Why Bending Your Wrists in Freestyle Is Slowing You Down 

You definitely want to get the palm perpendicular to the bottom of the pool but you can achieve this through the high elbow position and body rotation, rather than breaking the wrist from its alignment with the forearm. True that there might be slight movement in the wrist. I’m mostly referring to those that keep their wrist completely bent through out the entire stroke phase. I’ve seen that a lot from swimmers that come to me needing assistance with their stroke. They basically enter the water with their fingers already perpendicular to the bottom on entry.

You are welcome! I'm glad you found this topic helpful.

That’s a great follow up. If you think about it, by the time you get to the hip, the high elbow should be leading and exiting the water to start the recovery, so you don’t quite go parallel. It is the weakest part of your stroke for sure, but if you lead the high elbow before you totally lay out you actually transfer the power into the next stroke rather than pushing it up. It goes past the hip towards the toes.

This could differ for a sprint stroke vs. an endurance stroke. In sprinting, lifting the elbow soon makes sense. With an endurance stroke, we go a bit longer. I find that I get decent power at the end of an endurance stroke as it’s the point of fastest hand motion, accelerating from catch to the end of the stroke.

True. The stroke is longer, but at the same time you don't want to wash out. You still want to hold that water for as long as you can. Any bend in the wrist, even at the back of the pull can reduce your power. Whether your swimming fast freestyle using the shoulder-drive method or a longer freestyle using the hip-driven method, you want to keep that wrist inline with the forearm to maximize power and efficiency.

I can see where you are coming from, but if you think of your arm like a paddle, the elbow flexion is where you are really starting to apply the pressure and anchoring yourself in. If you are bending the wrist then you are neglecting the forearm as you would be making too much of a boxed shape. The fingertips should be slightly down true, but that's not from a bend in the wrist. To generate the most power, you want that high elbow then forearm to hand/fingers are more of a straight line. It also allows you to apply equal pressure from your fingertips up. If you bend then the pressure is distributed in an uneven manner. Does that make sense? One out of the water drill you can try is to lay down on the pool deck with one arm hanging out over the water. Then try your Freestyle pull. Try it with the bent wrist and without and see which applies more equalized pressure and power. Another option is to get out of the water completed and with a partner holding a kickboard by your side, take a pull. Your goal is to hit the board with your entire forearm and hand at the same time. If you bend your wrist, you won't be able to achieve this. Try out these options and let me know your thoughts.

100%. Bending the wrist is the first move of a superior high elbow catch.

@@davidguthrie3739actually it’s not so much bending the wrist as popping the elbow so you can create that “hugging the barrel” approach to really anchor in.

@@BetweenTheLaps tilting the wrist first helps the elbow bend naturally. When the wrist is locked we tend to press down and it is more difficult to get to the vertical forearm position early. Try it and then judge.

​​⁠trust me. No judgement here. Thanks for the input. I have found though with my swimmers over the years when we execute a high elbow earlier during the recovery and allow the forearm and wrist to be inline with the fingers slightly angled down, we get the most out of a secure and powerful catch. Llike in a lot of aspects of swimming, it really does depend on the swimmer with their reach, flexibility, and strengths/weaknesses, so if a bend in the wrist works for you then that’s great. I can only share what I’ve seen and experienced over my 20 years of swimming and my 20+ years of coaching. Possibly we are also talking about two different parts of the stroke as well. I’m talking about after the entry into the pull phase. Are you talking about the same piece or at a different point of the stroke? Just to make sure we are on the same page.

You absolutely should still be thinking about that, but that comes from the high elbow, not the wrist. If you think about it from the wrist, then you are only grabbing a can. If you do it from a high elbow position with the forearm, wrist, and hand in line with each other, you can grab a massive barrel that engages your large back muscles (lateral muscles, etc).

@@BetweenTheLaps that makes sense. Will try to do that. Thanks!

@@joejoe-lb6bw Fantastic! Can’t wait to hear how it goes for you.

@@BetweenTheLapsAmazing. That made a big difference! I thought of an analogy. Imagine an oar or paddle with an angled hinged end. That would be a negligible propulsion improvement. However, it would be a point of failure. Maybe. Fluid flow dynamics is rocket science.

@@joejoe-lb6bw it can be as complex as rocket science sometimes. But glad to hear that worked for you. I always use the concept of a canoe or kayak paddle as an analog example. It’s something everyone can relate to.