By G. John Mullen<\/i><\/p>\n
SANTA CLARA, California, October 10. INNOVATION distinguishes between a leader and a follower. -Steve Jobs Don't wait for your ship to come in – swim out to it. ~Author Unknown<\/i><\/p>\n
Deep thought and reflection drives innovation and progression. In sport, innovation and progression must be added gradually, to confirm correctness of the progression. However, this can cause staleness and dullness in a sport with much room for improvement.<\/p>\n
This series discusses certain areas I have thought about for a while, but am ready to put on paper. Sometimes (like this article) the musings will have a theme, other times it will be random thoughts, but the goal of this is to encourage thinking, discussions, and progressions in the sport. I'm the first to admit that many of these musings may be inaccurate. In fact, at least 20 percent will be incorrect, but these are my interpretations balancing my research and anecdotal experience. Please join the discussion in progressing the sport of swimming.<\/p>\n
Mullen Musings: Breaststroke Volume 1<\/b>
\nThe man who is swimming against the stream knows the strength of it. ~Woodrow T. Wilson<\/i><\/p>\n
Breaststroke, unlike other strokes, receives the majority of propulsion from the legs. Combine this with unique timing which positions the body to use the propulsive legs with the body in a straight line (see past articles: Olympic breaststroke technique<\/a> and better breaststroke<\/a>) and you have a highly different and variable stroke between swimmers.<\/p>\n Variations even exist between elite swimmers. These variations often confuse those attempting to emulate their ideals but remember, elite swimmers do not always use the best technique and imitation is not always ideal, as different people have different constraints. This variation between elite swimmers has sparked a lot of my musings, enjoy!<\/p>\n 1. Why do people recover their arms above the water?<\/i> “Behind the upper arms as the hands move forward and upward over the water there are large pockets of turbulence indicating a large increase in resistance. The question has to be asked: “does the resistance reduction from having the hands out of the water offset the extra resistance created by the arms to get to that position?” In this writer's opinion, the answer would be a resounding “No!”<\/p>\n Remember, before making a stroke correction, consider the consequences of the alteration. Changing one movement at the arms causes a reaction down the body, ensure the one correction improves the whole stroke not only the area questioned.<\/p>\n
\nI know the thought process, air is less dense than water, so recovering the arms over the water creates less drag, which is good! Unfortunately, the arms must create considerable drag to exit and re-enter the water; remember Newton's 3rd law, if one body part rises another will try to sink. This unnecessary movement likely offsets the benefit from the brief air recovery time. This has been documented by Dr. Rushall as he has said the following about Daniel Gyurta's recent 200-breast (former) World Record swim<\/a>:<\/p>\n