Early Vertical Forearm (EVF)

OK, so I've read the post, watched the olympic vids and still have questions.  Thanks by the way, this is great stuff.  I've gotten so much faster almost over night.

If getting a nice long extended arm (pushing through air rather than water) is a key then why should I have a high elbow on my recovery (while my arm is out of the water)?  If the arm is just going to land almost flat in the water (but through a mail slot or under my pillow) why waste the time and energy to lift so high?  It can't be to get EVF because after the long extension you need to start the EVF all over again anyway.  The sensation that has worked for me to get EVF after the extension is to grab and carry a rolled up carpet.

So, my guess is that a high elbow in the air during recovery is to aid in getting your body on its side?  To stay lean in the water.

But, watching the 4x100 olympics those guys couldn't be flatter in the water.  Is the difference the very short distance and that they are simly powering through the water faster than what switching from side to side would do.  For us, we need to switch from side to side because we can't power through a swim for an half hour straight (much like why we don't kick as frantically as they are)?  Am I way off?

yaqui - 2008-08-12 11:10 PM A good drill is to swim freestyle, but keep your arms under water on the recovery. You can really focus on getting a good vertical forearm at the catch. You'll also notice how easy it is to engage your lats when you do this. Swimming like this is very tiring, so it's best to do a 25 followed by a 25 swim. A swim aid you can use to swim with that will force a vertical forearm is the Finis Forearm Fulcrum Paddle: scott

These things are the greatest swim toy ever invented.  REALLY helped clean up my stroke.  They let you feel what the EVF catch is supposed to feel like, so you can duplicate it without them.  Unlike paddles and fists, they don't make your catch feel different (if you are doing it right).

The mental image that worked for me with EVF was to grab and 'arm full' of water.  Don't think about catching water with your hand, but capturing an entire arm full.  Like if you had a desk full of M&M's and needed to clear them off in a hurry.

As far as I can remember, high elbow has more to do with rotation then it does with extension and EVF but it does help put your forearm in the proper plane to enter the water upon extension.