I wanted to share something with you that I learnt from my time at the South Australian Institute of Sport. There I learned a number of drills which focused on one hugely important part of freestyle. I have brought this information back with me, to coach here in the UK...
Inertial freestyle as used by the great Murray Rose and Ian Thorpe is the single most obvious difference between the great contemporary Australian freestylers and today’s top British swimmers. The inertial freestyle concept can be observed in the arm recovery of freestyle, backstroke and butterfly, which reflects the terminal phase of the propulsive action.
This inertial action requires the use of the swimmers prime mover muscle groups. In the recocery phase the rime movers are: The adductor, extensor and the medial rotator muscles of the shoulder joint which cause the swimmers hand velocity to increase during the latter stages of the propulsive action. This increse of velocity is not only propulsive, but it can be utilsed to improve the efficiency of the reccovery phase.
The momentum created by the weight and velocity of the swimmers arm, and the change in direction upwards will cause the swimmers upper arm and elbow to exit the water first and permit the arm unit 9including the hand) to swng out of the water with a minimum of muscular effort. The swimmers arm/hand unit will tend to "fly off" at a tangent due to the effect of centrifugal force. This centrilfugal force can then be redirected, causing the swimmers arm/hand unit to swing over to the entry position again, with a minimum of expended energy.
watch the video of Ian Thorpe and Pieter van den Hoogenband in the 200m freestyle Olymipic final they can be both seen to utilise this principle as they recover their arms.
The "high" elbow recovery in freestyle swimming is caused by the abduction of the swimmers shoulder joint and flexion of the elbow joint which is coordinated inertially with the rotation of the swimmers core around the longigtudinal axis, during waht is known as the Inertial round-off and release.
It is worth noting here, as I have mentioned the rotaation word, the latest thinking on body rotation in freestyle swimming:
To create torque in a long axis stroke (freestyle or backstroke), a swimmer must have a semi-fixed point from which to work. The rotation of the swimmers lower extremities of their torso, hips and legs against their relatively stable shoulder girdle and upper torso allows the swimmer to create power, or torque, in the stroke.
If the entire body rotates along the central axis, little or no torque/power occurs, and a great deal of the strength and force of the long axis strokes is dissipated. Rotation and the concomitant torque generated in all power movements in sport occur against a fixed or semi-fixed fulcrum. That is why golfers and baseball players use spikes to completely stabilize their feet so that great momentum can be generated in their swing. If their feet slip during the swing, it greatly diminishes their ability to hit the ball with any real power.
A similar principle occurs in swimming. However, the swimmers semi-fixed body part for the generation of power, or torque, in the stroke is the stable shoulder girdle. If the swimmer drops their shoulder and rolls to swim on their side, the power is lost.
Charles Silvia described the great Murray Rose's stroke as possessing four distinct parts that together formed a stroke that was humanly mechanically superior and is utilised in Australian swimming today...
The 'Big Four,' as coach Silvia named it, are:
• Inertial shoulder girdle elevation and upward scapular rotation
• Shoulder joint medial rotation and elbow flexion
• Shoulder joint adduction and downward scapular motion
• Inertial round-off and release (partial supination and shoulder joint lateral rotation)
