High elbow under water

In the Swiss teaching system, it is taught as a central core movement in swimming: the “elbow-forward position”. What sounds like dry theory at first glance is the real secret when it comes to efficient arm propulsion in swimming. Regardless of whether we are talking about crawl, breaststroke, backstroke or dolphin swimming: the principle always remains the same. As soon as the hand (or in the case of breaststroke and dolphin: the hands) is immersed in the water and stretched out in the water, the aim is to achieve maximum push-off while keeping the resistance as low as possible. This is achieved during the transition from the pull to the push phase by keeping the elbow in the swimming direction as far as the individual anatomical conditions allow and folding the forearm vertically under the elbow.

In professional swimmers, the elbow is almost level with the shoulders in this so-called “support phase”, i.e. close to the surface of the water. Older and less trained swimmers no longer have this flexibility, which is why the elbow is no longer quite as “high”, but still just as markedly angled in the water. The focus is always on trying to support yourself effectively against the resistance of the water and to maintain this support until the hand has overtaken the elbow and thus initiates the powerful push backwards towards the thigh. This ultimately results in more distance per arm stroke and enables faster swimming times.

What sounds like a gnarly, complicated contortion can be illustrated with two simple examples. Imagine you are in a rope-pulling duel and have to try with all your might to pull your opponent towards you by the rope. What do you do automatically in this situation? Of course: bend your elbows, because you can build up much more pulling force than if you were to pull on the rope with outstretched arms. Or imagine you have to climb over a head-high ledge. Here, too, you intuitively bend your elbows in order to achieve a maximum push-off surface that you can use to pull yourself upwards. Or try pushing a ball in the water from front to back: it’s impossible if you don’t bend your elbows!

Attention: Waste of energy!

But what sounds obvious and simple on land often seems more difficult in the water. Instead of placing the elbow in the direction of swimming as early as possible, many crawl swimmers first bring the arm straight down towards the ground before making a small elbow bend for the push-off at a very late stage. One of the classic mistakes in swimming! If you talk to the athlete about this mistake, you often hear the excuse “I just don’t have the strength” or “it’s so hard on the shoulders!”. It is true that the amount of strength required in swimming increases exponentially with speed. But not using your elbow as early as possible is a waste of energy par excellence. This is because an arm that is first stretched downwards in the crawl stroke pushes the swimmer upwards (to the surface of the water) instead of forwards (in the direction of swimming) and is still facing the water resistance. Overcoming this requires considerably more effort than a high elbow. It is therefore no wonder that even pre-school children perform playful exercises such as “windshield wipers” or “Mississippi steamers” during the seahorse test, not only training their feel for the water but also practising the “high elbow”.

© swim4u.ch / Source: fit for fun