Hand Entry
1127
Member
985 days
UFTriGator posted 1 year ago.
As far away from you as possible in a line directly in front of you with your fingertips pointing slightly downward. They might mean "in front of you goggles" as opposed to being out to the side a bit.
______________________________________________
-Matt
Not fast enough.
693
Member
1153 days
deepbluex posted 1 year ago.
This is a confusing one for me too. I've looked a few TI videos and it seems like they want you to have hand entry into the water just in front of your google line. As a result, you're still advancing/pushing your hand ahead of you but while it is submerged. I believe they refer to this as part of the "glide phase". It seems counterintuitive because it seems to add more drag than if position your hand further forward before water entry but i think the principle behind it is to use the hand and arm to lengthen your vessel.
15
Member
509 days
little.dipper posted 1 year ago.
Glad I'm not the only one confused. I've got my book here in front of me and it says:
'Put your hand into the water just in front of your goggles. Cut a hole with your fingers and slip your arm cleanly through that hole.'
1127
Member
985 days
UFTriGator posted 1 year ago.
My guess is that they're trying to keep people from slapping the water. I tend to drag my fingertips at or very near the surface of the water so that when I drop my hand in at the end of the recovery phase it slides in easy. Putting your hand in right in front of your face is a good way to push yourself backwards, I think.
______________________________________________
-Matt
Not fast enough.
3354
Member
1413 days
RV posted 1 year ago.
little.dipper;83842 wrote:
Glad I'm not the only one confused. I've got my book here in front of me and it says:'Put your hand into the water just in front of your goggles. Cut a hole with your fingers and slip your arm cleanly through that hole.'
I did TI awhile back - I think I remember that with having the hand/arm enter the water earlier it was to help with balance and body position - keeping a longer line. I may be wrong on that as I don't use TI any longer.
RV
It takes a long time to get good. - Scott Molina
Slow is smooth; smooth is fast. - Rich Strauss
152
Member
454 days
Gary3 posted 1 year ago.
Yes, it is in front of the goggles but make the entry and then extend the hand further out before the downward pull.
30
Member
404 days
jacmun posted 1 year ago.
In front of the goggles refers to your hand strike relative to your body line. If you strike way out to the side or swing your arm across your body you tend to develope a swinging of your entire body. This ruins efficiency and speed. The speedsters I swim with tell me they are aiming to strike their right hand on a line with the right goggle, left with left (duh) catch and pull thru to the hip. If you catch some pool camera action from an international swim meet on TV you can see the olympic level guys do this time after time. I like little.dippers analogy, push your hand out smoothly reach out without arcing the body and then cut the hand under the water surface. Happy swimming
477
Member
1344 days
geochuck posted 1 year ago.
Read theTI info or watch their video and follow the instruction, you will never become efficient.
The hand should almost be fully extended when it enters the water then reach/extend a little more but do not twist the body. To me TI is for beginners
2
Member
498 days
jcarlson801 posted 1 year ago.
geochuck;84264 wrote:
Read theTI info or watch their video and follow the instruction, you will never become efficient.The hand should almost be fully extended when it enters the water then reach/extend a little more but do not twist the body. To me TI is for beginners
geochuck, can you elaborate a little more to the advantages of having an almost fully extended hand entry vs. the shortened TI method?
I'm a new swimmer and used the TI system to get started. The Masters coach told me the same thing as you, yesterday at the end of my workout, so I'm looking to get out and see what the differences may be.
Thanks!
338
Member
455 days
cjhoffmn posted 1 year ago.
I was a bit troubled by this as well until my swim coach really beat the idea of glide into my head. I'm no expert, nor a particularly good swimmer yet, but I do seem to swim and glide much better if I let my hand enter before my arm is fully extended and let my arm push ahead under water.
I had thought about it a bit and reasoned that it makes sense because of the angle my arm and hand are making as they enter the water. If they enter earlier, they can come in at a shallower angle, and I can push ahead in a relatively straight line before I catch and begin my pull. This results in a very easy stroke for me that I can glide with quite nicely.
If I wait until I'm extended, then my hand has to come effectively straight down at the water, at a much steeper angle, also makes my arm slap the top of the water a bit. I can't then glide very well - it seems I have to start my pull immediately. For me, that lowers my strokes per lap and speed quite a bit.
When I watch really smooth swimmers, they all seem to enter at a very shallow angle. They look like they have a slow cadence, but move well in the water. Other swimmers seem to enter at a steep angle, and keep a high cadence. They can be just as fast, but it seems that its a different kind of stroke.
I'm really interested in the rest of this thread because I've been trying to figure this out myself.
To tri or not to tri - that's not a question at all!
693
Member
1153 days
deepbluex posted 1 year ago.
Hey Geo - If we don't twist our body (I guess TI calls it "rolling" our body), are you saying we should keep our body in a prone position in the water (basically bellybutton pointing straight down the whole time) and rely mostly on twisting your neck to come up for air?
geochuck;84264 wrote:
Read theTI info or watch their video and follow the instruction, you will never become efficient.The hand should almost be fully extended when it enters the water then reach/extend a little more but do not twist the body. To me TI is for beginners
477
Member
1344 days
geochuck posted 1 year ago.
Twisting is not the rolling motion we must roll. The twisting is by over extension which takes the body out of streamline. This makes the body go from side to side. It also leads to cross over strokes.
Each shoulder should be out of the water when swimming this is body roll. TI believes it is the kick that makes us roll I do not believe this. When each hand comes over I touch my ear with my shoulder, not moving the head from side to side to touch the shoulder but keeping it streamlined.
My hand enters about 15 inches past the top of my head and when it enters I extend then let it drop to the catch. At the catch is where I apply force pressing with my hand and forearm. I continue pressing past my hips then ease off slightly and touch my thigh and with shoulder roll the arm rolls out with a high elbow recovery and the fingers nearly touching the water.
81
Member
1009 days
ston_ar posted 1 year ago.
Ideally you enter with your arm almost completely extend and rely on your shoulders and hips turning to glide and stretch your stroke out farther. My fingertips hit about 6-12 inches out in front of my head, and then I fully extend my arm while rolling my shoulders and hips to about 45 degrees to extend even farther (make sure not to drop your elbow below your hand).
Also a good rotation on your freestyle is very important. Besides letting you breathe easier it helps make you more streamlined while you swim as well as lengthening out your stroke, and allowing you to use your core muscles to get more power on your pull.
634
Member
732 days
Ironmom posted 1 year ago.
I also think TI is wrong on this one, you want to enter with your hand much farther away from your head than that. Everyone's ideal entry point will be slightly different, but generally you want your arm to still be bent, so that you're not entering with your arm flat - at no time should your hand and wrist be above your elbow. But you shouldn't be entering near your goggles either, that's just plain wrong if you ask me. Watch the Olympic swimmers and look at their hand entry positions for a good basic idea of where your hand should be at.
I'd say that my hand is entering about 12" out from my head, extending to a full glide, then catching with hand and forearm and pulling back.
Blue Skies, -Robin-
http://ironmom.blogspot.com/
Can anyone set me straight on roughly where my hand should enter the water on my stroke? I'm in the process of finishing the Total Immersion book and it's explained (unless I'm reading it wrong) that the hand should enter just in front of the goggles. I've read other tips around here where they recommend a bit more of a reach before entry and any videos I watch seem like they reach more before entering. Any thoughts on this? Thanks.