Improving Your Freestyle Swimming Technique
In freestyle swimming, much of your speed hinges, not only on the position of your fingers and the eddies you create with them but also on the proper movement of your hands. Emulating the technique of top swimmers can significantly enhance your performance. This guide will help you refine the position of your hands and arms.
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| Your hands help |
Hand Position and Support
Efficient swimming reduces effort and increases speed. To swim faster, your hands must generate resistance in the water, known as support. A-aron (See video below)initially understands this but focuses only on the palm, leading to slower swimming.
Importance of Forearms
Support in the water is not solely created by the hands; forearms also play a crucial role. A common swimming mistake is not using forearms effectively. The explanation involves the mechanics of levers: the further the resistance is from the fulcrum, the harder the movement. To grasp this, try doing a pull-up without bending your elbows. This principle applies to swimming, where bending the elbows makes movements more efficient.
Correct Forearm Use
A-aron’s initial technique fails because he doesn’t use his forearms to create support. Forearms should be perpendicular to the water's surface, not parallel. To help, we introduce swim paddles, emphasizing forearm use. By holding the paddles properly, A-aron feels the forearm's importance in generating support.
Motivation and Progress Tracking
When learning to swim and even when learning to swim more efficiently, many lose their motivation and contemplate giving up when they think they are not making fast enough progress.
In the video, we see A-aron loses motivation due to a perceived lack of progress. To reignite his drive, his strokes are measured per 25 meters. When he started he was taking 45 strokes, he now only needs 26, showing significant improvement. This realization renews his purpose: to complete an Ironman and honour those with unique names.
Continuous Improvement
By bending his elbows and using his forearms effectively, A-aron has improved his stroke considerably. Although there is room for further enhancement, he has already made substantial progress.
By focusing on proper hand and forearm positioning and leveraging tools like swim paddles, swimmers can enhance their technique, speed, and efficiency in the water.
Enjoy
Richard
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