The third in a series of emails between Steve Jordan and me. In this one I explain how to evaluate on-line video of elite swimmers and decide how it might apply to your own swimming.

>>Terry
I recently saw a video that focused on Ian Thorpe’s "inward sweep." Is this related to swimming on "wide tracks" and not allowing that hand to cross the center line of the body?>>

Steve

I’m not sure I’ve seen that particular video, but I’ve seen plenty of Ian Thorpe on youtube and can vouch that he does follow Wide Tracks where it’s most critical – in front of his shoulders on extension and the first part of his stroke.
I’ll surmise what that video refers to: His hand — which begins the stroke slightly outside the plane of his shoulder — moves toward the centerline as his body passes over it.

The critical-but-seldom-asked question, when articles or videos analyze the technique of elite swimmers, is: "Does that happen because he consciously intends to stroke that way — or as an instinctive accommodation to a continuously-changing relationship of limb-to-torso as he moves past his hand. In other words, did he sweep inward on purpose, or does it "just happen?"

The answer is virtually always the latter.

Improvement-minded swimmers naturally realize they can learn useful lessons from the world’s best. The trick is to  distinguish which aspects of their technique will help YOU swim better from those likely to frustrate you. Which means you should ask the following questions:
1) Is this a technique that increases his efficiency? Or a quirk he’s learned to "get away with." Elite athletes are successful, in part, because they have a genius for making things work that would handicap most of us. E.G. Lee Trevino’s golf swing – once described as "five wrongs that combine to make an immaculate right" — developed because he grew up playing where there was unrelenting wind. Smart golfers understood they were better off emulating Sam Snead’s classical swing — just as golfers look to Tiger Woods today. In swimming, many elite freestylers have been observed to "lope" — their rotation is greater and catch more hurried to their breathing, than non-breathing, side. They manage to break records while loping, while less-accomplished swimmers just add strokes – and seconds – when they "lope." I swim much better when my stroke is symmetrical — and so do all my students.
2) Is this a technique "ordinary swimmers" can learn? Thorpe, and most elite freestylers, are able to move the forearm into a vertical position, with the elbow remarkably high, virtually the instant the hand enters the water. I’ve tried for many years to emulate that position. Video shows that, even when I focus intently on an "early vertical foream," the best I can manage is a "somewhat-later, semi-vertical" position. That’s because one of their "talents" is a range of motion in the shoulder that ordinary humans – like me and 99% of those I’ve coached — lack. However, a Thorpe technique I CAN emulate, virtually as well as he does, is to extend myself into a long, sleek bodyline before beginning each stroke, and to learn timing that allows me to hold that line a fraction of a second longer in each stroke.
3) What new sensations will accompany any change in technique? My previous blog describes how I apply this thinking.

For inward-sweeping, as with many other techniques, the best starting point would be to compare video of your stroke from the same perspective with the Thorpe video to learn exactly how your stroke differs from — or resembles — his.

Before devoting time and energy to making that change (because, as described in my previous blog, it could require much of both), ask three more questions:

1) Does this technique reduce drag or improve propulsion? Techniques that reduce drag will have greater impact.
2) How quickly can I learn this technique? Drag-reducing techniques usually rely more on "gross-motor" (larger muscles) coordination which are easier to learn and become "permanent" faster. Propulsion-increasing techniques rely more on fine-motor coordination, which takes longer to develop and commit to muscle memory. Emulating Ian Thorpe’s bodyline involved gross-motor skills. Imitating his "early-vertical forearm" requires fine motor skills, in addition to a freakish range of motion.

3) Will I be able to perform this "stroke tweak" with my existing level of foundation skills?
The high-elbow inward-sweep relies on impeccable front-to-back balance and lateral stability — both of which are gross-motor skills. If you haven’t developed those foundations yet, your hands will be too occupied with bracing or steadying actions — and your attempts to exert fine control are likely to be frustrated. When you’re more balanced, more stable and better-aligned, you’ll have much more success.