by Brent Rutemiller

Freestyle Armstroke

In the March/April issue we examined the early stroke phases of the freestyle in "Front-End Freestyle." That article detailed the importance of fully extending the arm prior to the catch and maintaining a high elbow position throughout the first part of the stroke.

Although the front part of the freestyle stroke is critical for streamlining and muscle recruitment, the final part of the armstroke provides the most propulsion. This phase is commonly referred to as the finish. It is composed of three components: the insweep, upsweep and the release.

During the insweep, the hand must be rotated so the palm faces the feet. The arm and hand should push the water almost directly backward from the chest to the waist with the arm bent at the elbow creating a 90 degree right angle.

Once the hand passes the hip, the hand must rotate outward and upward. This is the point where the finish phase of the stroke actually begins. Many swim-mers briefly relax their wrist at this point so that the water will automatically adjust the hand to the proper pitch.

Throughout this up and outward phase, the hand must accelerate faster beside the hip and toward the surface. Swimmers should try to increase the speed and duration of this phase for as long as possible while avoiding the tendency to push the water directly up toward the surface.

Once the hand has completed the upsweep phase, the release phase begins. The release is performed by simply rotating the palm in toward the hip with the little finger facing the surface. This allows the hand to slide out of the water with minimal drag. It will also cause the elbow to rotate upward for a high elbow recovery while placing less stress on the shoulder.

Because the finish is the most propulsive phase of the freestyle underwater armstroke, competitive swimmers, no matter how tired they become, cannot afford to shorten or slow down this phase of their stroke while training or competing.

Brent T. Rutemiller is co-editor of Swimming Technique magazine.