So, I’ve been swimming alot over about the past couple months. On my own and with a couple of different masters groups. It’s taken me a long time to work up to being able to even show up at masters. Anyway, I thought I was making progress, everyone seems to think my stroke is decent, though several people have commented that I need to rotate more. So I’m working on that. Lately though I’m told that my recovery is not relaxed enough and I should do the fingertip drill and drag my thumb up my thigh forward on recovery. This feels completely weird to me. Feels like it breaks every other aspect of my stroke. Seems to make me flatter instead of working towards a better rotation. I’m wondering now if I am caught between different swim technique philosophies. Since the fingertip thing seems to place my hand entry more forward and catch directly above my head instead of slightly wide which is where others have told me it needs to be(and where I feel like I have more power). I guess my question is, the recovery phase of the freestyle stroke seems less important than other aspects, catch, pull, rotate. So is the recovery something that is going to matter that much? Or, asked another way, it this fingertip situation something I really should be paying that much attention to?
-Keith
“As you enter positions of trust and power, dream a little before you think.” -Toni Morrison
Different people observing your stroke will note different positive and negative portions of your stroke. Based upon those observations, they’ll give you different drills. All parties can be correct here. The fact that your stroke feels completely off when performing the fingertip drill suggests two things to me. First, simply spending more time swimming will help (duh) you become more comfortable in the water and understand why your stroke is changing so drastically when performing the drill. And, second, the drill might be one you’d be better off performing only when you’re around a coach right now. A coach will be able to quickly tell you why your stroke is off while performing the drill.
That said, fingertip drill can help your roll by making you roll onto the opposite side so that your arm is clearing the water with your elbow higher above the water than it usually is. Focus on tracing your body with your recovery hand and rolling onto your opposite side at the same time. If you’re actually swimming with less roll while doing the drill, then your elbow might be heading out to the side and throwing your balance off.
Recovery is not as important as other portions of your stroke, but it is important from a balance standpoint. Theoretically, keeping your hands tucked in close will mean less side-to-side motion, thus making your stroke more efficient. (But, as in everything else with swimming, different techniques work. See: Janet Evans (distance) or Scott Tucker (sprinting) for examples of a straight arm recovery that allowed for a balanced and fast freestyle.)