baldy wrote:Awesome been reading through your log and gaining from the Tao of Rodolfo, tried to count my laps using the clock today, head wanted to explode.
maths.
this is how it should be. No need for a watch in the pool if you have a pool deck pace clock. This should have a prominent second's hand that you can use for pacing. I tend to make my sets go on either the x:00, x:30, x:15, x:20, or derivative multiples, for ease of counting. Thus, let's say I do 100m on 1:40 interval. I'll start when the clock hits the "0" at the top. Then swim swim swim 100m and touch the wall. I look at the clock. It'd be on the :31. That means I swam a 1:31/100m. Great! 9 seconds rest. I wait till the 1:40 and go again. Swim swim swim 100m. Touch the wall. Look at the clock. It's now on the :23. Ooof. That's a 1:33/100m. A bit slower. Only 7 seconds rest. I go on the :20 next time around. This helps me count, and also lets me see visually how fast I'm going immediately. It also helps me improve because if I change something in my stroke, I can see the effects immediately.
Using a pace clock on the deck is ideal. They are better than wrist watches, in general.
baldy wrote:Which leads me to todays question for my internet swimming coaches. So I reach out as far as I can with my lead hand and then when I pull it back what should I be doing with my elbow, must be it locked or should I bend it away from my body so my hand tracks my centre line?
Here's some article (some with video!)
NY TimesJohn Hopkins Medical JournalAwesome PDF with pictures made by a AG swim coachBasically, the dominant wisdom is that if someone were watching you swim directly towards them, the tips of your elbows would form a straight line through your back. Your forearms, however, would be at different angles, but close to 90 degrees, most of the time. Your finger tips would be almost directly underneath your center of gravity when you track your pull. The rest of your hand would be a bit off center. If you have a lot of rotation, your arm would be straighter. If you have less body roll, you might really have to bend that elbow. Ideally, you'd have enough roll to have your back and elbows between 45degrees and 66degrees off flat swimming when you roll. Remember, this is from a "top" view of someone looking at you as you swim towards them.
From the side, the angles change a lot. They would see the elbow "ahead" of the hand at all times. The elbow should never finish and isolate the triceps at the end of the pull. Ideally, this observer would see the hand pause when it's deep ahead, with the shoulder under the water, at the beginning of the pull. That should be a maximum reach... but the reach should be with the shoulder and never locking the elbow. Then the elbow should stay relatively high, and as soon as possible, the forearm should be at 90degrees. From that point forward, there should be an acceleration of the hand. The forearm and hand should be a complete unit now, always in a straight line. At the end, the hand should have massive acceleration and finish at the thigh.
That's it. That's the pull.
Get the power from the hip and don't go bending at the knee... 
