How much "pull" do you put into each stroke?
117
Member
1016 days
sljv posted 2 years ago.
deep hard pulls where the arm bends isnt efficent.. and if your arm is too close to your chest youre not getting enough "pull"... thinknig about it right now, my arm is at maybe 110 degrees when the stroke begins and very close touching the top of the thigh when it ends. think of a questionmark with a bigger top part then bottom..
-josh
587
Member
954 days
deepbluex posted 2 years ago.
Thanks. I've been trying out different forearm angles from almost 180 degrees (straight arm) where I am basically forming a "kayak oar" out of my entire arm (keeping my hand far from my body) to around 75 degrees (bringing my hand very close to my body). I know neither extreme is efficient but finding the happy medium has been harder than I thought.
117
Member
1016 days
sljv posted 2 years ago.
sorry i should clarify. my stroke is close to 180 when it enters (i guess when it begins) and then when its perpendicular to my shoulder its at about 110 - 120.. but im also rotated so it may seem like more..
the best thing is to play around with your stroke.. ive been messin around with mine for the past 6 or 7 years and still find ways to improve
edit: also, try to find a good swimmer and ask to watch his/her stroke.. watch it out of water from the front, back, and sides.. watch it underwater from however many angles you can think of.. mimicing pro swimmer's strokes has helped my stroke a ton
-josh
If you were to measure your arm pull strength during the swim, could you equate the amount of effort to any particular weight range if you were doing pull-downs on a weightlifting machine?
I find that I can either do deep hard pulls (arm doesn't bend very much) -or- do shallower (hand doesn't go as deep downward and I bend my arm more) but quicker pulls. I can stay at the same speed in both ways. The first way gives me a slower turnover but requires more effort while the second gives me faster turnover but catches less water. Which do you favor?