- Would you like to swim faster?
Of course you would.
Well, one of the best ways to do that
is to focus on high elbow swimming.
But what on earth is high elbow swimming?
Well, it's a phrase that we hear time and time again
and for a very good reason might we yet.
So what does it mean exactly?
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High elbow swimming is referring to
the catch phase of the front crawl stroke,
and this catch phase starts as the hand enters the water
at the front of your stroke,
and the aim should be to keep a strong and high elbow
as we catch and push down upon the water
before transitioning into the pool phase.
- Now you might have an absolutely perfect
front crawl kick, brilliant rotation,
and a beautiful-looking over arm recovery,
but if you haven't quite managed to get the catch right,
the rest can all fall apart.
Now, admittedly, this is a very hard action,
and we are far from perfect on this one.
So we're going to be breaking it down to help you,
and we're going to start off by explaining
the importance of the catch.
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- Well, the catch does a number of extremely useful things.
It provides lift in our stroke.
In other words, it stops us from sinking.
That therefore reduces our surface area
and drag in the water which makes us faster.
- You also might see, without a good catch,
a swimmer being a little bit stop-start in their motion.
Because if they're missing the catch,
they'll then suddenly start to accelerate
as they get to the pull phase,
but then start to decelerate again
before their next catch kicks in.
So not only is it going to be a very stop-start,
sort of inefficient way of swimming,
you'll also end up working quite a lot harder
to make up for that loss of speed
at the beginning of the stroke.
- Yeah, and the high elbow also puts us
in a position of power.
Now, if you do allow your elbow
to drop below your hand or your wrist,
you'll actually really struggle to apply any force.
Pop that elbow above the hand or the wrist,
and it's far easier.
Now, to put this into some perspective,
try getting out at the pool
with your elbow below your hands or your wrists.
It's really quite hard.
Pop your elbow above and you'll find it much easier,
and the same principle applies in the swimming pool, too.
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Okay, it's pretty clear how important
having a high elbow catch is,
so let's look at how to implement it.
Your hand should enter the water in line with your shoulder.
As you extend your arm forward,
this is the point at which you should begin your catch.
Ideally, we're looking to start this
just an inch or two below the surface of the water,
but this is something that I've definitely fallen
out of the habit of doing myself.
So to initiate the catch,
you should push down upon the water whilst lifting
your elbow above your wrist to apply the force.
And this is something that should feel natural
as you start to put that pressure down.
If it helps, I was always told to imagine
that you're trying to wrap your arms over a barrel.
As you push down, maintain that high elbow.
The hand will start transitioning
from pushing down to the bottom of the pool
to pushing backwards.
And this is when we enter the next phase,
the pull phase, where it still becomes important
to keep that high elbow position.
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Now, it's easy to fall into the trap of overreaching
because you're thinking so hard
about the front part of the stroke,
trying to get a really smooth entry and gliding.
Well, that glide can actually make it
more difficult to keep your high elbows.
You're so extended at the front,
when you come into the pool,
you'll find your elbows actually allow you
to drop even more.
- But one of the main reasons that many of us struggle
to get a good catch and a nice high elbow
is due to a lack of feel for the water.
And I know that sounds very wishy-washy,
but it is an actual thing.
So when our hand enters the water
and we want to initiate this catch and get that high elbow,
we need to have a good purchase of the water.
If we don't have confidence
or feel for the water at this part of the stroke,
it makes things very difficult.
So we can use the scull draw.
This is really good because it works on literally just that
as well as using and activating some
of the arm and shoulder muscles to help this action.
So to perform it, I would recommend you pop
a pull buoy between your legs to keep your body afloat.
Start with your arms outstretched, shoulder width apart.
Then, scull outwards around a foot to either side.
Try to keep your arm straight
with a slight flex in the elbow.
Then, scull back in towards the center.
Now, I always describe it as
if you're trying to split a pile of sand
and then bringing the sand back together in the middle.
If you need to, pitch your hands ever so slightly
to aid that propulsion,
but try to keep your legs as still as possible
so that all the work is coming from your arms.
(soft upbeat music)
- Following on from this feel for the water,
another good method is to pop on some hand paddles.
Now, these will increase the surface area
and actually make it harder for you to get the catch wrong.
So as a result, they'll actually encourage you
to keep your elbow high.
And then hopefully when you do remove the paddles,
you can continue to swim with this good form.
- Finally, another favorite drill of mine to help this
is the doggy paddle.
Again, it's a nice way of breaking the stroke down
and really focusing on this high elbow.
Again, I always suggest popping a pull buoy in for this.
I also like to keep my head above the water,
so that I can relax, breathe, and look at what I'm doing.
Keep looking straight ahead.
Extend your hand underneath your body.
Focus on catching just beneath the surface of the water,
and work on that high elbow
and a nice smooth catch as you do this.
As one arm catches and pulls,
bring the other recovering arm back underneath you
to the front of the stroke to start the next catch and pull.
- Well, do let us know
how you get on with your high elbow swimming.
And if you've got any questions after any of this,
make sure to let us know in the comment section below.
- Yeah, and if you've enjoyed today's video
and picked up some useful tips,
then don't forget to hit that thumbs up button.
If you'd like to see more videos from GTM,
we've got loads along these sort of lines,
you can subscribe to channel by clicking on the globe.
- And if you want some more help with some rotation
when it comes to your freestyle,
well, we've got a video with three drills
just on that down here.
- Yeah, if you'd like to see more on freestyle
or front crawl body position,
you can see a video on that just here.