Myth #6: In order to reduce the air bubbles behind your hand underwater, you must enter the hand delicately.
Many beginner swimmers are taught to enter the hand into the water just in front of their head and slide it underwater forward as the elbow extends. Or some are told to slow the hand down before it enters the water, kind of like one of those new toilet seats with the spring shock absorber on it. The reasons, I can only assume, are to try to reduce the number of air bubbles one gets when the hand pulls through the water.
Having a lot of air bubbles behind the hand reduces the amount of propulsive drag one can generate as the hand moves backward in the propulsive phase of the pull. And, if you haven’t already noticed, most of the great swimmers have little or no air and the not-so-great swimmers often have lots of air. Why?
Well, it doesn’t have to do with laying the hand in slowly or sliding it out from the head forward, because none of the great swimmers do that. In fact, quite the opposite, they move the arms/hands aggressively and quickly forward through the recovery, hurrying to get them back into the water again.
So how do they manage to get rid of the air? Good question. My old coach, Doc Counsilman at Indiana U., used to evaluate swimming talent by how much air he saw on the hand underwater. Proprioception is what he thought made the difference. Great swimmers could sense where to find and hold water…that includes getting rid of the air.
Many swimmers enter with the thumb down and roll the hand (externally rotate the shoulder) to accomplish this. Others spread or move the fingers slightly. And of course the small amount of movement of the hand in the saggital plane as the hand goes through the underwater cycle also helps.
Bottom line, as much as I hate to say it, is that one is mostly born with this ability. Just don’t try to get it by being delicate with your hand or slowing your stroke cycle, because that just leads to creating more problems than it helps.
Even great swimmers have some air bubbles. Just accept what you have and move on to the things you can control.
Bottom line, as much as I hate to say it, is that one is mostly born with this ability.
I agree with everything you say, except for this. This ability, like anything else, must be practiced over time. The more you practice, the better you get.
For example, a pianist isn’t born a great pianist. It takes many years of practice to develop the finely tuned proprioceptive and kinesthetic skills to become a great pianist.
In the same way, it takes many years of practice to develop a finely tuned “feel” for the water.
The only evidence that I know of is by comparing ‘gifted’ swimmers hands underwater to ‘non-gifted’ swimmers. There are marked differences. As an eye surgeon, I found the same thing; there were some surgeons that just had a gift and others didn’t. Oddly enough, in eye surgery, where fine motor skills are essential, it may be the same increased proprioception in the hands/fingers that enable both the swimmer and the surgeon to perform better.
I’ve been hanging out for Myth 6 and gotta say I’m a shattered man. I’m a “bubbler” and you’er telling me there’s nothing I can do
Ah well, once a bubbler always a bubbler I guess! :)
But, you are definately saying that the less bubbles the better, just don’t change your stroke and do things to try and reduce bubbling…
That’s interesting, as my main area is in running, and when teaching people to run I notice a lot of coaches advising to “run quietly” and reduce the noise of the foot slapping the ground…so what to people do - they run with an exagerated heal-toe action, as it takes away all the noise…but that is quite the opposite of what is required. I never tell people to run quietly. Yes the better runners have a light footstep and make very little noise on the ground…but you need to be running with good form to get this and that doesn’t just happen and the way to get it isn’t focussing on the noise of the foot hitting the ground…
Well lets call it anecdotal for now, though it very well may be correct, and I will forget my dreams of being an eye surgeon.
I’ll keep trying to develop a better feel for the water by trying a lot of different stroke mechanics while developing an appropriate fitness level. Who says (older) adults can’t learn to swim competently as triathletes?!
The less bubbles the better…but don’t sweat over the bubbles…and don’t try to get rid of them by being deliberate on the recovery or entry. Too many swimmers recover with stiff hands. Soften your hands, loosen your wrists and let your arms move quickly…preferable over the top, rather than around the sides on the recovery.
In his interview David Radcliff talks about his stroke and how he is still changing to improve at age group 74-79 to have an earlier catch and wider entry.
He also mentions that he has some bubbles in his stroke and maybe a more ‘catchup’ stroke and softer touch will help that.
True, but a lot of that has to do with the age when people start.
I’ve never been an AG swim coach, but I do teach swim lessons for young children.
Give me just about any 3-year-old, and I believe he can eventually be turned into a proficient swimmer. Not necessarily a fast swimmer, but one who is completely at home in the water with a great “feel” for the water.
Swimming, like most skills, has a critical period for learning. During this period, they can be taught just about anything. After this period, it becomes much more difficult to teach them, and some may never learn. But it is still possible with practice for most.
But if people don’t try, and just resign themselves to the fact that they “can’t” do something, then they definitely won’t be able to do it.
Myth #6: In order to reduce the air bubbles behind your hand underwater, you must enter the hand delicately.
Having a lot of air bubbles behind the hand reduces the amount of propulsive drag one can generate as the hand moves backward in the propulsive phase of the pull.
Gary Sr.
Gary,
I watched your videos while on the trainer today and came away with several drills I’d like to try in the pool; the videos were most instructive.
Why is it that bubbles behind the hand reduce propulsive drag?
Drag forces are much greater in water than in air. The objective is to minimize resistive drag (moving forward) and maximize propulsive drag (moving backward). Once air bubbles get trapped behind the hand, the amount of propulsive drag we can generate with our hand lessens over what we could generate in pure water. Hope this helps.
For me, a mediocre swimmer, I appreciate all the tips, but for the time being bubbles will not bubble to the top of my list of corrections I am working on for swimming since you have pointed out so many other areas I can improve with a bigger payback. I will still try to do better at bubbles but concentrate on the other areas.
David Radcliff said he he has bubble problems and is still doing OK as I think he holds all the US freestyle records now for his age group:
PHOENIX, Arizona, April 27. MASTERS swimmer David Radcliff has been on a tear this spring in the 75-79 age group, swimming under the world marks in all six freestyle short course meters events at the MSABC Provincial Championships in Duncan, British Columbia.
Radcliff, 75 years old and representing Oregon Masters, swam under the records owned by Graham Johnston in the 200, 400, 800 and 1500 freestyles (2:27.53, 5:15.10, 10:59.10 and 20:39.50). His 30.15 in the 50 free erased American Frank Piemme’s mark of 31.06 and his 1:05.13 in the 100 free was faster than Japan’s Shingo Yamamoto’s 1:10.71.
Last month at the Victoria Masters meet, Radcliff took down three long course world records.
