Frustratinglyand despite their best intentions, good catch mechanics are very elusive forthe vast majority of swimmers and triathletes. A good catch on the water is oneof the things that separate elite and advanced swimmers from the masses andallow them to move quickly and efficiently through the water – but why do somany swimmers struggle to improve their catch?
儘管經過刻苦的嘗試，但是好的抓水對大部分人來說還是很困難。好的抓水是優秀的游泳選手和普通選手的顯著區別，但為什麼普通人無法提高他們的抓水呢?
Let’s take a look at a common problem that might be holding you back. Here is atypical sequence from one such swimmer Anna showing her entering the water andextending forward:
讓我們看看一個普遍的毛病，以下是Anna的入水圖片：
In the final position (3) her elbow hasdropped down lower than the wrist with the hand facing forward. This is aproblem because from there it is impossible to initiate a high-elbow catch onthe water. Instead Anna starts to pull through with the elbow dropped losingher a lot of propulsion:
在第三張圖片里，她得肘部比手腕低，手掌朝前方。這讓她無法形成高肘抓水，而是用拖肘，這讓她失去了推動力。
Theinteresting thing here is that Anna knows she should not be dropping her elbowin position 3 and yet is unable to stop it happening. Why? Because she istrying to keep her hand too near the surface at this point in the stroke anddespite her best intentions, as she rotates her body onto her left side she hasto drop her elbow to keep it near the surface. In comparison, take a look atAustralian elite swimmer Rhys Mainstone:
有意思的是，她知道不應該沉肘，但是還是無法控制。為什麼？因為她試圖讓自己的手靠近水面，當她向左側轉動時，就不得不下沉肘部。與之對比，我們看看優秀選手是如何做的：
Comparing 3 and 5, notice that Rhys’ handis deeper in the water, which allows him to keep his elbow higher than thewrist and the wrist higher than the fingertips. He can then bend his elbow andstart pressing water backward effectively (6), generating good propulsion.
比較圖片3和圖片5，我們會發現Rhy的手插得更深，這讓他的肘部比手腕高，手腕比手指高。然後他就可以彎曲肘部開始往後壓水（圖片6），產生很好的推動力。
As you swim, try entering the water andextending forward slightly deeper so that you are able to keep your elbow high.Experiment with different depths to see what feels best – somewhere between 20and 30 cm (8 and 12 inches) is best, the exact depth will depend on how broadyou are and the level of flexibility in your upper back and shoulders. Ofcourse you don’t want to go too deep as this will send your hand down towardsthe bottom of the pool, it’s a matter of finding the sweet spot between thetwo.
在你游泳的時候，嘗試入水深一些，這樣你就能夠讓你的肘部保持在較高的位置。嘗試不同的深度，看哪種最舒服，20-30cm也許最好，準確地深度要根據你的寬度和身體的柔韌性。當然也不用太深，那會讓你的手部指向池底，要在中間找到甜點的位置。
A quick warning here: As you improve yourcatch you may feel your stroke rhythm lifting and your catch and pull throughfeels ‘too easy’. These are good signs that you are getting things right -don’t be put off! Whenever you are making changes to your stroke be objectiveand monitor how fast you are swimming versus your level of effort, don’t justuse your judgement of what feels immediately right and wrong, doing so can bevery misleading at times.
有一個警告：當你的抓水提高後，你會感覺你的划水節奏加快，划水變得十分輕鬆。這些都是好的現象。每次你要對划水做出改變的時候，你都要把你前進的速度和你付出的努力來做對比，而不是靠立刻的感覺來判斷對錯，那往往有欺騙性。
