Body Roll and Handpath in Freestyle Swimming: An Experimental Study

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Abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of (a) body roll, and (b) the motion of the arm relative to the trunk, on the medial-lateral component of the path followed by the hand during the pull phase in freestyle swimming. Ten male swimmers swam three trials of freestyle at a long-distance workout pace. Three-dimensional (3D) underwater videography was used to record the body roll angle-time history and the path followed by the hand during the pull phase. A mathematical model was used to characterize the motion of a swimmer's right upper limb in accord with 3D data from the videotape images, and to determine what the path of the hand would have been as a result of body roll alone. The contribution of body roll to the actual handpath was found to be nearly equal to the contribution of medial-lateral motions of the hand relative to the trunk.

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