[Q.]

Conf: Freestyle From: Terry Laughlin (totalswimm@aol.com) Date: Saturday, January 20, 2007 08:38 AM On 1/19/2007 2:36:44 PM, Richard Skerrett wrote:
>So where is the propulsion
>actually coming from when you
>swim like this,

I give great attention to establishing traction with the lead hand, then "catapult" or "vault" past it with a dynamic weight shift, which is triggered by the spearing hand. It uses the same physics as pushing-water-back propulsion but uses the muscles of the pulling arm differently -- to maintain the arm-lever in a strong position, rather than accelerating the arm back. Whenb done well, that leads to both improved traction and reduced fatigue.

Pushing water back tends to dis-connect the arm from the core because one can accelerate the arm faster than one can move the core. "Holding your place" reinforces connection of arm to core.

I find that I get an impression of far more power brought to bear -- it feels like it runs through my whole body almost like an electric charge -- while doing remarkably little "work."

Swimming "with my body" feels nothing like the way the "work" of swimming felt in college when I was an "arms-and-legs" swimmer.