POWER!

There are so many different parts to a swimming stroke.  It can generally be broken down to a kick and a pull, but those can also be broken down.

Today, I'm going to talk about the very last part of the pulling process.  It is sometimes referred to as the "finish" or the "follow-through".  It is the part of the stroke that entails the extension of the elbow and is dominated by the triceps.  It takes place between the bent elbow (underwater - half-way through the pull) and the finished stroke (fully extended arm towards the feet).  This movement is shown in the picture below.

Why is it important?  This part of your stroke - the extension of the elbow - provides you with a great amount of power and propulsion.  By now you know that propulsion-->more yards per stroke-->more efficient swimming-->faster swimming.  Many swimmers do not focus on this part of the stroke and their arm exits the water too soon. This wastes a lot of valuable water that needs to be pulled in order to get the most out of each stroke. Don't want to do that!

What strokes is it important for?  All of them!  This technique applies to all four strokes - butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle.  We talked about how it is important on freestyle already.  The finish of the pull is used every stroke in butterfly for the same purpose: propulsion. Only in butterfly it occurs with both arms on each stroke.  For backstroke, the finish of the stroke is the same movement, but you are obviously on your back.  The finish in backstroke is important for propulsion as well as to help rotate the hips.  In breaststroke, the only time that your stroke finishes all the way to the full extension of the arm is during the underwater pullouts.  If you focus on putting the majority of your energy into this part of your pullout, you will get the maximum distance without having to sacrifice any speed.

How can you work on it?  Focusing on finishing to the end of the stroke is the only way to perfect this technique.  A very good and effective drill to work on this is to think about brushing your thumb to the outside of your thigh at the end of every stroke.  This will ensure that you are finishing your stroke to the very end and not wasting any part of your pull.  It is a drill that doesn't sacrifice much speed so you can go ahead and do it whenever you swim.  After a while, like any repeated movement it will become a habit.


Here is a short workout.  It is designed to work on maximizing the effectiveness of your stroke.
Warmup: 200 swim, 200 kick, 200 pull
                4 x 50 build speed each 50 @ 15" rest
Drill set:  8 x 50 (2 of each stroke) @ 30" rest - focus on finishing to the end of your pull
                4 x 50 (1 of each stroke) @ 30" rest - maximum distance per stroke
Main set: 2 x 200 free @ 1' rest - count total amount of strokes; 2nd 200 take less strokes
Cooldown: 200 easy back/free
Total Yards: 2000