First Leg of Swordfish Explained

I wanted to write a blog on the first leg of swordfish to go along with my video I posted the other day. If you have not seen the video yet here it is.

Why Centre Of Buoyancy and Gravity is So Important 

The first point to understand is that we are very floaty in our upper body. That is due to our centre of buoyancy being in our chest. Our centre of gravity is typically around our belly button. Most swimmers find it challenging to lift the leg up because the body gets stuck on the surface. That is why the pike to get over.

To help overcome that heaviness we can actually move our centre of gravity and make the body heavier.To do this you need to reach one hand out in front of the body with the palm facing up. That is scull one. The head moves into the water while the hand reaches out in front.

Scull two reaches at angle down with the palm still up. This will help keep the centre of gravity closer to the head to help the swimmer get under.

Scull three is where most of the problems occur. The hands need to start to come to the other side of the hips. They need to reach under the thighs and the hands need to FACE THE TOES. Most swimmers do not reach far even to their legs AND if they do they are in a paddle scull that pulls them foot first. This scull is the same one I like to use for the porpoise lift. Small little pushing paddle type sculls with the palms facing the toes to help get the leg over.

Body and Leg Movement

For most swimmers the body moves just fine. It is actually the leg that gets stuck. You will often see a swimmer get stuck just before the half way mark with the leg and then the foot stays there while everything moves foot first to adjust around the leg.

Get swimmers to do the opposite, feel as though the body stops and they are too push the hips and moving leg to where the head is. (Scull three from above will help too) Sometimes swimmers just need to think about transitions differently. My first thought in this transition is that the body needs to get under, but if you really think about it the body is the easy part. The hard part is getting the leg to move past the middle point. Focus your thoughts on getting the leg to continue the rainbow and the body will make it.

I hope this write up helped you out even more. If you have anymore questions let me know and I will update this article. I would also love to hear your techniques.

Yours in Synchro,