Develop The Perfect Catch with the Pointed Arm Drill

[@Lambda25]

This is fantastic, one of the only videos to show multiple version of common mistakes rather than just some Pro doing it 100% right over and over. Many thanks to the swim team for sharing their practice sessions.

[@prathameshpatil0810]

Super thanks coach!

[@zoolzool1]

Thanks for this, and all your swim technique videos. I'm in my 30's and have started swimming for fitness and maybe competition some day. Your videos have helped me work on many of my imperfections. I self train, so, thanks for being such a great coach!

[@SwimCycleRunCoach]

Thanks for your comment Zoolzool

[@raincoastraven]

Thank you! The best part of this for me comes near the end where you say that "the move to the catch position should be non-propulsive". I interpret that to mean that immediately after entry, you are moving forward with existing momentum (and kick) - actually gliding on the 'catching' arm - until the hand and forearm have started pointing downward and are ready to engage in the pull. As a beginner, this is something I've been struggling to understand - what forces are and aren't in play as the hand and forearm move into that downward position.

[@SwimCycleRunCoach]

Hi Raincoastraven, instead of thinking of gliding think of sliding, so the hand slides into the position with a high elbow. The problem with thinking of gliding is that it implies that the arm is doing nothing, when it is always moving into position but relatively slowly. If you like, it's like sliding your arm through a sleeve when putting on a jacket, you always slide it smoothly through the sleeve or it might snag on the material.

[@fabian13333]

Thank you ser

[@gest07]

Great video! thanks. Also you explained well in the comments about "letting the arm sink".

[@flpzx]

Thanks

[@prashantkore7338]

Awesome 👍

[@feimberg]

Amazing video

[@SwimCycleRunCoach]

Thanks!

[@cantosoares]

O snorkel seria o utensílio mais apropriado para aprenderem a posição correta da braçada...

[@judypolstra]

Can't wait to try this today!

[@SwimCycleRunCoach]

Let us all know how it goes.

[@judypolstra]

WONDERFUL!! My husband even notice a difference in my freestyle stroke. Thanks, Coach! I will be watching more of your swim videos.@@SwimCycleRunCoach

[@batlin]

That catch position makes me think of bridging over an awkward ball in snooker. Could you explain more about getting into that catch position in a "non-propulsive" way? Do you mean, letting the arm sink by itself into that position from a forward extension, rather than pushing it down forcibly? At what point should that happen during a normal stroke, or does it depend on how fast you're trying to swim?

[@SwimCycleRunCoach]

batlin yes, exactly right, giving your arm time to sink into the catch position without making it a propulsive move. You can think of it as having a Swiss ball just in front of your arm and resting your whole arm on the ball before making any move backwards. The snooker analogy works but, in my experience (and I used to sell snooker tables in a past life) it always involves tension in the whole arm.

[@batlin]

@@SwimCycleRunCoach thanks! I went for my daily swim this morning and indeed found that pretending to do the snooker bridge soon caused tension in my wrist, elbow and fingers. Your tips here and about balance and rotation on another video have been very helpful -- apparently I beat my previous PB for 1km swim by 86.5 seconds today.

[@carlosd.2416]

HI coach, I would like a clarification about the depth of the catch: I feel that the entering hand and arm entering at 30-45 degrees give me more lift to the body and more stabilization , however, it puts the elbow in a lower position. I can always lift the elbow during the catch at the same time as moving forearm vertical. The other movement is enter at 30 degrees, but immediately place the arm in the horizontal closest to the surface, this way the elbow is already high. for the catch. Which one of these two is more functional. Positioning arms horizontal, hands close to the top is more applicable for speed and the other for long distance? Thank you,

[@SwimCycleRunCoach]

Carlos D. There is no perfect catch, however the aim is to get as much surface area creating force in a backwards direction as possible. So we start with a 90 degree catch with the elbow on the surface as the aim for distance swimmers. As the angle becomes less the upper arm tends to be lower, to act as an increase in surface area. For sprinters this can become extreme, but you need a lot of shoulder strength to carry this off successfully.

[@carlosd.2416]

SwimCycleRunCoach Hi. If the entering arm ends up being horizontal with hands close to the surface, the elbow will already be in a high position, however if entering arm glides 30-45 degrees angle, the elbow will need to be lifted in conjunction with forearm dropping vertical , otherwise, I could not see the “2 smiling faces” that you suggested on the clip perfecting the front crawl... In which state are you located? Thank you

[@lazycat7566]

How high should the elbow be?

[@Musik824]

Your elbow should be higher than your hand , which is attained by leading with your elbow in the recovery, and that can be mastered with the zipper drill or spearing with your hand downward. Someone please correct me if i'm wrong .

[@grzesiek1x]

can i bend my wrist a little bit or it has to be all the time in line with the forearm when I start the catch ? is it a mistake ?

[@SwimCycleRunCoach]

grzesiek1x you will probably bend your wrist, but don’t try to. If you try then you tend to flip the hand down, missing the catch.

[@grzesiek1x]

Thank you for your answer :)

[@aboled]

Thanks for the video. my question is how can you increase your propulsive force? Is there a way you can measure it? my other question is i read that pulling in a straight line is not recommended because you cannot propel yourself by pulling or pushing moving water. So, they recommend looking for still water using the S curve. I'd like to hear your opinion on this matter. thanks.

[@SwimCycleRunCoach]

There is force measuring equipment out there but they generally belong to university sports departments. However, you increase your propulsive force by accelerating your stroking arm throughout your stroke, so the fastest your arm moves is at the back end of your stroke. If you do that you should feel an acceleration - or surge - as you finish your stoke. Practicing an S curve is generally frowned upon nowadays. The S movement happens naturally as your body rotates, if you think about making an S you will over-compensate and your stroke will be less efficient. Rotate well and pull straight back and you will get the slight S that you need. Again, a video I'm making today may just be of help.

[@aboled]

Thanks. looking forward to to the new video.

[@liadbar-el8570]

aboled I have always tried getting out of the conventional box of doing things in the water and tried to do a stroke of only moving forward. I took apart the 5 aspects of the stroke - reach, grab, pull, push, recover - and tried not to push water in the "reach", not to enter the water with a palm flat hand which traps bubbles and looses power but enter the water with a side hand ready for the "grab", to not lift the arms above the head to save power/time and to "reach" and "push" at the same time with shoulders NOT PARALLEL thus using the muscles on the whole side of the body. Rotate, yes. I have seen a lot of dancers swimming with locked shoulders with puts all the power/stress on the arms.

[@JEROMELEE09]

👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@liadbar-el8570]

I disagree with the pointing down of the hand and arm. This part of the Ferris Wheel concepts in physics which wastes about 30 - 50 percent of the power of the stroke - 25% of the power up front pumping the body up and 25% of the power in back pumping the body down. I heard a coach say "swim like you are climbing a rope."

[@SwimCycleRunCoach]

Liad Bar-EL the arms move more like a conveyor belt than a Ferris wheel so your analogy is faulty. It’s not like climbing a rope, mor like pulling yourself up onto the top of a flat surface, trying to get your forearms to grab as much of the surface as possible.

[@liadbar-el8570]

SwimCycleRunCoach thanks for your reply. Just as a matter of physics and after trying it in the pool along with comments from others, I have tried to not reach deep at all but to actually keep the arms not to the side but in front and parallel to the body thus alleviating pumping water in the front/back ends which creates drag and alleviates the break in power of moving the body forward from raising the arm as the stroke leaves the circular pattern to perform the "push" near the hips. Hey, I am only an amateur. What do I have to loose by doing things different?😁

[@IamMagsB]

too much going on...