Once your hand slides in, the next step is to extend and stretch into the catch.

Here’s another angle.  Watch for Aaron to stretch into the catch.

Let’s watch that in slow motion.  The hand slides in…and the body extends and stretches forward into the catch.

You’ll know when you’re fully stretched out because you can feel it.  You should feel as if you’ve loaded or stretched a spring and it’s ready to snap back into place.

The more you can stretch and extend the muscles along your side, the more they want to contract to their original position, and that helps create power.

Let’s watch from a different angle.  Notice that Aaron extends and stretches all along the side of his pulling arm. 

During the pull, Aaron contracts all those muscles, and this gives him power.   He describes it as “torque” when the body compresses.

In this clip, watch how each side extends…then contracts.   Extends…then contracts.  This is what gives power to the pull.

When you add this focus point to your stroke, be sure to keep your body in line.  If you get out of line, like this, you can make a worming motion that sends you all over the lane.

Here you can see that Aaron uses the catch to keep his body in line.  

The idea is to extend all along the torso, but not to extend the pulling hand past the centerline.  Use the catch to stop the hand and to keep the body headed straight down the pool.

Let’s watch one more time from below the surface.  The hand slides in…then you extend and stretch to the catch.


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Stretch to the Catch