Problem: Straight-Arm Stroking

Top row: Problem swimmers. Bottom row: Elite distance swimmer.

Don	Kevin	Mike
Elite Swimmer: From start to end of stroke, his elbow is never very far from the surface. He gets hold of the water very early in his stroke with his hand and his entire forearm. Looking at his video clip head-on, frame by frame, I see his hand and forearm in many, many frames. That means that he is holding the water with that entire surface - from fingertips to elbow - while he moves toward the camera, pulling his body over that spot in the water. In contrast, in a head-on view, straight-arm swimmers only show their hand and forearm for a few frames around the middle of the storke. The rest of the time, their hands and arms are levering their bodies either up or down in the water, not forward.

What's wrong with straight-arm stroking?

The application of force is mostly in the wrong direction (up or down):

• On the first half of your stroke, you are pressing down on the water, pushing the front of your body up (not forward).
• Your hand and forearm are perpendicular to your direction of travel for only an instant, (providing the best hold on the water and maximum propulsion).
• On the second half of your stroke, you are pushing up towards the surface, pulling your lower body down in the water (not forward).

Most of the work is being done by small muscles:

• With a straight-arm stroke, you are making a large circular motion using your relatively small shoulder muscles for most of the movement.
• Your much larger, more powerful and more efficient pecs and lats are mostly unused.
• You can confirm this out of the water - stand up and perform your swimming motion with one arm, using your other hand to determine which muscles are being used.

Here is a sequence showing how an expert swimmer looks from the start of the catch to the end of the stroke:

From start to end of stroke, her 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 this video clip head-on, frame by frame, I see her hand and forearm in many, many frames. That means that she is holding the water with that entire surface - from fingertips to elbow - while she moves toward the camera, pulling her body over that spot in the water.

Other things to notice:

• Her right hand is almost fully extended before she begins the pull with her left hand.
• Her eyes are looking straight down at the bottom of the pool - not forward.
• Her head is deep in the water.
• Her kick is not extending very far out of the shadow of her body.
• Her shoulders do not rotate very much (but on shots from the side you will see that her hips rotate to almost 90°).