To be fit and strong is great but the need for technique is better. How many times have you seen the skinny kid who gets embarrassed on the bike rides, blown away in the 5 km run time trial, cut the water like a fish? Seeing this many times when I was learning about the coaching of swimming, this made me study why these people go so well with little size or strength.
Some of the main forces that get you through the water are lift and propulsion in the free style stroke. In simple terms if you put your hand outside the car window you will notice that you get a slight lifting effect as the wind rushes by. The same principle is in effect with every time a plane flies. In a plane at level flight, the wings have a lift applied to them which is at right angles to the direction of travel hence with luck the plane will stay up.
The exact same principle can be applied to the swim stroke as your hand enters the water and you start your catch. The constant change of pitch of the wrist controlling the hand under pressure combined with the curved action of the total stroke will provide lift (by keeping you afloat) and propulsion (forward motion).
Many triathletes tend to 'strength' the water by missing the in sweep or catch part of the stroke, in practice they pull and push under the water in a straight line beside the body. The catch or in sweep needs to have your wrist constantly changing the pitch to get maximum lift and propulsion while being in a constant curved path to the mid line of the body. The elbow should be held steady till it reaches about a 90 degree bend then the shoulder muscles will start to be incorporated by pulling the whole arm back and in the starting pattern of the out sweep or push phase of the stroke.
The outward curved action of the arm as it passes the hip is in an effort to find (what coaches term) 'new water'. This 'new water' action will keep water pressure in your hand as it finishes the out sweep toward the thigh. Again the pitch of the wrist is in a constant change of pitch and is hyper flexed as it reaches near the end of its travel near the thigh. The exit and recovery of the arm are equally important at the back end of the stroke.
OK so you've completed a strong catch (in sweep), changed the pitch of the wrist again so it faces away from the body, hyper flexed the wrist and pushing away slightly from the body, now for the exit.
The elbow should rise in the water first as you will be rolled on the opposite side to allow for the recovery of the arm.
The little finger should come out first and the arm should look like it has a rope tied around the elbow and is pulling straight up so as to capture a bend and a hand pattern close to the body while the forearm swings under like a pendulum in a relaxed manner. The recovery will set up the hand entry which should be placed in line with the shoulder about 3/4 of your straight arm reach with your thumb and fore finger entering first and at an angle on 30-40 degree.
As your fingers touch the water your body rolls from the recovery phase leaving your hand to clear the water surface. It will now place and push your hand in and forward under the water as you roll your body to the side that is about to start the stroke. Your thumb is tucked in and your hand slightly cupped - and thus starting the above process all over again.
Some of the important points to be learnt here are:
The catch or in sweep, is initiated just under the water level. If your arm pushes away
from the water surface without bending first at the elbow, you will lose the catch and in effect cause a large resistance in the direction of your travel. This will slow your speed and cause you to wear out quicker.
If your wrist is not constantly changing pitch through the whole stroke you will create slippage and this will slow your forward speed and have the added effect of lowering your body position in the water, hence the lift effect will be negligible, you will sink!
The recovery sets the pattern of the whole arm movement. If it is wide of the body you will need to make some type of counter movement to equal this. This will require more effort on your part; because of the body counter movement and the extra effort of holding the arm up throughout the entire recovery phase.
So next time you're at the pool take time out to try one or two of these points it could save you from that sinking feeling...