Technique Parts of the freestyle stroke

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1. Entry- just in front of the head and just outside of your body’s centerline--as the hand pierces the water. (*It extends to the point in which YOU can handle getting into the front catch and Hold) DO not hang out here and “Glide“ !!

2. Catch- as Immediate as possible you work hard at protracting from the scapular, and getting the finger-tips downward with a straight wrist…tone in hand -and forearm,(facing backward)- hold onto the water, feeling the pressure upon the entire lower lever (you want to try to get this High elbow as far out in front of you as possible and hold onto the water) without trying to slip the arm back fast.

3. Hold; once you have locked onto the water with your catch, you begin to pull your body over that holding hand, by applying pressure backward (NOT powering it back with hard pulling strength) . Your hand should never ever be higher than your elbow or shoulder in the front part of the hold..-the upper arm (lever) stays relatively static as the lower lever initiates the hold and rearward pull as the body comes over the hand


4. Underwater pull pattern -keeping the elbow high in the water and AWAY from your side, start to drive the hip and body over the hand and let the tricep muscle start to take over the workload from the front half of the pull, where you will feel the power in your shoulder lats, and back..) (You NEVER want a straight arm that is deep reaching !)

Pull Pattern

*(The motion to concentrate on is predominantly in a backward fashion with small changes in pitch to find still water) with no more than 20 lbs of pressure upon the water.-*(you do not want to slip the arm back, rather.- You Want to hold your water and move over that spot!) ----------------

5. Finish …- the Tricep muscle group continues the strong HOLD of the water pressure and as the arm straightens out the wrist is flexed to keep the predominant backward push with some controlled force . The hand the slips quickly an d quietly out of the water in a relaxed fashion to start the arm recovery.

RECOVERY

and recovery - a relaxed and balanced recovery with a high elbow…think of this phase as “loading your arm” (like a gun) to

attack the entry