. The breaststroke pull pattern seen from underneath

 D. The butterfly pull pattern seen from underneath

3. Use the Proper Pull

When learning to swim, one of the most important things to concentrate on is using the most effective pull. Most beginning swimmers either drop their elbows or use a straight-arm pull.

The dropped-elbow pull is the least efficient type. As Figure 6.3 indicates, a swimmer using this pull has very little leverage and exerts force backward only at the middle of the stroke. At the beginning, most of the force is applied downward, whereas at the end, most of the force is applied upward. The result is that the swimmer expends a lot of energy for very little forward propulsion.

Figure 6.3. The Dropped-Elbow Pull

The straight-arm pull (see Figure 6.4) is a little better. But the same mechanical problems are present: most of the force is exerted downward or upward, rather than backward. This tends to make the swimmer bob up and down, and in the process creates additional drag.

The most effective pull for any of the four strokes is illustrated in Figure 6.5. It begins with the elbow only slightly bent. The elbow increases its bend until it is in a vertical position, directly below the swimmer. As the stroke continues backward, the amount of bend in the elbow decreases steadily until the end, when the elbow is almost straight (except in breaststroke). Notice that the elbow is carried in a high position throughout the pull. As the elbow begins to bend at the start of the pull, the upper arm rotates inward. In this type of pull, the downward and upward forces are minimized and the backward push is maximized. Thus, the swimmer is propelled smoothly through the water.

Figure 6.4. The Straight-Arm Pull

Figure 6.5. The Correct Pull

4. Position Your Hands Efficiently

There are two things to keep in mind about the position of your hands while swimming: how they enter the water and how you hold them during the pull.

Your hands should enter the water by knifing cleanly through it. If you slap the water, air bubbles will form around your hands, decreasing the efficiency of your pull. Likewise, as your hands leave the water they should be as streamlined as possible so they do not exert an upward force, which will push you down.

How should you hold your hands and fingers while swimming? When I first learned to swim, I was taught to cup my hands during the pull. But research by Counsilman using a wind tunnel has demonstrated that this is one of the least effective ways of holding your hands while swimming. Why? Because it decreases the hands’ surface area and thus reduces the efficiency of the pull. The best way to hold your hands is flat, with the fingers firm but relaxed and spread slightly apart.

5. Apply Propulsion Evenly

When swimming you must try to move forward at as even a pace as possible. This has been termed the continuity of movement principle. If you are continually stopping or slowing down, you will spend much of your energy trying to overcome inertia each time you start up again.

The cost of overcoming inertia can be considerable. Think of how much energy a weight lifter has to use to lift a heavy barbell off his shoulders—and how little he needs once the weight is in motion. Or consider how much force is needed to push your car after it has run out of gas. Once you have gotten the car moving, however, much less force is needed to keep it moving to the next gas station.

The same principle applies to swimming. And it explains why freestyle is the fastest stroke: because in it there is a constant application of propulsive force.

So keep this principle in mind as you swim—apply force evenly. You will find that doing so will make your swimming much more efficient, and much easier.

You are now ready to tackle the four major swimming strokes, which are described in detail in Chapters 7 through 10. As you learn them, remember to put to use the five basic principles:

1. Streamline your body.

2. Obey Newton’s law.

3. Use the proper pull.

4. Position your hands efficiently.

5. Apply propulsion evenly.

Don’t expect to perfect all the strokes in a week or a month—or even a year. It will take time. But you will find that you are improving noticeably as you master each technique, come to execute it almost automatically, and move on to the next skill. You will feel more comfortable and less tired, and you will have a sense of flowing with the water instead of struggling against it.

My teammate and good friend Abe Olanoff is eighty-eight, has been swimming more than seventy years, and is always asking me to watch his stroke or his turns and suggest ways he can improve. I have been swimming for over thirty-five years, and I’m still learning. Indeed, that is part of the fun and part of the challenge! As my son so indelicately put it not long ago: “You’re living proof, Dad, that you can teach an old dog new tricks.” Old dog or young, it’s a great feeling to know that there is always more to learn, that you can still improve, still swim better and faster, whether you are thirty, forty, or even eighty.

And now, let’s get started.