It’s All in the Wrists
How Proper Hand Position Can Improve Your Swimming
While there are countless ways to improve your swimming strokes, developing the proper hand position is vital to having effective strokes. Further, holding the wrists and, thus, the hands in the right place is taught very early on; consider hand position as one of those fundamental swim techniques that must be perfected early on.
When the wrists and hands are placed correctly, a swimmer can maximize their stroke efficiency; more water can be pulled and pushed with each arm movement, so each stroke gets them further, faster.
While hand and wrist positions present many variations between strokes, there are some general points to remember and develop in your practice. If you are helping your little swimmers work on their strokes, these general tips will guide them to their best strokes.
Creating an optimal wrist and hand position is about more than stroke efficiency; proper swimming postures and body placement allow for the development of the right muscle groups and help you avoid overuse and repetitive strain injuries, such as rotator cuff issues.
If you are practicing a basic front glide, the hands are placed palm over palm, not palm to palm. To move into an excellent glide, place one hand out in front of you with the palm down, then place the other hand over the top, palm down. Fingers are straight and extended with the thumb squeezed against the side of the hand. Imagine a small bird nestled in the palm of your hand; create a small cup to hold the bird, big enough for the bird to fly away but not so small that you squish the bird.
When the hands are in this position, it’s nearly impossible to bend the arms, so you are guided into that perfect long-arm glide position with hands positioned like knives ready to slice through butter. Add this element to create an even more hydrodynamic body: squeeze both ears with the upper arms, chin toward your chest, and eyes gazing at the pool bottom. When you are ready to move the entire arm, maintain the hands in the same position as they move apart.
A great drill to increase your wrist and hand performance is sculling. Sculling can be done on the front or the back and is the perfect way to emphasize the critical role the wrists and hands play in swimming. Check out this training video from USA Masters Swimming on how to scull! Even better, everyone can learn to scull no matter their age! Many consider sculling to be a vital survival skill when in the water.
When introduced at a young age, little swimmers can get a natural feel for how water moves and responds to their hand, arm, leg, and foot movements. After all, the sculling action employed in freestyle and backstroke is what provides lift and drive. When the body is positioned vertically in the water, it is sculling that provides our bodies the upward lift needed when treading water.
A solid sculling technique allows a swimmer to know how to hold, grip, push, and pull through the water so that strokes can be as fast and efficient as possible. There are hundreds of sculling drills for swimmers of all abilities, so check some out, add them to your routine, and share them with your kids. Better yet, book some swimming lessons with the expert instructors at Steve Wallen Swim School in El Dorado Hills or Roseville; they can guide you toward your best swimming and have the entire family swimming laps in no time!
