In today's video, we're going to look at the last common mistake people make when they're
learning the freestyle stroke.
Let’s do a quick recap of lesson twelve before we dive into today’s lesson.
Last week we took a look at what the short finish looks like.
It’s a common problem where the swimmer doesn’t extend their arms all the way back
to finish the stroke.
The arm exits the water prematurely with each stroke.
To fix this, we did the thumb to thigh drill where we extend our arms back before exiting
the water and starting the stroke again.
In today's lesson, we're going to see the third most common problem or mistake people experience when they learn how to swim freestyle
Perhaps more common than the crossover, the bent wrist is a symptom of not relaxing your wrists while swimming
This is what it looks like
A tense and flexed wrist is not only painful, but is an inefficient way to enter the water, as it weakens the pull and makes you over exert yourself so you get tired faster
For a better catch and pull your fingers should reach out in front of you with a straight,
relaxed wrist.
When your fingers point straight down you’re essentially creating a wall against the water.
With this resistance, you’re not catching the water well enough to pull, making the
stroke inefficient.
Now that you’ve seen what constitutes the bent wrist and why swimming with a bent wrist
is a mistake let’s move onto the solution.
To fix the bent wrist problem, practice the six kick switch drill.
Here's how you do it.
Rotate your body to one side, kick on your side with your head down and one arm up for
six kicks.
After six kicks, slowly rotate to the other side while kicking and complete six kicks
on the opposite side.
Continue alternating arms every six kicks, all the way down the length of the pool.
Make sure your hand and wrist are loose and relaxed as you bring your arm over for each
rotation.
Great!
Now that you can do that while standing in the water let's try adding the kick.
This drill can be used effectively for feeling the length of the stroke, proper alignment
and relaxing the wrist.
The ability to relax your hand and wrist as your arm swings over for the next stroke enables
your muscles to recover more for the next underwater pull.
A relaxed hand and fingers are also the most optimal hand shape because it creates the
largest surface area during the pull.
Make sure to keep practicing so you get better and better!
Stay tuned for more videos.
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Thanks for watching, and we'll see you in the water!