EVF - video of progress over 2 years

[CoachEricDeSanto]

I did something like this when I was trying to figure out Terry's patient catch and light touch on the catch concepts. The only difference was that i did this during Zen skate.

The only way I could slow my catch and still anchor before the rotation was to catch as the recovering arm was moving from thigh to entry point. So I did zen skate with setting the catch. As I moved to zen switch and full stroke I found a very light pressure on my forearm during the catch.

The last hurdle this caused for me was difficulty moving from a forearm dominated movement (catch) to a body dominated movement (switch) without a pause or gap in forearm pressure. (I believe the pressure on the forearm should gradually increase during catch and anchor phase.) For this I used close focus and a few lengths of naked paddles. For those who have not tried this, it is paddle swimming with no straps at all. You grip the sides of the paddles during the recovery and let go as soon as you finish the stroke and initiate the catch. With no straps, you must smoothly transition from catch to rotation.

What I noticed, and what I am still trying to analyze whether I believe it is really a good thing, is that I began my rotation based on the wide track of my recovery just a hair before I kicked. This took a huge amount of pressure off my shoulder and greatly reduced the effort needed to hold any given stroke length/rate combo. My kick happens as my anchor is around my head/shoulder where it feels much more powerful. It feels like swinging on a swing. On a swing, you put your body into the motion just a hair after you begin to drop. (I always took my high school athletes to a playground to teach this one.)

As a side note, I have since gotten new timing ideas from Coach Dave which may fit Terry's patient catch more directly by setting the catch as the rotation is happening then finishing the "pull" after the rotation. I am trying to see how that affects my swims.

[madvet]

If you notice in the freeze frame where the forearm is vertical, the thumb is slightly forward. That is the point I was trying to make.

And the first "mistake," where the hand goes outside the elbow, the thumb is slightly back.

If you exaggerate the thumb forward, you end up like the second mistake where the hand crosses over.