ARM WORK

The most propulsive part of

freestyle is the arm work,
which has two main phases: the
underwater and the above-
water arm work.
 Underwater arm work starts with the arrival of the hand in
water. The back of the hand arrives in water between the lines
of the head and the shoulder. First the back of the hand arrives
in water, then the forearm, then the elbow and finally the upper
arm. When arriving in water, elbow is slightly bent, palms are
open and face outwards, the back of the hand “slides” into
water with its thumb side. After arrival in water, arm is starched
out completely, so its speed is reduced (awaiting the other
Fig.21: Matt Biondi hand’s movement, which at that time is just in the pushing
world classic swimmer’s phase). The arrival in water is not the same as catching water.
armwork in the air. The
degree The second phase of underwater arm stroke is pulling. After the
of the turn of the body arm enters the water comes an outward and downward pulling
can be well seen in the movement (which has not got any propulsive function yet) and
picture.as well as the
breathtaking which the ending point hereof is water catching From here, the point
accompinies this phase. of water catching freestyle arm work is propulsive
catching water comes an inward pulling movement as far as the center line
of the body. This movement helps the turning of the body around its
lengthwise axle. The movements ends at the line of the shoulder.
The underwater pulling patterns differ from one world classic swimmer to
the other (reversed S shape, question mark). It is essential that the hand
should be positioned as the extension of the forearm. After the pulling
phase of underwater arm work comes the third phase, i.e. pushing. Pushing
is carried out following a half curve towards the thighs, while the arm
straightens continually. The back of the hand bends backwards gradually
and swings back fully next to the thigh, ending the propulsive movement.
The hand relaxes, rotates so that the palms face the thighs (so that the
resistance be less lifting out the hands) preparing it for the movement of
deliverance.
After the arm has finished its underwater work, comes the passive,
above-water arm stroke. The above-water part can be divided into
two phases including deliverance and forward arm movement. The
movement of deliverance is starts as the follow-up of the pushing
phase. The arm bends gradually, and the elbow raises. It is very
important to start the deliverance by raising the elbow.
This is followed by the above-water arm work and
the forward arm movement. This phase is
intended to minimalize the energy investment to
move the arm in the active stage again. After the
exit of the elbow, the arm is moved forward in a
high elbow position. The elbow continually bends,
the palm gradually turns outward, and then from
the line of the head the elbow constantly
straightens, and between the line of the head and
the shoulders it reaches the water again, and then
begins an underwater cycle again.
It is important not to be hasty, not to speed up the
movement and not to give great strength to the arm
when moved forward as it leads to the deterioration of
the rhythm, and to the hasty under-water work of the
other arm. While moving the arm forward attention must
be paid to that the forearm and the back of the hand
should not swing far from the shoulders.