Smart Hands

小臭贝

This week’s Speedo Tip of the Week comes from Terry Laughlin, the head coach of Total Immersion Swimming and of the Hawks Swimming Association in New Paltz, N.Y. Laughlin offers some advice on how to use your hands while swimming.

Laughlin's Tip:
Recently while conducting a stroke clinic, someone asked me: “When stroking, should your fingers be open or closed?” Actually, that seems to be one of the few things about hands that is truly an individual choice. I’ve seen accomplished swimmers use every imaginable configuration of finger closure, from an unbroken pinkie-to-thumb surface to irregular spacing.

For instance, while watching the Olympics on TV, I noticed during the underwater footage portions that Natalie Coughlin had her fingers spread as widely as possible during the 100m freestyle, while during the 100-meter Backstroke, she had her fingers apart on the right hand and closed on her left hand. Someone might notice that and advise her to hold both hands the same way. Yet that might not be the best idea.

Several years ago, after swimming for over 30 years without giving it a thought, I realized that my right hand was closed, while my left was open. Yet I felt no difference in “grip” between the two. Thinking it might be an advantage to close the fingers on my left hand, I tried. The only result was that my left forearm was aching with fatigue within a few laps from the effort to simply hold my fingers together. So much for that experiment. But there are other aspects of how you use your hands that will make a difference in your swimming and that you’ll find worth thinking about:

Knifelike entry. When watching swimmers underwater, the arms of some are surrounded by bubbles as they stroke. Those who pull “quiet” water have a more propulsive stroke. The secret to “quiet” water is a “quiet” entry. If you smack the water loudly with your hand on entry, you’ll feel as if you’re trying to grip carbonated (i.e. bubbly) water, when you want the water to feel like molasses as you anchor your hand. Just listen to your entry. Anything that makes it quieter is more effective.

Patience before pulling. In every stroke, I’ve noticed that the best swimmers are the least hurried when making their “catch” -- even at high speed in the 100 meters (though admittedly not in the 50). Swimmers whose hands move in a flurry often don’t swim all that fast because their hands slip through the water like car wheels on ice. When swimming at warm-up or “cruise” speeds, practice this: After your quiet entry, take enough time to extend your hand fully (giving your arm more time to shed the air it might have brought underwater) and whatever time it takes to feel the water return a bit of pressure to your hand and forearm before you stroke. Your goal is to feel as if you’ve trapped the water behind your hand and forearm before stroking.

Fingers down on freestyle. After your quiet entry, you should also focus on pointing your fingertips toward the bottom so your fingers are below your wrist and your wrist is below your elbow as you extend. This helps provide a better surface area for holding water. After you establish this position, let the stroke take care of itself as you shift your attention to making a quiet entry with the other hand.

You could even experiment with “Natalie hands.” I had my swimmers on the Hawks do that at the beginning of warm-up for several weeks in October. Each day we swam a 400 Free with fists closed on the odd lengths and fingers spread as wide as possible on the even lengths, simply as a way to make them more aware of how the water felt to their hands. Several said it made their hands feel more “alive” during the next few sets.

Terry Laughlin is Head Coach of Total Immersion Swimming and of the Hawks Swimming Assocation in New Paltz, NY.