Did you know how your hand enters the water can significantly impact your swim?
When we swim, we want to create as little resistance as possible.
Many swimmers enter the water with a ‘flat’ or ‘cupped’ hand. What this does is it traps a pocket of air between the hand and the water surface.
This creates extra resistance. Another one I see often is pinky entering the water first. This makes it hard to set up the catch phase of the stroke.
To prevent these from happening, turn the hand at a slight angle when entering the pool.
Practice with me
Reach your hand forward in front of you. Imagine your hand in the pool.
Angle your hand so that the thumb points to the bottom corner of the pool and the pinky points at the top corn of the pool.
When you look at your hand, the pinky is now slightly higher than the thumb. This is the ideal position to eliminate resistance and a great setup for the catch.
What is your current hand entry form? I would love to know