Triathlon Swimming Techniques
Some coaches will say that the “catch” is the first part of the swim stroke, that without a good catch, you’re odds of going nowhere fast increase dramatically. I’d like to propose that the opposite is true. That the catch can only happen as a result of your body position and rotation being properly set up.
Swimming Occurs in Three Dimensions
By considering the catch as Phase 1 of the stroke, you are at risk of overreaching and overextending not only the elbow but also the shoulder joint. When a swimmer focuses only on reaching forward and trying to then bend the elbow to 90 degrees, the shoulder joint is typically fully locked out in abduction and external rotation.
From this position, bending the elbow to 90 degrees and pulling results in increased forces on the shoulder joint itself and requires a great deal of strength to hold this position relative to the water. Not to mention that most people will then try to force their arm through the water in this position, adding to the repetitive stress placed on the shoulder itself. Thinking of the catch as phase one of the stroke allows for little room to consider the catch in it’s natural context, which is part of the three dimentional act of swimming.
The Three Phases of the Basic Swim Stroke
I’d like to propose that the catch is the final portion of the swim stroke. That it happens only after several other important body positions have been established.
Phase one is placing the body on an edge, like the hull of a seaworthy boat which will have two stable positions on each side allowing it to lean into the waves without tipping over. The body is first placed on it’s “edge” around 40-70 degrees of rotation. Not 90 degrees, and not zero degrees.
Phase two (whcih really happens simultaneously with Phase 1) involves the lead arm piercing the water at an angle just lateral to the center axis of the body (11 oclock and 1 oclock respectively for the left and right sides). The downward angle of the arm should be adjusted to allow the swimmer to lean forward into the armpit and buoy the hips up towards the surface.
Phase 3 involves great patience as the body should ride this stable edge as long as possible so as to not interfere with any forward motion already created. Many coaches and systems call this the “glide”.Most slow swimmers are slow because of frequent placement of body parts in a way that increases frontal surface area. Once you have reached the “skating” position with minimal drag you need to preserve as much forward motion as possible before destabliizing the vessel of your body.
Once the recovering arm begins to pierce the water (Phase 2), body rotation then begins as the recovery arm pierces down and forward (at the 11 or 1 oclock position) accompanied by a quick forward flick of the opposoite leg (also known as the 2-beat-kick or 2BK).
The Forearm Flop initiates the true Catch
At this point and only at this point, the lead arm can then gently begin an inward rotation of the shoulder accomanied by bending of the elbow so taht the forearm “flops” inward and the body skates past. This is the catch and it’s a far simpler movement than usually described. What makes it complex is the fact that it is happening in 3 dimensions and must be timed so as to not upset the fore/aft nor the rotational balance of the body when the catch takes place.
The catch and pull are the result of proper body positioning and fine attention to the movement of the lead arm, and as such, is the last phase of the stroke. As the lead forearm “flops” to the catch position, the remainder of the pull involves pressure at the elbow, not the hand, while keeping the forearm verticall aligned with the pool bottom. All the while the new lead arm is piercing the water and the body has already rotated to it’s opposite stable edge between 40 -70 degrees.
Next time you are in the pool, try implementing the “forearm flop” on one side at a time. Don’t worry initially about the pull itself, just focus on the timing of the flop. Swim a length (or half a length) focusing on only one side’s timing while not concerning yourself with any other parts of your stroke. Soon you will find that the catch becomes a much more powerful part of your stroke, leading to “free speed”.
Please let me know any comments or concerns you have about the technique I described above. If you’ve tried it, let me know how it’s feeling!
could you give pictures that describe this or underwater video in slow motion?
Thanks Stacey…see above, I’ll try to get a vid up this weekend. as far as underwater, I’m still getting my camera situation sorted out. But the dry land exercise is valuable.
That was very technical…yet I feel totally glossed!
Are there any visuals to this technique?
Jennifer, I will work on a video this weekend, thanks!
I would just like to add a couple of things I’ve learned during my high school swimming seasons the past couple years. My team got a new state champion coach this year and he has greatly improved our team to the point that we are going to 5A state as a major competitor when last year we were not even in the top 20 in 4A.
The very first thing he had us do in the pool was kicking on the wall, just like the little kids in beginning swim classes. Then we kicked a length on our stomachs rotating to the edge (40-70 degrees) with our hand at our sides like they are in our pockets. Only after we got this body positioning down did we go on to start using our arms, one at a time, while keeping the other down at our sides for the entire length. As for the forearm catch, we would swim with fists to decrease the resistance of our hands and help us feel the pull on our forearm. This building of technique made my stroke much better and made me and my team much, much faster.
I think Suzanne is completely right in saying the catch is the final step to a perfect stroke.
Good luck and remember to always have fun.
Thank you very much Chris for your input as well as the compliments!
Great Info. I tried it last night in my swim. I then came back to re-read, as my shoulder is aching pretty bad today – first time ever. I must have been doing it wrong. I will go slower and try it again this weekend.
I will try some techniques Chris shared. I think that is valuable info and will make a stronger swimmer.
Bonnie, your shoulder should not be aching from this. I will try to get that video up as soon as possible. Chris’ drill suggestions are great.
Couple more drills:
Touch and pull: I wouldn’t be surprised if you have used this before as it is fairly common. Pull from streamline with one arm at a time, keeping the other still until the moving arm comes back to touch the still hand. Then repeat with the previously still hand, so only one arm is moving at a time. Remember to use the same rotation developed with the previous drills.
Distance per stroke (DPS): This is another common drill that consists of a long glide through the water. Swim freestyle, but try to glide on that edge as long as possible before rolling to the other side. “As long as possible” doesn’t mean to a complete stop; it means as long as seems reasonable without losing momentum.
Straight arm: It’s self explanatory–swim with straight arms. Make sure not to bend the elbow through the pull AND the recovery. This helps create a long, deep stroke that will give you more distance per stroke. It may be necessary, however to retrain the forearm flop later.
One last note–I have found it very helpful remember to brush my thumb on my thigh every stroke to create a long, fully developed stroke. Do this in both drills and swimming and it will soon become a habit.
I live in a location where my only option is to swim in the open water. There are no pools around that are big enough or available for any sort of training. I have found ways to incorporate a lot of these drills into my training, but one question I have is about warming up prior to swimming. What is an effective warm up routine, especially if I am going to be exerting a lot of effort by doing these drills or swimming a longer distance that day?
Hi Steven,
Drilling should not exert a lot of effort, and in fact, many coaches will use drills themselves as a warmup. Same with swimming a longer distance…if the intensity is not that great, use the long swim itself as part of the warmup. in any other sport, athletes will spend 20-30 minutes warming up before doing any significant intensity. So in swimming, spendign 20 minutes doing low intensity stuff which includes drilling and swimming with focal points is genearally adequate for a warmup. I hope that helps!
I am fairly new to swimming, having only really started in late October 2009 (I have swam since I was 7 years old, but never for any distance). I just turned 39 this past month and made a commitment to myself I was going to participate in my first triathlon this coming July. When I first started in the pool, I literally could not go more then 50 meters without feeling like my lungs would explode. It was horrible, but I eventually increased swimming from 2 days per week to 5-6 days per week and with the goal of at minimum a 1/2 mile. I’m at the point now where about half the time I can do the entire distance without stopping, with my best time of 20 minutes…and I pretty much got to this point without any coaching or help other then an occasional item I found on the internet. Though I wasn’t able to completely comprehend everything discussed in this blog, I did utilize rotating the body at an angle and paying attention to how much drag I was creating this past week and the results were increadible. I finished my 800 meters (1/2 mile) in just over 18 minutes, and felt good enough to go another 200 meters! Not having to deal with the drag as much really made a difference in my endurance. What a great lesson.
Also…I am 5’9″ and when I started out in October I was 237 lbs. I played college football (running back) so have a fair amount of muslce underlying all the “chub”, but weighing myself today at the gym (March 4, 2010)I was under 220 for the first time in probably 16 years!
Scott, congratulations on your swim progress! I’d suggest if you havn’t already, to get the DVD “Freestyle Made Easy” from Totalimmersion.net. Save 10% by using my coupon code, “coachsuzanne”. Thanks for reading and stay in touch!
Coach,
I enjoyed the article and will try to impliment this technique on my next swim. I have struggled with the swim, particularly with body positioning which has caused me to use my legs too much and therefore tiring me out quickly. Any suggestions on proper use of the legs in swimming would be appreciated.
If you improve your body position in the water, the legs will frequently take care of themselves. I’d suggest getting the Total Immersion video, “Freestyle made Easy”. Use coupon code “coachsuzanne” to save 10% on all of their products. Look for more articles on the website about swim technique too.
I love all this great advice. Swimming is absolutely frightening for me, but I am doing it to get over my fear. I’ve signed up for a sprint tri on May 15th. I will be trying the moves in my workout tomorrow and let you know. For now, I’m just trying not to feel like I’m going to die! I can swim 200 yards in 4:15 mintues. I’m slower than tar! When I swim I feel like my legs are draggin’ behind slowing me down. So, I’m hoping these new techniqes will help. Stayed tuned. Ya never know… I may end up being a speed demon after all! If not, I’ll have to rely on my killer running and biking skills!
Super advice, it just illustrates how subtle changes can result in vastly improved performance. I found an awesome video that shows what this technique looks like in the water: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RIha8OsL9U. I found the visual demonstration extremely helpful.
Love the advise. Is there a video that was made to illustrate?
Thanks for your help.
Thank you for all of your blogs and information that you freely give. I was terrified to swim. The lifeguards were always a bit on edge with me in the pool. But now this has become my favorite part of training for my first Tri. I look forward to my swims and cant believe the improvements I see daily. Your advice and tips have been a guide for this success. I love the quote you posted on this blog. It totally reflects how I feel about swimming now. Thank you.
I also would love to see sketches or video depicting your tips. I look forward to seeing those.
Bobby, thanks for the reply! I have a lot of video of myself swimming that I’ll need to mark up and post here for you guys.
This is very technical and makes assumptions that the non-swimmer will understand the swimming lingo. I still don’t understand the catch, drag, how the arm moves under the water and what the edge means. Perhaps someone could put this in beginner’s language – yes pictures would be helpful.
thank you!
Yes, a video would be excellent. Photos too. A picture or video is worth a thousand words.
Thank u so much for the info! I would love to see your swim videos. I am so visual.
I just came across this posting this morning and was wondering if you ever posted any diagrams, sketches, photos or video? It’d be very helpful, thanks!
This seems like some really good information, Coach. But I can’t understand what half of it means. Most of these posts are from a year or two ago. Did you ever come up with a video demonstrating what is meant by the edge, catch, flop, pull, etc? I think that would be extremely helpful. Thanks!!!
all the posts dont have any date stamp. It is not possible to know how old are the comments
Dave you’re right…my last developer that I hired thought it would be a great idea to note have the year posted, and I asked him to add the dates back in…he didn’t so I’m taking it over again and updating myself. Thanks for the comment.
Hi, can you recommend any swimming emerson classes in San Diego?