All the very best swimmers initiate their hip rotation before applying power in the pull. Remember the catch is not the power phase, use this as the ‘setup’ phase to then apply power once your hand and forearm are angled to press back against the water. In tomorrow’s video, we’ll show you why this timing is so important.

Transcription:

All right, his hip begins to rotate now, and then he begins to apply power right here. So that’s the timing that we want.

Hi, Brenton from Effortless Swimming. In today’s video, we’re looking at why you should begin your hip rotation just before you begin applying power, and why all elite swimmers have this exact timing. So if we look at a good swimmer, so for example, Andrew Spoor, in this video here, you’ll notice that his hip rotation, back to the other side, begins now. And his power phase begins right about here. So that hip rotation has begun or been initiated just before he begins applying power right there.

Now, it’s important to note that the catch phase, from here down to here, that’s not the power phase. We call that the setup phase, where your main goal is just to get yourself in a position where the hand and forearm are angled back behind you, to then apply power. So remember that this phase, from out in front down to here, that is not the power phase, that’s the setup phase.

So if we play that through a few more times, you’ll actually see that, all right, his hip begins to rotate now, and then he begins to apply power right here. So that’s the timing that we want. And in tomorrow’s video, we’re going to explain why this is so important and why all elite swimmers have this exact timing. But with elite swimmers, you’ll often see that this is the way that they do it, hip rotation initiates before they begin applying power.

So for example, if you look at someone like Mack Horton, that hip rotation begins right now, and he begins applying power just afterward. So there’s a very small gap in between. It doesn’t need to be much, but just enough that the hips should be going first. The hips should turn back to the other side first, where you’ll see it right here, hips have started to rotate in the opposite direction, he begins applying power now.

So if we look at a swimmer who hasn’t quite got that timing right, you’ll see the difference here, where they’re applying power too early in the catch phase, and they haven’t quite got much distance per stroke as a result of it. So you’ll see that the power is applying right here, and you can see that because it’s quite a forceful push down on the water, but the hips don’t start to rotate back until now. But by then, she’s already well underneath the shoulder, and that’s why we don’t quite get much distance per stroke.

So, often, a good indication of whether someone is actually doing … has got the right timing here is if they’ve got a very short stroke, or if their stroke count is really high, that can be one indication of whether or not they’ve got this timing. There’s definitely some other factors involved when we look at the catch and the pull, and often the alignment and dragging resistance, those things obviously play a part as well, but this can really be a good indication of whether someone’s got this correct timing of their rotation with their power phase in the stroke.

So in tomorrow’s video, we’re going to explain a little bit more about why this makes such a difference and why it’s so important. And if you’re looking at how can you develop this in your stroke, then in the video membership, which we’re launching next week, this is something that we’ve been putting together for quite a few months, we’re going to be teaching the five core principles of fast freestyle. We’ve got all the drills that we use to teach this to swimmers to help you find your rhythm and timing, or develop your rhythm and timing, which is core principle number five.

So if you would like to hear about that, then below in the description, you can find a link to join up to the notification list so you can get an email once we’ve launched. And then you can be the first to get in, and you can also get the best pricing on the video membership. So we’re looking to launch at a pretty low price for people who are wanting to be a founder of the video membership. So if this is something that you’re interested in and you do enjoy these videos, then make sure to sign up to the notification list, and we’ll send you an email once it’s ready to go.

So thanks for watching. I’ll see you tomorrow with another video on why this is so important and why it makes such a difference to your swim speed. Thanks for watching. I’ll see you next week.