Journey to Kona Day 178: The Catch

My friend Rudy made a great point during our conversation today about swimming.  I told him about my swim lesson yesterday, and the realization of understanding about the mechanics of a good "catch."  The concept of the first part of the catch literally being that my forearm drops straight down and my elbow doesn't move, staying in front of my head, so that my forearm becomes a large paddle pulling straight back against the water at a 90 degree angle, became clear to me.  If I'm "lazy," which is easy to do, and let me elbow drop, that "paddle" that is my forearm is now at a 45 degree angle, slicing easily through the water.  It feels easier because it is.  There is less force being applied, less work being done. Or is there?  It "feels" easier.  But it is much less efficient, and is not going to propel me through the water.  It's fascinating how the mind and body work to fool oneself into trying to take what "feels" like an easier approach.

I've also been watching some swim videos to "lock in" these concepts.  While my focus last Saturday was on my arm turnover, which will still be an important concept in the open water at Kona, the point made in the video (which I only caught upon rewatching for the umpteenth time) was that a good catch was more important than faster turnover.  This makes sense.  No matter how fast ones turnover, if the catch is not efficient, there's just a lot of wasted energy that "feels" easier.  I often point out to people that there are plenty of swimmers who expend a lot of energy, but it's inefficient energy, and serves to slow them down, rather than speed them up.  The "catch" is the key element to all of this. As my swim coach points out, when you're getting tired in the water, it's the mental realization of mechanical concepts that you can fall back on to hold on to your form and maintain your pace.  I'm "catching" on!