Hand Position
by Paul Hutinger

Question: I am a new Masters swimmer and have been wondering about hand position in the water when swimming. It seems that I should be able to pull more water with my hand cupped and the fingers together. What is the best position for the fingers?

Answer: My coaching friend, Bob Bruce, OREG (2003 USMS Coach of the Year), puts on many Masters clinics every year. Some of these focus on only freestyle, so I turned to him for his opinion. He said he is constantly asked this question.

"The surface area of the hand is not changed whether or not the fingers are held together tightly, held together loosely, narrowly separated, or widely separated. If we believe that we should avoid excessive tension in the hands, we should avoid holding fingers tightly together. If we believe that there is significant (sculling) component during hand/arm propulsion, we should avoid holding our fingers widely separated (wide finger separation interferes with lateral water flow over the hands). This leaves held together loosely or narrowly separated, which underwater video indeed reveals to be the hand configuration of nearly all strong swimmers. [Doc Councilman's original published comments are in the "Science of Swimming," 1968, pp.9-12].

"I have developed another supporting theory (only a theory with a theoretical basis in nervous system anatomy but no experimental proof): Slight separation of the fingers leaves more surface area of the hand exposed to water flow than if the fingers were held together. Since the surface areas of the hands are loaded with sensory nerve endings, slight separation of the fingers should allow more exposed surface area and thus more (potentially better) sensory input to the cerebral cortex, which in turn may allow better proprioceptive and exteroceptive control to the motor output (i.e. better kinesthetic sense leading to better stroke control).

Think of this as `feel for the water.'

"The surface area of the hand is diminished when the hand is cupped -- avoid this! The surface area of the propelling unit is greatly increased when the forearm is combined with the hand into one unit."

I agree with Bruce's assessments. Doc Counsilman was my Assistant Coach while I was at the University of Iowa, in the late 1940's. We had a hydro-plant and dam on the river flowing through campus. Doc worked with the hydro-engineers to research the water dynamics of the hand in swimming. These early experiments identified what Bruce describes as the "classic high elbow position and slightly separated fingers," which is just as efficient today as it was over 60 years ago!