arms position ?

[cdemills]

Hello,

yesterday evening, I had a pool training session with my scuba club. During vacations, they are no scheduled courses, so everybody train for himself.

We started by fin swimming, and I counted how many legs move where necessary to swim one length (25 meter). Equipment is: weight belt, mask, snorkel, and fins.

I tried two arm positions:
1) arms upright, hands closed, the fists "opening" the water. I know from yoga that this helps opening the thoracic chest
2) as my collegues: relaxed arms lying in the back or along the body

I was surprised to discover that with the first position, I spared two to three legs movement to reach the other end. Is it more efficient?
Why?

Greetings

CdeMills

 

[cdavis]

Hi CdeMills,

Welcome to DB.

Yes, arms forward is more streamlined. You will go farther with the same amount of propulsion. Whether you can go farther with one breath is a slightly different question, and the answer varies with the individual and the conditions. It takes energy to hold your arms up, a little for some and a lot for others.

Connor