Arm recovery I

[Janos]

John, you are on your side when you do the underswitch drill. With, say, your left arm extended. Right arm is by your side, and you are propelling yourself with a gentle flutter kick.

Recover right arm close to your body trying as hard as you can to decrease drag as much as possible. Extend it past your face and forward. As you increase the extension you body automatically starts to rotate. Your shoulder is dropping as you extend, this is the first part of the rotation.

As you do this, your other arm should be dropping into the catch position. When your lead arm is fully extended the gentle force you have applied and the dropping of the shoulder will send you forward. Now is the time to fully form the catch and use the rest of your rotation and hips to back up that bit of momentum you have created.

You can leave the two beat kick for a while or until until you practice this whole stroke. The flutter will maintain a steady pace to the drill. You are just trying to replicate the feeling of whole-stroke with this drill, so you know what to look and feel for when you do the proper stroke.

Persevere with the drill, as when you start to get the hang of it, you understand exactly what it is that you are trying to achieve, and the fact that for TI, reducing drag and mastering balance really is everything. Only when you get that feeling of effortless propulsion can you start to exploit the advantages for smoother swimming and a lower stroke count.

[johynr]]]]

Thanks Janos.

[CoachStuartMcDougal]

Originally Posted by johynr]]]

Another question regarding the spearswitch/underswitch drillls ...

Should I be trying to coordinate a 2BK with them or just use a flutter kick throughout?

Hi John,

Like Janos noted, don't worry about 2bk, just the spearing arm moving forward tied with rotation. But you do want to time the kick (down) with rotation since if you kick on the wrong leg as you spear forward, it will inhibit rotation and cause hips legs to sink. In skate, moving recovery arm to froward position (now often referred to as 'pre-switch'), hand just in front goggle line, recovery elbow or humerus points 90 deg to pool bottom - you will have a gentle flutter kick. Pause for a moment in this position with flutter kick, feeling stable, level. When spearing forward with recovery arm rotating to opposite side skate, a gentle kick down with leg opposite recovery/spearing arm should fire aiding rotation, connecting the whole body, i.e. right arm spearing forward, left leg kicks down. Then return to using a gentle flutter in the opposite skate position. The 10 lesson DVD and Ultimate Freestyle DVD/eBook describes/illustrates the Spear Switch best. Watch this in video so you have a good visual and rehearse the dryland version before attempting in the pool.

Stuart
www.mindbodyandswim.net

[johynr]]]]

Thanks Stuart.

I'll have a good look at lesson 10 before I go to the pool tomorrow to practice.

[Talvi]

Originally Posted by Tom Pamperin

... I never thought to compare the swimming recovery to rowing (I'm a small boat sailor/rower), but now that you've said it, the similarities seem obvious. Another way to understand it all!

Indeed.

FWIW I think a lot about my walking when I walk - balance symmetry weight transfer etc. I find running less challenging and easier somehow to find fluid movement. Anyway, tonight in the supermarket, and walking back up the drive, I finally discovered "recovery" in my walking. I've been looking for it for a few weeks now (actually months but that's embarrassing to admit!)!! My idea has been to focus on how my feet were leaving the ground and returning more than on how I am landing on the ground. What I found tonight is the uplift of the pelvis at the point of "release" (the moment the ball of your foot leaves the ground). This upward movement is the recovery phase of walking and the sweet thing about it is that it drives a better .... timing!! The hip/pelvis lifts the foot up and away from the ground just s the lead foot begins to receive the weight. It's very hard to describe or achieve, just as its corollary in swimming is. The "recovery" movement continues symmetrically with increasing load on the lead foot together with transfer of CoG and lift off of the back leg.

ZT's comment about it "not all" coming down to recovery, is a tautology of course. The point I was making is that the recovery INFORMS the rest of the stroke. It is just like the conductor of an orchestra. It doesn't actually play a part at all, and yet still it plays the key part!

FWIW I've found a ballastic role for the recovery arm to be more of a feel thing than a reality as any throwing energy is countered by an equal and opposite force (Newton). Personally I find the feeling to be quite subtle when I begin to get the movement better, more than something of a central focus, but that's probably because I am aquatically challenged! When I actually start to throw my arm froward it doesn't help at all, but when I feel the throwing movement (like rehearsing bowling an off-break) it meshes in well with the kayak and oar awarenesses of my shoulders and arms.

:)