The high elbow catch is one of the most important movements a swimmer makes. A strong, high elbow catch sets the body up for an effective pulling motion. A better pull automatically carries the swimmer through the water further and faster. Pulling more water in each stroke all starts with a proper entry in the catch. What’s surprising to most of our athletes and teams is that that change happens by working the catch out of the water. Those going through the SURGE Strength Dryland Certification will learn both why and how we recommend drilling the catch out of the water. For today, we’re going to talk you through the basics:
What Makes a “Good” High Elbow Catch?
The catch is the first part of all four swim strokes. It positions the arm to enter the water for a powerful pull. From a biomechanical perspective, the catch involves muscles at the shoulder, elbow, and wrist joint. In dryland, this includes training exercises for the pecs, shoulder muscles, rotator cuff, upper back, biceps, triceps, and even the forearms. In other words, swimmers must have mobility and strength through their entire upper body and core. Strength is important for the catch to be stable, strong, and powerful, while mobility determines the effectiveness of the position an athlete can get into without injury. Ultimately, mobility and strength work together to determine the efficiency of the catch.
How to Strengthen the High Elbow Catch
Multiple muscles must learn how to work together in a relatively unnatural position in order to accomplish the first phase of each stroke. Let’s break down how the muscles work during the catch: First, the deltoids (shoulder muscles), rotator cuff, and pecs drive the eccentric part of the catch as the arm rotates through the air. Next, the upper back muscles, namely, the trapezius and rhomboids, kick in to help rotate and reach the arm forward. At the same time, the arm muscles are working to keep the high elbow position and stabilize the wrist. Then, the hand enters the water and the latissimus dorsi becomes the prime mover for the pull.
- Eccentric: lengthening phase of a muscular contraction
Dryland Work for the Catch: Horizontal Pulling
There are many dryland exercises that strengthen the muscles listed above. However, horizontal pulling should be prioritized in order to improve both the strength and coordination of the catch. Horizontal pulling specifically targets the upper back muscles including the rear deltoid, rotator cuff muscles, and the rhomboids—our key back muscles in this movement. Swimmers will also see improvement in their arm strength from horizontal pulls. Ironically, horizontal pulling is often the most overlooked movement in a dryland program. Horizontal pulls can be accomplished through seated, standing, or bent over exercises with weights, bands, and cables. They can also be trained using the swimmer’s body weight through suspension training with a TRX. Another example is inverted rows with a barbell.
Dryland Work for the Catch: Vertical Pulling
Vertical pulling is equally as important as horizontal pulling. Vertical pulls specifically target the trapezius muscle and latissimus dorsi. In addition, they challenge the shoulder muscles (including the rotator cuff). Vertical pulling requires both the upper and lower arm muscles to stabilize the movement. The most common vertical pulling motion is a pull-up. Others include banded or cable lat pulldowns, pullovers, and body saw exercises in the prone position. A less obvious benefit of both vertical and horizontal pulling is an increase in grip strength. Holding and gripping weight in these movements strengthens muscles at the forearm and hand. In turn, swimmers have better stability at the wrist joint. This leads to a stronger entry and better hand position for each stroke.
Dryland Work for the Catch: Core Strength
When you think of the catch, you might not think of the core at first. However, it plays a vital role in proper entry. The core drives the body roll needed for big reach and high elbow in the catch. The core transfers force all the way from the fingertips to the toes in each stroke. Without the core, the body would not be able to establish or maintain the catch position.
Remember to train the core in all directions and planes. As we discussed in our article, “Better Core Is Just a Breath Away,” the purpose of core training is to maximize tension and energy transfer through the body. Therefore, it’s important to curate a dryland program that includes core exercises for the entire trunk, not just the six-pack ab muscles. Exercises that improve core bracing and stiffness such as planks, palof holds, and streamline holds should be trained first. Then, dynamic core exercises such as woodchops, supermen, and v-ups can be incorporated to further improve core strength and power.
How to Increase Mobility for the High Elbow Catch
Oftentimes, coaching cues for the catch yield ineffective. This is because your swimmer lacks the mobility to fix the positioning of their entry. Mobility is the body’s ability to move through a desired range of motion. Your swimmer can be strong, but if they can’t access the proper catch position, their effort is unproductive. To address mobility specifically for the catch, incorporate stretches for the pecs, and thoracic spine. Also, learn how to “unstick” the scapula.
In order to mobilize and strengthen all the muscles around the shoulder joint, check out some top picks for upper body mobility exercises from our SSDC Coaches:
How to Increase Awareness of the High Elbow Catch
Most swimmers are unaware of what their catch looks like. This is why SURGE Strength drills the catch on land. Taking the complication of seeing underwater out of the equation is a simple solution to see what position the arm is in during the catch. Use the drill below to give your athlete feedback on their catch entry:
High Elbow Catch Drill
The goal of this drill is to work the back, shoulders, and arms in the optimal catch position. The only equipment needed is a PVC pipe and a light weight. Lay in a prone position while holding the dowel overhead. From there, lift the arms up and back while looking at the floor. Then, keep the elbows softly bent and lower the dowel back to the ground. It takes a few reps for the athletes to get the feel of this movement. After a few attempts, they get much more efficient at hitting the right position in this drill. Then, you can add light weight to the dowel. When this drill is done properly, most of the movement comes from the elbows. Watch below to see one of the “swimming specific” assessments taught in the SURGE Strength Dryland Certification Curriculum.
Once you break down the catch, you see that there are two ways to improve it: training the muscles involved and improving the swimmer’s body awareness. Upper body resistance training movements make the catch stronger and more pliable. Our dryland drill teaches swimmers how to fix their catch technique. Most importantly, proper training for the catch is not recreating movements done in the water on land. Simple resistance training movements will transfer to swimming once the swimmer hops back in the pool. This training plan helps the swimmer enhance their catch without repetitive, counter-productive stroking patterns in dryland, and ultimately, become a faster swimmer.
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Courtesy of SwimSwam’s exclusive dryland training partner, SURGE Strength.
SURGE Strength, a strength training brand created by Chris Ritter, CEO of RITTER Sports Performance, aims to build better athletes and faster swimmers through dryland programs, and coaching education.
