I had a really good lesson this morning. It was money well spent. However I still wanted some feedback from ST on how you developed a good high elbow catch. My coach already gave me instructions to really drill extensively doing catch-up and 1-arm swimming. Did anyone successfully migrate to a strong high elbow catch from previously doing the low elbow thing?
Peace,
Rob
And floating on the side with arm extended and finding a good float spot. Total immersion technique.
If you’ve “got it” as in you really understand how it feels and can identify it within your stroke, the best drill I’ve found is 1-arm swimming.
I also find that swimming with a drag chute really helps my catch.
My instructor was big on 1-arm swimming too. He explained it important to rotate my body back to the neutral position and not just using an arm only for the drill. I tried it a few times, but it was difficult to obtain a sense of doing the drill correctly especially for the part of the stroke that is below the water.
He didn’t feel like I needed much work w/ the TI kick on side drill. He felt my body position was decent in the water.
you might try the fist drill also
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For me, it takes a while to “settle in”. I do a fair amount of 1-arm (well - in relation to the amount of drilling I do) and it takes a while when I start for it to really line up properly and work the way it should. If you’ve got the muscular endurance for it, do at least 50m with one side before switching to the other. You’ll find that a little past halfway your rotation all of a sudden feels “right” and that your catch starts working.
You can make it easier by swimming with the non-active arm out in front (streamline), or harder with the non-active arm down at your side.
I did a lot of 1-arm before I learned what it was to catch water, and it never did much for me. You have to know how to catch (or at very least, what it feels like when you do) in order for 1-arm to really have an impact. At least that was my experience.
Once you do, it’s a great reminder - if you feel like you’re slipping water or dropping your elbow, go to 1-arm. You’ll get your catch back pretty quickly.
I like the 1-arm drills also. I do a set of 5 or 6x100 of 25 left arm, 25 right arm, 50 swim. After you do the two 1-arm 25s you can really feel it working when you do the 50 swim. This drill has worked better for me than any other drill.
Fist drills are good as well as 1-arm and 1-arm+fist.
My best advice is to slow down your stroke for now and focus on your recovering arm. Try to hold your glide with your extended arm until your recovering arm powers past it (on hand entry, drive your recovering hand forward and try to touch the far wall by stretching as far as you can). This will (or should) rotate your body and the elbow goes up like magic. Think of perfoming a military salute, bringing your hand to your centerline abover your head and then focusing on pushing the water that is on your hand towards your feet. That not only gets your catch set up earlier, it keeps your hand at a right angle to the water until you run out of arm.
This drill also prevents crossover, since your extended arm is already there to show your recovering arm the way.
See what this does to your stroke count (I’m about 10-11 per 25 yards - that’s 5-5½ if you’re only counting one arm) and then gradually start picking up your turnover, always checking to see that you aren’t adding too many strokes. I race at about 14-15 pet 25 yards.
You also may need to do some stretching, although this drill is a stretch at the same time.
Another good drill is a fingertip drag drill. I tend to find most people who don’t get a good high elbow catch, never had a good high elbow during the recovery to begin with.
Swum like regular freestyle, except your fingertips never leave the water as your arm moves forward during the stroke recovery.You drag your fingers forward through the water, slightly off to the side of your body, focusing on good body roll and keeping your elbows pointed up.
http://www.finisinc.com/...forearmfulcrum.shtml
That piece of equipment does absolutely nothing to ensure you have a high elbow.
Paddles really helped me dial it in.
Hey Khai I purchased a chute to aid with my power. I have a problem with it tangling in my feet or legs how have you learned to over come this issue.
Don’t forget to judiciously develop the strength and flexibility to do it.
I use external rotator stretches, half pulls, and full pulls, here’s an example of what to avoid, the dreaded dropped elbow.
These help give you the actual ability to attain the position and establish the rough activation patterns in a controlled environment. It should help you get the hang of it more quickly once you start doing the one arm drills and other drills that are recommended.
Rob,
Here’s an article I wrote which should help you…
http://coachvance.blogspot.com/2007/12/faster-swimming-sure.html
Unfortunately, I have yet to complete the series, but it’s on my list!!!
Feel free to email me if you have questions.
While the tool is not specifically designed to “ensure” you have a high elbow catch, you can’t effectively hold water through the pull using this tool without keeping a high elbow. Used as a compliment to some paddle work and you will be catching water with a high elbow pretty effectively without a lot of drill work. They take a bit of time to get used to but IMHO its a pretty effective tool for solving this stroke flaw. It’s a tool, not a guarantee.
great videos!
While the tool is not specifically designed to “ensure” you have a high elbow catch, you can’t effectively hold water through the pull using this tool without keeping a high elbow. Used as a compliment to some paddle work and you will be catching water with a high elbow pretty effectively without a lot of drill work. They take a bit of time to get used to but IMHO its a pretty effective tool for solving this stroke flaw. It’s a tool, not a guarantee.
All it does is make sure your hand is aligned with your forearm, I don’t see how it in any way impacts any part of your stroke other than that. And now that I think of it, it probably interferes with the pointing down of your fingers toward the bottom of the pool at the initial start of the catch phase. I don’t know, I guess I need to try them out to see for myself.
That was a good blog post. Intuitively length makes sense to me for setting up a good catch. I still want to work on the drills though, it seems they should reinforce many of the principles in securing a good catch.
Fist drills are good as well as 1-arm and 1-arm+fist.
My best advice is to slow down your stroke for now and focus on your recovering arm. Try to hold your glide with your extended arm until your recovering arm powers past it (on hand entry, drive your recovering hand forward and try to touch the far wall by stretching as far as you can). This will (or should) rotate your body and the elbow goes up like magic. Think of perfoming a military salute, bringing your hand to your centerline abover your head and then focusing on pushing the water that is on your hand towards your feet. That not only gets your catch set up earlier, it keeps your hand at a right angle to the water until you run out of arm.
This drill also prevents crossover, since your extended arm is already there to show your recovering arm the way.
See what this does to your stroke count (I’m about 10-11 per 25 yards - that’s 5-5½ if you’re only counting one arm) and then gradually start picking up your turnover, always checking to see that you aren’t adding too many strokes. I race at about 14-15 pet 25 yards.
You also may need to do some stretching, although this drill is a stretch at the same time.
I’m a little confused by your description and I’m having trouble visualizing this drill. When performed will this drill look a bit like a catch-up drill? Also, when you guys are recommending one arm drills, should the off arm be by your side in front of you?
Thanks