The Unsung Hero of Front Crawl: Why Your Shoulders Deserve More Credit

Swimming is full of jargon and confusing terms for mythical movements — many of which run contrary to what we would readily understand as the definition of a word.

The best example of this is the most commonly used: the catch. A term which, in swimming, has nothing to do with throwing or dropping anything. That’s a topic for another day though. Today, we are focusing on the elbow.

Many of you will have heard of a high elbow and how it can be beneficial in your front crawl, but I’m here to gently divert your attention away from this diva of the swimming world — the joint that constantly steals the spotlight from the diligent hard worker in the front crawl stroke.

I am here to draw your attention to your humble shoulders - Front Crawl shoulders. The ones that work tirelessly behind the scenes, providing the true foundation of your stroke. They make the main attachment to the torso; without them, the elbow would simply float adrift, disconnected and of no practical use to any swimmer.

Enough of the hyperbole — my point is to give some credit, focus, and hopefully some of your attention to your shoulders during your swim stroke. They provide the strongest lever in the chain, and it is indeed high shoulders and dry armpits that will help improve your front crawl. 

Next time you are at the pool try some simple shoulder shrugs and mobility before getting in, draw your shoulders as far forwards, upwards, backwards and downwards as you can go. This should progress to looking like rolling your shoulders in large backwards circles once you have got the hang of it. 

Once in the water the cue ‘dry armpits’ should be thought of as your arm recovers over the water. This cue is very effective at helping with a shoulder driven recovery that sets your arm cycle up for a more powerful press and push under the water to get more propulsion and speed into your swimming. Indeed in terms of ‘cues’ I’ve given to swimmers I’d say it is probably the most effective! Give it a go and see if it works for you as well.

If you’d like to find out more (and why), perhaps I’ll see you poolside soon! As long as the elbow chat is on the quiet.

CreateFit Swim Coach: Alan Ward

BOOK A SESSION

An overwater view of the Front Crawl shoulders in action

An underwater view of the Front Crawl shoulders in action