Good Catch and Pull from the Front

These video frames are from my favorite DVD for illustrating efficient freestyle technique:
Go Swim Freestyle with Karlyn Pipes-Neilsen from Go Swim Productions LLC.

The swimmer's elbow is never very far from the surface. She gets hold of the water very early in her stroke, with her hand and her entire forearm. Looking at a video clip of an efficient swimmer like this head-on, frame by frame, you will see the hand and forearm perpendicular to the direction of travel in many frames. She is holding the water with that entire surface - from fingertips to elbow - while moving toward the camera, pulling her body over that spot in the water. Other things to notice:

• Her head is down, but not totally submersed.
• Her eyes are looking straight down at the bottom of the pool in the first three shots; in the last two, she is beginning to rotate her head to her right side to breathe.
• Her upper body rotates to about 45° to the side. Her hips rotate more than that (which you cannot see very well from this angle).
• Her kick is very compact. Head-on, you rarely see a foot outside the shadow of her body.

See also:
   Good Catch from the Side
   Good Pull from the side

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