Is EVF Just "So 90's" ... Auburn Coach Declares EVF Era Over

[edlevin]

Came across this interesting video of Auburn Coach Brett Hawke being interviewed while Cesar Cielo and Fred Bousquet are practicing in adjacent lanes.

http://www.floswimming.org/videos/co...nt-stroke-work

Around 2:10 he says, “We’ve gone away from the high elbow catch. It was something we worked on back in the 90’s, but now we’re moving towards more of a straight arm underneath the body.”

This would be great news! I am tired of feeling like a failure because I can't do EVF. Does this mean I can drop my elbows and actually feel I'm on the cutting edge?

By the way, Hawke's point is not about straight arm freestyle - Cielo is a bent armer - but his UNDERWATER pull, according to Hawke, is straight. Despite their different above-water recoveries, Bousquet and Cielo, he says, do pretty much the same thing underwater.

(I have not been able to find good underwater video of Cielo - so I wonder how straight his pull really is.)

[CoachJohnB]

You will still have to work on your "catch" The video you are watching is talking about the mindset of current elite sprinters in the world.

To be able to swim extremely fast like Cielo and Bousquet do with a straight arm pull, one must have exceptional body strength, super healthy shoulders and a coach to watch over them to make sure they aren't dropping their elbow.

Having seen underwater footage of both athletes, they set a "high catch" but the arm isn't bent like what swimmers have been taught for years. So, no, they don't drop their elbows.

Unless you are swimming a 50/100 free at high level in the sport, you would be better served developing a "high elbow catch"

[shuumai]

Straight-arm and dropped-elbow is not the same thing. I think a dropped elbow is more like a reverse spear switch. Maybe like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsH2d8_jrdw

A straight-arm catch might start straight, but usually the elbow bends as the stroke progresses and the body rolls.

I don't think I've seen a fully straight-arm pull.

Oh, last night I was working on high-elbow breaststroke. That definitely makes a difference. I was also doing high-elbow doggy paddle.

BTW, Phelps was playing with a straight-arm recovery during the final few metres of a couple races he was in. He won them, but that's just Phelps.

[pinda]

Since we are talking about EVF; should i actively try for EVF or should i let my arm fall into EVF?