Comments on: Want to Swim Faster? Don’t Close Your Fingers

By: Fred Burnett

Fred Burnett — Mon, 13 Feb 2017 21:29:00 +0000

I am by no means an expert on this, but this article would be confusing for someone who is just now understanding this conept…As I understand it…when you reduce drag, you increase speed…so why does the article above state….”freestyle swimmers are most efficient when they swim with fingers slightly apart, as this swimmer shows.” and then it reads…

…”This is how a 10-degree separation looks.

Physicists using 3D-printed plastic hand and arm models in a wind
tunnel found that the model with its fingers spread 10° CREATED THE MOST DRAG because the slight opening between the fingers still obstructed
air flow.”

…then the article switches back to….

“Though the subject under study was swimming, they performed this
experiment in a wind tunnel rather than a pool to avoid the influence of
surface waves. Because fluid dynamics follows the same principles as
aero dynamics, they’d have reached the same conclusion in water.

The researchers calculated that a 10-degree finger spread COULD BOOST A SWIMMERS SPEED by 2.5% compared with swimming with fingers pressed
together.”

I thought maybe this should be mentioned for those who are trying to grasp the concept fully. In no way am I trying to be a…”know it all”/ “nit picky” editor…I just want to help out.

This is still great information. If I would have been taught this when I was competing I know I would have had many more medals and ribbons with my name on them.

Thanks for the great info.

By: Dave Davenport

Dave Davenport — Sat, 10 Dec 2016 14:52:00 +0000

Lucky you!!

By: KearneyHimself

KearneyHimself — Wed, 07 Dec 2016 13:16:00 +0000

Being a geriatric recreational swimmer, I never sprint! But I do try to avoid injuries that take longer to heal with advancing age.
I have been kicked by breaststrokers (even from the adjacent lane) hit almost anywhere by backstrokers with no sense of direction and have even had my goggles kicked off by a maniac wearing enormous fins! However, I can say with absolute certainty that I have never injured a finger when swimming.

By: Dave Davenport

Dave Davenport — Tue, 06 Dec 2016 16:05:00 +0000

You certainly shouldn’t be going next to the lane ropes but occasionally it happens . When it happens you certainly want to reduce the chances of digit damage – keep closed fingers when in narrow lanes
Long slow full rotations are good for 10k plus swims but for shorter sprint type races (1500m etc) try rotating less KH and your speed will definitely increase.

By: Peter Hendriks

Peter Hendriks — Tue, 06 Dec 2016 00:08:00 +0000

This is a question that comes up very frequently during our Workshops and Private Lessons.
What I have found is that when I keep my fingers together that it takes effort and the mere effort of keeping the fingers together tenses up the muscles in the forearm…. adding resistance to the water we are trying to move through. Relaxing the fingers on the other hand also relaxes the muscles in the forearm and makes it easier to move through the water as our arms move to full extension.
When we catch and hold the water our forearms “tone up” or are engaged as we use that same resistance to press the water backwards.
I try to keep things simple…. Everything going forward should be relaxed.. Everything going backwards should be engaged and toned until released.
TI Coach Peter

By: KearneyHimself

KearneyHimself — Mon, 05 Dec 2016 13:38:00 +0000

OK, slight exaggeration! But over the top of the shoulder, otherwise you will be trying to roll one way and the weight of your arm will be tending to pull you back again. Certainly shouldn’t be going anywhere near lane ropes or swimmers going in the other direction.

By: Kirill

Kirill — Mon, 05 Dec 2016 11:45:00 +0000

“recovery is over the top of your head” – this sounds like overrotation, no ?
I mean, it takes enormous focus and core muscles work to stay “flatter” and swing sideways, at least this way I can achieve recommended 35-45 degrees body rotation(and not more!).
With that said, I do agree with relaxed fingers, especially on recovery and in tiny moment of “skate”.
When I press back, fingers do stay apart, but they are definitely not relaxed. (well, at least not the same way as during recovery).

By: Inge Nordsteien

Inge Nordsteien — Sun, 04 Dec 2016 22:18:00 +0000

Luckily, for us there are other engineers out there with CFD-tools (Computational Fluid Dynamics) combined with an interest for swimming. The finding in this analysis indicates that the optimal finger spacing is a passive spacing. Please see link: http://www.albertominetti.it/albertominetti.it/Theor_Loco_Blog/Entries/2009/6/9_The_optimum_finger_spacing_in_human_swimming.html

TI-Coach Inge

By: KearneyHimself

KearneyHimself — Sun, 04 Dec 2016 18:48:00 +0000

If your fingers are catching in the lane ropes, you are not swimming the TI way. Try rolling around your body axis so that recovery is over the top of your head, rather than swinging your arms out sideways. Less work and makes it easier to breathe without lifting your head out of the water.

By: Dave Davenport

Dave Davenport — Sun, 04 Dec 2016 10:15:00 +0000

I hate swimming with fingers relaxed. They start to wobble and vibrate and totally put me off concentrating on important techniques that REALLY affect performance. So plus 2.5% added to minus 5% is not going to improve my performance. Also I train in fairly narrow European lanes and the chances of catching lane ropes or swimmers hands are quite high and fingers together is a very sensible training strategy to avoid damaged digits. I too am a physicist but am not yet convinced by the researchers conclusions. Water is not the same fluid as air. They have NOT controlled their confounding variables. An interesting discussion raised once more