So there I was, losing count (again) while doing laps, and I had a brainstorm…an epiphany of sorts. I thought to myself “would I be faster with bigger hands?” I’m not a great swimmer by any means, but it made sense, as I figured I’d be able to pull more water. I was picturing how fast I’d be if my hands were the size of Jaws from Moonraker, or the big guy from Happy Gilmour (are they the same person?). Then I started thinking about a friend I know - she’s a great swimmer (technically), and is extremely fit, but has tiny hands, and cannot ever seem to push through the plateau from good to fast.
So, while others debate dimpled wheels, I’d like to know about hand size and it’s affect on potential swim speed. How much of our swim performance is influenced by hand size? Is our performance in the pool limited in any way by small hands? Are small hands a limiting factor for a swimmer?
Small hands are actually preferable. Ideally, you will pull with your fingers, palm, wrist, forearm, elbow, and upper arm (specifically the flat area between your bicept and tricept). You would then push with your forearm, wrist, hand and fingers. With smaller hands you will naturally become more efficient with the rest of the arm. Since the lumberjacks of the world are more apt to rely on their hands rather than perfect form, you (with normal hands) will actually go faster.
If efficiency could be held constant (but it never can) tall people with long arms/legs and big hands/feet could, theoretically, push more water. However, this theory is essentially the same as trying to find the perfect crank arm length on a bike.
From personal experience, I can swim the same “speed” as the guy in the lane next to me–former NCAA Nationals in the 1600. He’s taller and has bigger hands. However, I take fewer strokes per pool length. This would seem to be counterintuitive except that efficiency (especially for the swim) is far more important than strength or natural fulcrum/lever action.
Compare your theory to boat motors. The faster the engine (the greater the HP), the bigger the propeller blades. I would venture to guess that if you replaced the prop blades on a given motor with smaller blades, the boat would not go as fast. The bigger blades push more water. Would the same not hold true for hands?
yeah we tried those out of the worlds trials last year in the single and pair, worked pretty well, we are thinking matchsticks the next time around though
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I’m glad Pavlov chimmed in. It’s been a while (2 days??) since we butted heads. While I admit that I started my response with “smaller hands are better”, that was intended to be non-scientific. I’ll try to remember from now on that few people on ST have a since of humor. However, the motorboat analogy (and the rowing sticks for that matter) is particularly interesting. Recall I did say that efficiency needed to be held constant. So, yes if you put smaller blades (or shorter sticks) on the same motor you will go slower. The human body is not a solid chunk of metal with only a propeller for moving parts (and your arm is not a one-dimentional stick).
I will concede that in a laboratory, paddals, or larger hands are proven to be “better”.
However, I would like for at least one person to acknowledge that simply having large hands does not make one a better swimmer. Perhaps that was not the intention of the OP. All apologies for making this into a “real issue”.
The OP asked…
“How much of our swim performance is influenced by hand size?
Is our performance in the pool limited in any way by small hands?
Are small hands a limiting factor for a swimmer?”
Note the anal-retentiveness of this question. It was asked from different angles for the express purpose of avoiding useless remarks like, “Yes”.
How much…? Depends on how efficient you are. If you are an elite swimmer (like those in Puntas’ study) hand size will factor differently than if you are a lead-with-the-elbow puller.
Is our performance limited…? Only if “performance” is defined by a comparison between you and you+ larger hands. In order for you to swim at your “best”, your “optimum level”, your “highest performance” the size of your hands is irrelevent.
Are small hands limiting…? This is a better question. I would have to agree that, most of the time the winner of a sprint or short distance swim is a guy with big hands. If you have small hands you would be “limited” (i.e. it would be unlikely that you will win Gold in China). However, even the mere 1500m of an olympic distance swim is long enough for hand size to be relegated to the bottom of the list (perhaps even off the page entirely) of factors that contribute to your performance.
I’d like to count the number of posts you reply to with negative remarks or useless information. But then again it’s safe to say just about all of them.
when racing, I was tested at the olympic training center for swimming power under different loads.
w/paddles & pull-bouy I was BOP
kicking I was BOP
swimming I was 106% as effecient as kicking + pulling and near MOP. For a distance swimmer, they determined that my stroke was extremely efficient, but only as a complete stroke.
That being said, I have really small hands for a guy (my wifes are as large as mine) and my best results were top 50 in the world… so I think in general its not a limiter for most people. Kinda like crank length. Being able to use paddles well also does not translate to being a faster swimmer in all people, depending on technique. (and I mean at the highest level of the sport).
Being a boat owner, to have a bigger prop you need more HP to push it. Bigger prop with no increase in HP will stall. Seems like like just adding bigger hands without more HP would not make you swim faster. As usual it seem like its all about the motor.
That being said, I have really small hands for a guy (my wifes are as large as mine) and my best results were top 50 in the world… so I think in general its not a limiter for most people.
The way I read that is “I have really small hands for a guy and my best results were JUST top 50 in the world”.
So if you call up Dr. Toussaint he will tell you that you could have been much faster with bigger hands. The conclusion you draw from your personal case is not accurate. The scientific data available in the literature is.
From a coaches perspective:
I can NOT influence hand size at all, so to spend any time there is not effective.
Do bigger feet mean you can run faster?
Do bigger tires mean you can ride faster?
To try to answer your questions as they were asked. Do bigger hands mean more potential speed in the water? Presumably yes. But there are other factors that are WAY more critical. How much is your performance in the pool limited by small hands? None, IMHO. Are small hands a limiting factor for swimming? They are part…albeit a very small part, of a whole and NOT the entire picture.
All the best,
DaveD