Swim Like a Monkey

In this first video, the monkey has very little wasted motion and there appears to be very little energy expended. Now check out this video of Alexander Popov, perhaps the most efficient sprinter the world has ever seen:

Popov clearly has tremendous hip and shoulder rotation, and though the video is in slow motion, he shows incredible fluidity of movement. He has very little wasted motion and when racing appeared to barely be trying.

This swinging "monkey bar" action looks a lot like swimming freestyle if you turn it on its side. As the monkey anchors his hand on the bar, Popov anchors his foreharm and hand in the water. As the monkey turns his hips and shoulders and trades gravity for forward momentum, Popov rotates his hips and shoulders and trades gravity (from one hip being elevated) for leverage on his forearm anchors. Whereas the constant force for the monkey is gravity, this constant force for Popov is his legendary kick.
So to swim with fluid efficiency of a swinging monkey like Alexander Popov it is vital that one use 1) a high elbow catch to establish a solid anchor, 2) a fluid, connected rotation of the core to get from one stroke to another with maximum length and leverage, and 3) a powerful kick.

The Key

It’s been pouring rain in Chapel Hill for about 48 hours straight it seems, and as I left Home Depot today, the deluge seemed to have reached its peak intensity. Despite barely being able to see my car halfway across the parking lot, I made a dash for it. I ran clutching my purchase in one hand and my keys in the other, stooping as though being shorter would keep me from getting as wet. At my car, I fumbled with my keys for a moment before picking the right one. As the raindrops blew hard into my face and the wetness soaked through my t-shirt, I tried to quickly put the key into the lock. I missed. Tried again, missed again. Now, getting frustrated, soaked and even more hurried, I tried again and finally the key went straight into the slot. I quickly hopped in and slammed the door behind me. Totally wet and out of breath from the run, I wondered why that was so difficult. Why was putting my keys in the door, a task I performed at least 6 times every day without messing up, so difficult for me to do in the rain?

At practice, most of the yardage we swim is at easy or medium intensity. This has to be the case, because it is just not possible for us to do everything fast. So we must do some things easy. Most of the time when I put my key in the car door, I am not in a hurry. I do it slowly, and I do not miss the keyhole. But today when I was hurrying, I messed up not just once, but twice. If I want to get better at putting the key in correctly in a hurry, I should gradually work on doing it faster and faster correctly each time.

The same is true about our technique at swim practice. We need to start by doing things correctly when we swim slowly, for this is the easiest time to do things right. Next we must focus on doing them correctly as we begin to go faster. And faster. And faster. And eventually at maximum speed.

Almost anyone can use proper technique at slow speeds. Swimmers who can use great technique at any speed including all-out racing speed have a tremendous advantage at the race. And that could be the key to helping you unlock your potential!