The Sinking Hand Visualisation

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Here's a quick stroke technique tip which will help you improve your catch and propulsion.

As the hand enters and extends forwards underwater in front of your head, think about it sinking downwards slightly as you reach forwards. Here's Rebecca Adlington in action doing just that, notice how the hand gets deeper under the surface:

This shouldn't be a forced motion but a gentle sinking action.

The next (seamless) step is to start pressing the water backwards - "the catch" :

Remember not to pause once fully extended - keep the lead hand in constant motion: entering the water, extending (and sinking slightly), bending at the elbow and catching. All joined together in one fluid motion.

It's not an easy skill but that sinking action could be the thing you are missing in your catch technique so give it a go the next time you swim.

Why do this? Many swimmers think they should keep the hand near the surface as they extend but this doesn't account for the fact your body is rotating and so the shoulder is getting deeper in the water. Keep the hand at the same height and you will drop the elbow beneath the hand which will harm your catch and propulsion:

A key Swim Smooth drill to complement the hand sinking visualisation is our Scull #1 drill, available on our DVDs and in the Swim Smooth Guru here: https://www.swimsmooth.guru/streamvideo/cZF/i6/scull-1/

You can also study all of Rebecca Adlington's amazing stroke technique using our unique footage in the Swim Smooth Guru (subscription required):

https://www.swimsmooth.guru/video/dN/rebecca-adlington/


Swim Smooth!

Rio Part 2: Pool Analysis And Brownlee Domination

SS Clinics and Camps: United Kingdom Northampton Swim Squad Acton London Video Analysis Cardiff Video Analysis Clinic Oxford Open Water Squad Northampton Video Analysis Clinic Yorkshire Squads (Pool & OW) Yorkshire Video Analysis West Lothian Video Analysis Richmond SS Squad NEW High Wycombe Squad Starts 15th Sep Richmond / Wimbledon Workshops Salisbury 1to1 Analysis Twickenham Video Analysis Lancaster SS Squad Swindon Video Analysis Swindon SS Squads **Introductory Special Offer** Lancaster Video Analysis Europe Prague Junior Swim Club Dublin Video Analysis Prague Video Analysis Swim/Tri Camps Alicante Nijmegen Video Analysis & Stroke Correction Nijmegen SS Squads Zwevegem Video Analysis (English - Dutch) Prague Junior Swim Club Asia & North America Montreal Clinic (French Language), Oct 22nd SS 1 Day Clinic Campbell California, Oct 9th Montreal Squads Montreal Video Analysis Hong Kong Video Analysis Hong Kong Squads & Video Analysis Dubai Video Analysis NYC / SC Video Analysis

Before we get to the open water marathon swims and men's triathlon, let's kick off with Paul Newsome's full video analysis and review of the Olympic pool action earlier in the week. Specially recorded by Paul to give you all his insight into events in Rio, there's loads to learn here about strokes, tactics and keeping a calm head under pressure. Don't miss it:

Brownlee Triathlon Domination

We hope you enjoyed another phenomenal performance by the incredible Brownlee brothers in the Olympic Triathlon yesterday - the brothers took the race by the scruff of the neck and dominated it in every sense of the word!

Despite saying afterwards it was a "slow swim" at just a shade over 17 minutes, the boys knew they would have to work their ultra-hard bike strategy right from the off especially as Mario Mola was only 19 seconds down coming out of the water. Their pace was relentless and entirely reminiscent of the Leeds WTS race back in June, in fact it was almost a carbon copy. 19 seconds might not sound a lot in the swim but at this level it is critical - had Mola come out of the water higher up, he would have made the bike pack with the Brownlees and it could have been a different story.

The other athletes would have been very aware that such an attacking Brownlee bike leg would have been a likely scenario but the fact remains that no-one could respond to that call no matter how tactically savvy they might have been. On the run, despite the brothers being clear and running together after 5km, Alistair decided to surge for the win, despite the risks of going so early in the hot conditions. That right there is the sign of a champion and embodies the spirit of triathlon and the Olympic games as a whole.

At Swim Smooth we were also thrilled to see South Africa's Henri Schoeman pick up the Bronze medal despite never having podiumed in an ITU event. Henri's a class act and he thoroughly deserves to pick up a medal for all his hard work!

Henri's one of the best swimmers in triathlon and you can also see our full study of this stroke and interview about his preparation in the Guru here:

https://www.swimsmooth.guru/video/k1/henri-schoeman/

https://www.swimsmooth.guru/video/k3/henri-schoeman-interview/


10K Marathon Swims

#Paul could you give me some words for this section? Ta!#


Women's Race Preview

The women's triathlon on Saturday should be equally exciting - it will be fascinating to see how the likes of Jenkins, Spirig, Stanford, Duffy, Hewitt and Spirig go and if they can pull an upset from race favourite Gwen Jorgensen. Gwen's running phenomenally well and any athlete is going to need a big lead off the bike to beat her given the long drag-strip straights of the run course which will suit her perfectly to chase down any escapees. Don't miss it, it should be another cracker!

Swim Smooth!