@spursandeaglesrule I think the technique is the same, but the stroke rate changes depending upon the distance focus of the swimmer. Longer distance with have a slower tempo than sprinters for the most part.
@shadowknight132 There are a few videos on this site with a swimmer, but the goal and focus of my teaching is to have you watch as if I were coaching you from the deck. We will over the next year be modifying some of the presentations and perhaps, we'll consider a bit more in the water filming. Thanks.
this is interesting and innovative i have tried it and was really impressed..it is necessary to get good body/shoulder rotation doing it but it is very effective..it also keeps the stroke out wide which is desirable..the catch position works very well with the v-line and rotation.. thanx for coaching
you're a great coach. nice tip the one of the finger. never tought about it but it makes totally sense to try some drills concentrating on the position of hte pinky
You are very thorough! The way that you describe every motion for this is great! I am a terrible swimmer and so I can't wait to try using this to improve.
Coach - when you catch to pull back - the body position - should you be on your side or on your full stomach? If so when are you on your side or should you never be on your side? Thanks.
@giveyouashot Good question! First, it's not a pulling action, but "holding"...hold onto the water and exit mid-torso. As for body position a swimmers angle changes from flat during entry to more towards the side as the stroke progresses---And it's not completely on the side, but angled in symmetry with the stroke.
I really love your comprehensive videos on swimming and I improved a lot thx to you. THX.
I noticed there is a huge interest in Total Immersion. TI seems to advocate quite a deep hand entry.
I don't think it's the best reaching position coz you lose some of the early catch and it would take more muscle work to get into the high elbow position.
@kon1402 Thank you! I honestly don't follow Total Immersion, but I do get a lot of their clients (who of course, wouldn't come to me if it was working). My biggest issue is the "gliding" and not developing the early catch which is so commonly found in more competent swimmers. Check out Karlyn Pipes-Neilsens DVD if you want to see what I am referring too.
You are a wonderful teacher! I have developed thumb tendonitis and am now on anti-inflammatories. My thumbs seem to stick out too long through the pull. I can feel the pain then. Any ideas? Thanks.
Overuse tendinitis results from improper form, too much volume or intensity. So, you need to change one or more of these variables. As well as, rest for several weeks and not prolong the issue. Please work directly with a physical therapist and you should see a good result.
Thanks for the quick reply! I have so many questions because I've sort of hit a plateau and it seems like I'm not improving anymore. It's funny because in practice I can beat even the fastest swimmers on our team but in races it's not even close. Another question is, what is the depth of the hand ? should the catch be DEEP and outwards first? And I'm sure this EVF is mainly for mid distance and up, but any advice for sprinting freestyle?
You might consider switching teams or coaches. And if you beat the "fastest swimmers" then, you are really the fastest. Sure, it helps to have competition, but you should "race yourself" not others. Do your best against the clock and you might find even more speed.
The depth of the hand for sprinters is deeper than distance swimmers. I like a wide entry to set up the catch and get the lats into the stroke.
well actually, I just work harder. I think they work on technique for the majority of time in practice. Maybe i should slow down and work on technique like them. Well thanks for all your advice. What i will do now is I'll focus more on the catch, feel the water, what feels right (hand depth, hand entry, engaging the correct muscles) , and so on. Thanks again for replying back. I appreciate all of the help.
I'm a competitive swimmer and I basically understand the purpose of evf. One thing that i'm always playing around with is, should the hand position be slightly inward or should the palm be pitched outward? IN the video, "swim demo", mentions palms pitched slightly outward... Looking at grant hackett, his palms looks like its facing slightly inwards and so does a lot of other elite swimmers.. so, hands inwards or outwards is basically my question.
If you hold your arms straight out from chest height and let the wrists hang down you will most likely see an "outward" pitch. Some people do articulate differently, but most are as I describe.
The initial movement for most swimmers is outward then inward and downwards. And videos of Thorpe and Hackett clearly show this outward anchoring on the initial catch.
Take a look just at the very first movement or placing and you'll see it's outward.
Hi,, this is great stuff. I started swimming recently. I am confused about the leg movement. Should the leg movement start from the hip or only from the knees? thanks
Hi Marc. I wrote to you a month ago. All this time I had biceps tendinitis in both shoulders because of my attempts to do the high elbow catch, so I had to stop swimming. They told me that I probably have hyperlaxity (aka double-jointedness) so I have tendencies to get joint injuries (years ago I sprained my knee in a skating movement supposed to be normal for any person). Do you think I will be able to swim again or should I kiss this sport goodbye? Do you think is it no good for me?
As I mentioned in the previous post you should be under the care of a physical therapist if the condition does not improve.
Having bilateral shouler biceps tendinitis is a condition a swimmer normally will not suffer from unless the volume, intensity, and frequency of training are too great. And of course, technique certainly plays a role.
Please stay with the recommendations of your therapist and I am sure you'll be back in the water soon.
As usual, your videos are great! I love them. I have a question, why do you think my shoulder hurts when I tried to do the high elbow catch? When I bend my elbow keeping it high and keeping the armpit as you say it seems that stress my shoulder? It should be the opposite. Right?
Shoulder pain during the catch is often incorrect technique...especially, having a slightly flexed elbow at the beginning of the catch. So, make sure you're reaching forward and downward with the arm straight before you move to the high elbow catch.
Also, you may try in smaller degrees of flexion to allow for adaptation.
Secondly, there may be weak, tight and joints lacking range of motion. Try the first recommendation and if not improved I'd recommend a physical therapist taking a look.
Open armpit...good suggestion. I'm to focus on it during my next training swim. I'm always open for new suggestions to improve my stroke. Thanks.
rcva1 2 months ago
Very useful information! I tried it a few hours after watching and found that my technique was a lot better. You must do it SLOW at first.
rmdoz00 8 months ago
@rmdoz00 Great!
evanscoaching 7 months ago
Thanks Mr. Evans. Does this catch work better in long or short distance races?
spursandeaglesrule 8 months ago
@spursandeaglesrule I think the technique is the same, but the stroke rate changes depending upon the distance focus of the swimmer. Longer distance with have a slower tempo than sprinters for the most part.
evanscoaching 8 months ago
I enjoy your videos. But could you do one where you're in the water? It's can be kinda hard trying to envision yourself in the water.
shadowknight132 8 months ago
@shadowknight132 There are a few videos on this site with a swimmer, but the goal and focus of my teaching is to have you watch as if I were coaching you from the deck. We will over the next year be modifying some of the presentations and perhaps, we'll consider a bit more in the water filming. Thanks.
evanscoaching 8 months ago
this is interesting and innovative i have tried it and was really impressed..it is necessary to get good body/shoulder rotation doing it but it is very effective..it also keeps the stroke out wide which is desirable..the catch position works very well with the v-line and rotation.. thanx for coaching
cam01235 10 months ago
@cam01235 Thanks for your comments...
evanscoaching 9 months ago
you're a great coach. nice tip the one of the finger. never tought about it but it makes totally sense to try some drills concentrating on the position of hte pinky
BZnBoston 1 year ago
@BZnBoston Thanks and good luck.
evanscoaching 1 year ago
After the high elbow bend do you pull the hand and arm in towards the body for the push? Good video - very clear. Thanks
Dee3917 1 year ago
@Dee3917 No, the goal is to "hold" water. Not Pull, or push.
evanscoaching 1 year ago
You are very thorough! The way that you describe every motion for this is great! I am a terrible swimmer and so I can't wait to try using this to improve.
country7713 1 year ago
@country7713 Thanks...good luck to you.
evanscoaching 1 year ago
Coach - when you catch to pull back - the body position - should you be on your side or on your full stomach? If so when are you on your side or should you never be on your side? Thanks.
giveyouashot 1 year ago
@giveyouashot Good question! First, it's not a pulling action, but "holding"...hold onto the water and exit mid-torso. As for body position a swimmers angle changes from flat during entry to more towards the side as the stroke progresses---And it's not completely on the side, but angled in symmetry with the stroke.
evanscoaching 1 year ago
I really love your comprehensive videos on swimming and I improved a lot thx to you. THX.
I noticed there is a huge interest in Total Immersion. TI seems to advocate quite a deep hand entry.
I don't think it's the best reaching position coz you lose some of the early catch and it would take more muscle work to get into the high elbow position.
kon1402 1 year ago
@kon1402 Thank you! I honestly don't follow Total Immersion, but I do get a lot of their clients (who of course, wouldn't come to me if it was working). My biggest issue is the "gliding" and not developing the early catch which is so commonly found in more competent swimmers. Check out Karlyn Pipes-Neilsens DVD if you want to see what I am referring too.
evanscoaching 1 year ago
Great in depth description!
hdivito 1 year ago
dude that tennis ball is huge !!! or ure rly small LOL :D
onxiaftw 1 year ago
@onxiaftw ha, ha...And my name isn't "dude"...It's Marc...LOL
evanscoaching 1 year ago
You are a wonderful teacher! I have developed thumb tendonitis and am now on anti-inflammatories. My thumbs seem to stick out too long through the pull. I can feel the pain then. Any ideas? Thanks.
60schld 2 years ago
Overuse tendinitis results from improper form, too much volume or intensity. So, you need to change one or more of these variables. As well as, rest for several weeks and not prolong the issue. Please work directly with a physical therapist and you should see a good result.
evanscoaching 2 years ago
Thanks for the quick reply! I have so many questions because I've sort of hit a plateau and it seems like I'm not improving anymore. It's funny because in practice I can beat even the fastest swimmers on our team but in races it's not even close. Another question is, what is the depth of the hand ? should the catch be DEEP and outwards first? And I'm sure this EVF is mainly for mid distance and up, but any advice for sprinting freestyle?
jungweizer 2 years ago
You might consider switching teams or coaches. And if you beat the "fastest swimmers" then, you are really the fastest. Sure, it helps to have competition, but you should "race yourself" not others. Do your best against the clock and you might find even more speed.
The depth of the hand for sprinters is deeper than distance swimmers. I like a wide entry to set up the catch and get the lats into the stroke.
evanscoaching 2 years ago
well actually, I just work harder. I think they work on technique for the majority of time in practice. Maybe i should slow down and work on technique like them. Well thanks for all your advice. What i will do now is I'll focus more on the catch, feel the water, what feels right (hand depth, hand entry, engaging the correct muscles) , and so on. Thanks again for replying back. I appreciate all of the help.
jungweizer 2 years ago
I'm a competitive swimmer and I basically understand the purpose of evf. One thing that i'm always playing around with is, should the hand position be slightly inward or should the palm be pitched outward? IN the video, "swim demo", mentions palms pitched slightly outward... Looking at grant hackett, his palms looks like its facing slightly inwards and so does a lot of other elite swimmers.. so, hands inwards or outwards is basically my question.
jungweizer 2 years ago
Thanks for a great question.
If you hold your arms straight out from chest height and let the wrists hang down you will most likely see an "outward" pitch. Some people do articulate differently, but most are as I describe.
The initial movement for most swimmers is outward then inward and downwards. And videos of Thorpe and Hackett clearly show this outward anchoring on the initial catch.
Take a look just at the very first movement or placing and you'll see it's outward.
evanscoaching 2 years ago
I has bit of problem - when I just swam few laps, my arms goes hurt but I ignore them as I find it so annoying... what went wrong?
jimmyuk007 2 years ago
I am unable to assess your condition with an examination of your mobility, flexibility, strength and of course, technique.
In the next several weeks I will be offering online video critique of all the above.
At the least, you should be observed while swimming and have a functional movement examination from a physical therapist as well.
evanscoaching 2 years ago
very good thanks
spruci9 2 years ago
vary good thanks
spruci9 2 years ago
Hi,, this is great stuff. I started swimming recently. I am confused about the leg movement. Should the leg movement start from the hip or only from the knees? thanks
ssjumbo2 2 years ago
I like swimmers to deflect water off from the toes. This will initiate a kinetic chain reaction through the knee and hip.
evanscoaching 2 years ago
Thx a lot coach. That is really helpful stuff.
crazeysl 3 years ago
Hi Marc. I wrote to you a month ago. All this time I had biceps tendinitis in both shoulders because of my attempts to do the high elbow catch, so I had to stop swimming. They told me that I probably have hyperlaxity (aka double-jointedness) so I have tendencies to get joint injuries (years ago I sprained my knee in a skating movement supposed to be normal for any person). Do you think I will be able to swim again or should I kiss this sport goodbye? Do you think is it no good for me?
vockla 3 years ago
I am sorry to hear about your shoulders.
As I mentioned in the previous post you should be under the care of a physical therapist if the condition does not improve.
Having bilateral shouler biceps tendinitis is a condition a swimmer normally will not suffer from unless the volume, intensity, and frequency of training are too great. And of course, technique certainly plays a role.
Please stay with the recommendations of your therapist and I am sure you'll be back in the water soon.
evanscoaching 3 years ago
As usual, your videos are great! I love them. I have a question, why do you think my shoulder hurts when I tried to do the high elbow catch? When I bend my elbow keeping it high and keeping the armpit as you say it seems that stress my shoulder? It should be the opposite. Right?
vockla 3 years ago
Shoulder pain during the catch is often incorrect technique...especially, having a slightly flexed elbow at the beginning of the catch. So, make sure you're reaching forward and downward with the arm straight before you move to the high elbow catch.
Also, you may try in smaller degrees of flexion to allow for adaptation.
Secondly, there may be weak, tight and joints lacking range of motion. Try the first recommendation and if not improved I'd recommend a physical therapist taking a look.
evanscoaching 3 years ago
Thanks Marc!!! Great stuff and just what I need.
lesstriders 3 years ago