- Today I'm at Team Bath and I'm going to be talking you
through the pool phase of the front crawl stroke,
which is the propulsive phase of the stroke.
This is simply the part in which your hand and your arm
are pulling against the water directly beneath our bodies.
And if you get this part of the stroke right,
it can completely transform your stroke,
making it both easier and faster, however,
it is quite a complicated part of the stroke to get right.
So today, I'm going to be running you through it
step by step.
(energetic rhythmic music)
Previously on GTN we have covered the catch phase
and the rotation of the front crawl stroke.
And today, we're going to be honing in on the phase
directly after the catch, the pool phase.
And as I've mentioned already, this is a really important
part of the stroke because this is the part of the stroke
that really helps to propel us forward.
Now to help me explain this better, more easily today,
I'm actually going to do a non-swimming action.
It just makes it slightly more relatable
and easier to understand.
And it's probably an action most of you really
look forward to, it is getting out of the swimming pool.
Now, let me demonstrate.
I'm going to put my arms wider, my hands wider,
than my shoulder width, and try and get out of the pool now.
(grunts)
It's really, really hard work, near impossible.
Now how is this relatable?
Well if you've been told that you pull with quite
a wide arm angle or you're outside of your shoulder width,
then you're gonna struggle to apply the force.
Whereas, if I demonstrate now with my hands
within my shoulder width, got my arms at around
a 90 to 100 degree angle, 120 degree angle.
I try and pull myself out, it's much, much easier.
It's a much stronger position.
Equally, if you're someone that drops your elbow
during the pool phase or you've been told that you do,
then you could also be losing considerable power.
Again, if I demonstrate, if I drop my elbow
as I'm trying to pull myself out of the swimming pool,
I really can't apply the force to get myself out.
And this is another really common technical mistake
during the pool phase of the stroke.
So now, let's play all together and let's do some swimming.
After entering our hand into the water first, we should
aim to catch by applying pressure down onto the water.
This maintains our body position in the water and begins
to load our arms ready for the pool phase.
With a perfect catch, you should see the elbow
above the hand as the hand presses down
and through the water.
As the hand starts to come underneath your head,
this is when you start the pool phase.
There are different teachings on this pool phase
but the one that I recommend for symmetry,
balance and efficiency is a direct pull
straight underneath the body.
This prevents any movement or snaking from side to side.
To do this effectively, you should have a slight bend
in the elbow, somewhere between 90 to 120 degrees.
As demonstrated earlier, this really allows
maximum force production.
If you're in a pool with a line on the bottom,
as I am now, and you are fortunate enough to have
a whole lane to yourself or you're in scored session,
then you can use this line to help teach this movement.
Just imagine the line as a ladder
and you have to pull yourself up this ladder.
Each hand and pull should track over this line.
Now back to our physics lesson.
It's important to remember that we're trying to push
ourselves down the pool.
To do that, the palm of your hand needs to be facing
and pushing the opposite way, at the wall behind you.
It sounds like a silly thing to point out
but when you're immersed in the rest of your technique,
it's easy to let it slip.
Now you may also have heard of some different methods
of pulling yourself through the water
on the front crawl stroke such as the S-shaped pull.
So what happens on this pull, is the hand enters the water,
pulls out to the side before coming back in
and then pulling down past your side,
almost like an hourglass shape.
Now this was taught to me as a kid when I was first learning
to swim and it's pretty good, however, what I will say is
that you don't see many of the top swimmers
or top triathletes doing this simply because
it's not really direct enough.
You're actually wasting time in the front of the stroke
and almost offloading that force that's helping
to propel you forward.
And what I will add is that with triathlon,
we'll most be swimming open water, the water is moving a lot
and you really want to make sure that
you're pulling effectively and quickly
to maximise that propulsion forward.
Now let's finish the pool phase off.
As your hand starts to pass your elbow,
you should seamlessly begin extending your arm out
while still pushing against the water.
This is another area that is so often forgotten
and neglected but without it, it can cause
serious dead spots within your stroke.
As the arm fully extends, the hand should be alongside
the hip ready to begin the recovery phase of the stroke.
We have previously discussed the rotation of the stroke
in another video and this ties nicely in
with the pool phase of the stroke.
I recommend working on the technique
of the pool phase first, mastering that,
and then moving on to learning the rotation after.
Trying to do both at once would just be a little too much.
If you are at that stage in your stroke technique
and development, then the rotation can really help
to utilise bigger muscle groups.
Without the rotation, you're predominantly hitting
the pecs and biceps.
By rotating, you can start to use the back muscles,
including the big lat muscles.
In turn, it also helps us cut through the water
by reducing our frontal area.
Nothing should change in terms of your hand position
or the angle of your arm.
When you rotate, your shoulders and hips should move in sync
and as you extend forwards to begin the catch,
this is when you rotate and whilst keeping
a strong position through your shoulder and back.
As you finish your stroke at your hip, I like to imagine
that the hand almost moves the hip out of the way
as you begin the rotation to the other side.
Now I'm back to the pool phase, there are a couple
more drills that can really help to emphasise this technique
and one of my favourites that I've used before on GTN
is the doggy paddle drill.
Okay, it sounds like a daft drill but it's actually
really quite valuable.
The doggy paddle drill essentially puts that catch
and pull into action but in a nice, slow
and controlled manner.
If you like, you can put fins on for this drill
just to make it easier and make sure that all your focus
is on nailing the drill itself.
Just keep your head up and simply perform
the catch and pull phase of the stroke
and then slide your hands back under the water
to the start of the stroke again.
Focus on pulling straight down the centre of your body
and pushing right out the back with an extended arm.
And the final drill isn't really a drill as such
but it's to swim with paddles.
It really helps promote a greater feel for the water.
It also helps to slow the stroke down
so you can really focus on the technique
and it also helps you develop a greater
and more powerful pool phase.
But do take your time with the pool phase
of the front crawl stroke.
It can be really tricky putting it all together.
So as I mentioned before, just really take your time with it
and break it down into stages.
As always, if you have any questions, please do drop them
in the comments section below
and we'll try to get back to you as soon as possible.
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If you'd like to see our video on the catch phase
of the front crawl stroke, that beginning part as your hand
enters the water, then just click down here.
And if you'd like to see our video on the rotation
within the front crawl stroke, which everyone is always
talking about, then please just click down here.