How do you paddle faster?
For all the stroke techniques I've tried out (slightly bent arm, arms all the way under water, just forearm under water, gliding my hand diagonal and pulling the water across the length of my body/board, etc...), I have found that doing these insanity/px90 home cardio videos have given me the best paddling results simply by enduring more/less fatigue.
What do you think/do?
I kind of just wanted to show off my new avatar. Still, I think about paddling, rails and tails how to surf better, faster, maneuver.
If the surf didn't suck so bad I could be surfing all day instead of thinking about surfing all day.
I was going to add my own image but I figured I'd let someone else be more creative. You did not fail me. very, very funny.
straight i-pull. nona that diagonal crap. or s-pulls. its snake oil afaik. ask a comp. swimmer that does the 50 and 100 free for confirmation...
i-pull, straight forward and straight down pulling across length of body? no bend in wrist or elbow? I'll try that.
You will travel 180 degrees from your direction of push. A straight i-pull will lift you up out of the water until your hand and arm are beneath you, briefly push you forward, then push you down as they pass. This equates to a lot of up-and-down motion instead of forward propulsion. You should think about pressing water behind you rather than below you. A high-elbow catch is the best way to do this. Anchor your elbow close to the surface at its forward reach point, bending your elbow and pressing you fingertips down and vertical first and your forearm down and vertical second, applying pressure as you do. Once your fingertips and forearm have gone vertical, apply pressure through your whole arm to follow through. Note - a slightly relaxed arm is much better than a tense one. Squeeze your core, not your arms. Less resistance is better than more power.
procmail - you will see a much straighter arm for the recovery than the pull in the 50 and 100 m freestyle races, reason being to increase handspeed and get back to the power phase sooner. That tempo gets more unsustainable as race distances grow. Watch the 1500 and you'll see much more of a high elbow above the surface as well. Watch the underwater footage of the 50 and 100 m races, I'll bet you still see a good bit of a high elbow catch underwater.
BushBarrel, "You should think about pressing water behind you rather than below you" makes a lot of sense, especially on a surfboard in volatile bumpy conditions.
Thanks a lot for the detailed response.
I read slater takes a big breath of air and holds it in when paddling into a way,says it floats him more
