3.8. Tip for a More Efficient Stroke – Remove the Bubbles During the Pull

I have another tip for a more effective pull. As we’ve already said, in a shallow pull we rely on the bubbles flowing around our body, which don’t offer much resistance. The same inefficiency can occur the moment we enter the water with our fingers and try to start the pull.
If we drag bubbles from the surface, we pull a long trail of air with us during the pull – and you can’t push effectively against air. If we started just a bit differently, we’d be able to get a much stronger push and move forward faster. Now let’s talk about what most often causes these bubbles:
(1) Missing the glide phase of the hand, or failing to extend the arm fully forward – during this extension, bubbles often escape from under the palm. But if this phase is skipped and the arm slips in like a watermill, then we always drag bubbles with us from the surface.
(2) The second cause is when the hand glides in, but not fully underwater – it’s more like skimming the surface. In this case, the swimmer is half surfing, half gliding on the water’s surface, and at the start of the pull again drags bubbles along.
(3) The third way to create bubbles yourself is by cupping your fingers and scooping as if holding water in a bowl – keeping the bubbles trapped in your hand like in a mug. This one isn’t the worst offense, so I wouldn’t worry too much about it, but of course, the “mug” can’t go too deep – just remember that the palm should be nearly flat and extended during the pull.
Try looking underwater again and see how many bubbles you’re pulling down from the surface. If it’s just a few, that’s normal – there will always be some. And during sprints, there will always be bubbles. But during slow or long-distance freestyle, you definitely shouldn’t see a white trail of bubbles under you like a plane’s contrail in the sky.