# @bondiblade on Instagram

- **Type:** Video
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DdGlh-sT1NN
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/70245642-bondiblade-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/ed7a139637.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-09-10T10:12:03.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Gene Birks (@bondiblade) — https://gondola.cc/bondiblade

## Caption

⏱️Want your swimmers dropping time faster? 🧠Don’t just teach the CATCH— teach what the catch is actually trying to achieve ✔️

👉These two drills are how I like to build Early Vertical Forearm (EVF) without turning it into a complicated shape exercise. 🎯

👉The objective is simple: get the forearm into a useful position earlier, establish pressure through the hand + forearm, and keep that pressure connected as the body moves past the catch.
🔹 Drill 1: slow it down → reach → set the forearm → feel pressure → keep the elbow supported.
🔹 Drill 2: add speed → maintain the same forearm relationship → increase pressure without immediately pressing down.
🚫 Don’t chase a perfect-looking elbow.
🚫 Don’t force the forearm vertical.
✅ Feel the water load the forearm, then move your body past it.

💭This is where I see a lot of swimmers lose free speed. They can create a good-looking catch when the drill is slow, but as soon as the pace comes up, the elbow drops, the forearm loses its connection and the swimmer starts pushing water down rather than creating useful backward-directed force. Underwater race analysis makes this particularly relevant in sprint freestyle, where propulsive effectiveness, drag, stroke timing and velocity all interact. 📈🏊‍♂️

👀 My coaching checklist: When does the forearm become useful? Does the elbow stay supported? Can the swimmer maintain pressure through the forearm as velocity increases? And can they reproduce it in full stroke?

That’s the real test.

⚡️Better position → earlier pressure → cleaner connection → less wasted movement. 🔥

🤞The cheeky part? Sometimes the fastest way to drop time isn’t working harder.

It’s getting more from the force you’re already producing. 🧠⚡️

Teach the variable. Then make the swimmer own it 🤝 
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#BondiBlade #SwimCoach

## Stats

- **Views:** 2,897
- **Likes:** 96
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- **Comments:** 3

## Tags

swimcoach, bondiblade

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