It’s just not sinking in my thick head…maybe someone here can trigger a buzz word to help me? Apparently I’m dropping my elbow. When I watch this on a Youtube instructional video it states this high elbow catch can help you achieve more of a ‘push’ in your catch rather than a pull. More efficient and less chance for injury? I’m all for that!
Any help is greatly appreciated.
Bend the elbow instead of pulling straight down and thru. Imagine you are on your stomach on a surf board paddling.
youtube Ian thorpe and Grant Hackett. Watch how their forearm/upper arm form a 90 degree angle before pulling. That is EVF at its finest.
I could run you through a series of drills that would help to teach a “high elbow” position on your catch, but I cannot think of a single “catch phrase”.
That being said I have heard the following ideas for visualizing the high elbow position;
Personally, I tend to use a series of sculling drills to get my stroke to feel “right”, including a straight arm scull, and one done with my arms bent at the elbows. These are too difficult for me to describe on a forum.
Some things are really hard to teach without a coach!
Just think of sliding your hand and arm forwards and down into the water ahead of you, as if reaching forwards over the hood of a VW Beetle, having swum forwards through the front windscreen(?)
When you reach the front fender, at full or suitable extension (reach), your fingers will be slightly lower than your wrist, your wrist slightly lower than your elbow, your elbow slightly lower than your shoulder.
When you then start your catch (attempt to hold onto the front fender and pull yourself forwards), if you can keep your elbow up above the hood throughout the pull, (or hold more accurately), then your elbow will remain high throughout your catch and hold on the water, giving your a more efficient catch.
But if your elbow drops onto the hood as you attempt to catch and hold the water, to pull yourself forwards beyond the fender, (through the water), then you lose the forearms use to hold onto the water vertically, instead dropping the elbow and putting the forearm horizontal to the surface of the water, and only catching with your hand, or not all.
Make sense?
If that doesn’t give you a picture, just think of what someone else said about paddling a surf board.
Elbow high throughout and the forearm and hand vertical at the start of the pull, and remaining vertical to pull you forward and catch the wave this time.
Contrast that with just resting your whole forearm in and parallel to the surface of the water alongside your board, and then just skimming the forearm and hand back to you side in an attempt to pull yourself forwards. It’s not going to happen is it as you are just skidding or slipping back through the water with your hand and forearm.
Get those forearms vertical!
But don’t be surprised if you apply some oomph and they drop. No need initially for acceleration or brute force, just find the VW hood position through repetition and slowly you’ll start to catch and hold more water on every stroke, slipping less and less.
If you sense that your apparent arm speed under your body after you have initiated your stroke, matches the speed of your body forwards past that arm, then you have some efficiency to your catch, but if you sense that your leading arm strokes back under you without a matching forward momentum of your body, then you are slipping, not holding as well.
And this usually happens when you breathe rather than on non-breathing strokes… Sometimes for a reason, but usually out of habit if you have cleaned up any head-lifting issues when breathing etc.
Have fun!
I never really got this until I bought the halo trainer. I really like the book that came with the bench. Made a big difference.
If you haven’t already, go to www.swimsmooth.com
Download the Mr.Smooth program. It gives you a very good visual representation of the (arguably) perfect stroke. You can view the catch from different angles and speeds. I’m by no means a great swimmer, but I’m getting a better idea of how I can improve my stroke. Its a good, free tool to play around with. Worth a shot.
One of the easiest, visual, repeatable activities to demonstrate ideal position is to climb out of the pool. Place both hands in front of you on pool deck with hands next to each other and climb out (with the usual small jump from the legs).
If you haven’t already, go to www.swimsmooth.com
Download the Mr.Smooth program. It gives you a very good visual representation of the (arguably) perfect stroke. You can view the catch from different angles and speeds. I’m by no means a great swimmer, but I’m getting a better idea of how I can improve my stroke. Its a good, free tool to play around with. Worth a shot.
Um…schwingggg! Thanks for that it answers exactly what I have not been able to visualize:) The views are awesome…nice! No wonder it felt so wrong with the path my hand was taking.
One way to get a feel for the EVF is to focus on the **elbow **instead of your forearm.
As you initiate to pull your arm down&back, try to make you elbow pop out of the water in front of your head. Of course you can’t but you can try!
That way you feel the “hinge” in your arm motion. Work from there.
I like that one…good tip, thanks!
If you haven’t seen this, watch it.
Imagine you are on your stomach on a surf board paddling.
.
Sounds silly, but my buzz word is “robot”…like the dance move
.
http://www.svl.ch/CrawlAnalysis/
Good site that may give you some insight.
What did it for me as a kid was when my coach said: “Imagine you are diving your hand and and forearm into a bucket of cement. The cement dries and all you can do is pull your body past your hand, not your hand past your body.”
(Then add 60,000 yards/week for 15 years.)
Try swimming with paddles. Swimming with a good paddle will almost force you to swim with a high elbow catch.
X2 halo swim bench
–
.
I experimented with something the other day on my catch when I was struggling with technique towards the end of my workout. Would be nice to know if I should bag this idea or if there is something to it. So many times what ‘feels’ right is NOT the correct way.
On to the point, quite simply the word ‘anchor’ dawned on this old dummy that perhaps I have been approaching my catch incorrectly. At this tired stage of my workout once I achieved my ‘best’ EVF and catch position I just thought of holding it there and my body rotated around it? I’m not too great at describing things in text so hopefully that makes sense. Rather than ‘pulling’ my arm I was holding that ‘best’ catch position and with hip drive/body rotation my propulsion was powered against that leverage of my catch position. I’m not sure why this simple though changed my stroke so dramatically, but my arms suddenly felt much less responsible for my propulsion and my body/lats felt like they were doing the brunt of the work.
Thoughts?
Yes. Not quite how I’d describe it (“rotated around it”) but I got the gist of what you’re saying…stick with it.