The 5 Hs: Biomechanics Made Simple

About this episode

Wayne Goldsmith simplifies swimming biomechanics for coaches by introducing the 5 Hs that are essential for practical application in training.

Forget Bernoulli. Forget precise hand pitch angles. Forget complex angular analysis. Let’s make swimming biomechanics practical for every coach. The Problem With Traditional Biomechanics Education Coaching courses love to throw physics at new coaches. Bernoulli’s principle. Lift versus drag propulsion. Optimal elbow angles of 127 degrees. Angular velocity calculations. Meanwhile, in the REAL world, the coach is standing alone on deck with a whistle, 20 kids in the water and no idea how any of that “hand pitch angle” stuff helps them fix little Timmy’s freestyle. We’ve made biomechanics ridiculously intimidating. It doesn’t need to be. The 5 Hs of Swimming Biomechanics Here’s what you actually need to know. Five things. All start with H. Easy to remember on deck. 1. Head Where the head goes, the body follows. Head position controls body position. Neutral head, level body. Lifted head, sinking legs. Start every technique conversation here. 2. Hands Entry, catch, pull, exit. Newton’s Third Law: push water this way, body goes that way. Where the hands go - the water flows! Watch where they’re pushing water. Keep your hands SOFT so you can catch and feel and keep pressure on the water…

People in this episode

Host: Wayne Goldsmith

Topics covered

• biomechanics
• swimming technique
• coaching
• practical application
• performance improvement

Keywords

• biomechanics
• swimming
• coaching
• performance
• technique

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