19. Swim Technique - 2. The Catch

The Catch in swimming is the key for a great propulsive phase in the freestyle swim stroke.  In this second episode about swim technique, Paul Jones and Kate Charlton discuss this major part of the stroke.

Couple of weeks back we started a little mini series about swim technique. In episode 1 we talked about body position in the water and touched on leg action.

In this episode we build on that and discuss leg action and it’s the functionality of its action before we move on the to catch phase of the arm action of the stroke. 

When it comes to arm action it’s the best place to start. Get the catch right and your arm action has the potential to be awesome.

The catch develops about 90% of your propulsion

Many triathletes will over-extend and then push down on the water

Drive the hand in to the water about 30 degrees 

Fingers below your wrist

Wrist below your elbow

Elbow below your shoulder

Keep the elbow high

Demonstration of the Swim Drills we used in the podcast:

• Kicking on your back (click here)
• Skull (click here)
• 636 Drill (click here)
• Long Arm Doggy Paddle (click here)

LINKS to the PK Triathlon YouTube page for demonstrations of the exercises: 

• IYTWI (click here)
• Medial Rotation (click here)
• Lateral Pull (click here)