Underwater Pull or Catch ...

[seungew]

... hey janos, I've often had that wide ladder feeling as well when doing the catch. That is a GREAT way to articulate it. Relating back to my earlier posts I find myself attempting to memic these actions on try land and it looks pretty goofy sometimes walking down the street..... well my wife knows i'm a geek anyhow :P

[Janos]

There is no shame in being a TI geek, we are an exclusive group!

[chunky]

I just spent the last 5 minutes practicing my catch in front of the computer screen. Today rather than go shopping I spent time in the motel room practicing the catch too. I was in shopping nirvana, 3 hours away from home, and all I could think about was a) it was raining, darn can't go to the pool! and b) I hate it that I left my suit at home, darn can't go to the pool!

I am glad that I am not the only TI geek around *big grin*

[Janos]

Hey Chunky, you may be a a mere lightweight! withdrawal symptoms are an occupational hazard for TI swimmers :-))....when you break the coffee table at home because you were lying on it practising your recovery, or you do the 'TI monster mash' in front of the mirror, then you know you have real TI issues!

[Rhoda]

When I swim really slowly, I find that weight shift has a lot to do with my catch. As my recovering arm starts to get towards my head, and my body starts to rotate down towards the other side, and my body starts getting flat in the water, that's when the catch occurs. My arm becomes sort of like a hook, snagging the water. The hand goes down before that stage, the pressure on the forearm has already started, but that is the moment when the arm actually "catches". Not a great way to describe it, but it's as if that's the only moment that all my weight gets behind it.
Yeah, I practice on doorways too. I tell people it's a workplace repetitive strain prevention exercise. :D

[seungew]

... hey ti pals,

my first video upload (braving the camera ..:P )

here i am lying on the living room coffee table practicing my dry land catch. Does this look right? Any feedback would be great

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPfvjO93XzM


... by the way, you can't see him but i have my faithful dog Charlie anchoring me with his lazy Sunday nap so that I don't go shooting forward.

[Janos]

thats where they went wrong with the VASA trainer...no Charlie!

On a more serious note. Your catch movement looks ergonimcally correct, but in practising like that, you run the risk of pulling, and not catching.

When you swim, you are actually travelling forward looking to catch the viscosity in the water with your catch. It is a very subtle feeling and needs to be cultivated with less coffee table and more pool time! So, the actually movement is correct, and it is wise to work the muscles involved, but don't go too mad with the resistance work. I have a theory that it may be better to do the exercise forward and backward. The backward part being the opposite way you are currently doing it. As you need to control that shoulder joint to stay still when you catch.

[andreasl33]

When in the water, your body is rotated to the side, when doing the catch. This is a major difference between dry-land and water.

[seungew]

Thanks Janos & andrea for your comments :)

Yeah -- I'm definitely convinced too that the Vasa Trainer's weakness is the lack of a tubby Chocolate Lab to anchour you :P

I quite agree that that dryland exercise should only be used to help the muscles remember the pull / catch movements in the water. Good point about the catch being executed when the body is on the side too. Sometimes I do the dry land standing up so I can turn to the side slightly so that I can feel it in my lats & upper arm. I usually do 2 swims a day and most of the time I can't wait to hop back in the water. I have to admit though after a few minutes with my rubber bands yesterday, todays swim sessions felt AWESOME. I was rolling to air effortlessly and really feeling the catch pull my body on its side through the water like a blade. I didn't get tired until the 1200m mark. LOVE IT!

Oh how I miss my lifeguard days where I use to swim for free :)

[aerogramma]

First of all thanks to everyone for the excellent thread

After failing spectacularly at converting even the best metaphors in swimming practice, today I tried to look for clues elsewhere.
I concentrated on how the water felt to me during catch and recovery.

Here's what I felt:

- In one catch position I could feel a sensible amount of water travelling and impacting on my upper tights, very clearly. It felt there was quite a bit of effort and I can sustain it easily for 45 minutes.

- In another catch position I could feel the mass of water shifting more at my side. In way it felt easier, less amount of force required, but probably a bit more exacting on the shoulder joints and different muscles of the shoulder blade used. I think I was also a bit faster.

What do you think? which one looks like to be the more correct?