This looks like an interesting swimming invention that could help many swimmers, beginer to expert, get better.
Many swimmers have one common problem. Achieving an optimum body position, and integrating that body position into body rotation. This streamline body position begins with the body core and expands out to the arms and legs. Improper body position leads to the arms and legs out of sync with the body, which results in "survival" swimming and inefficient movements through the water. The DrySwim Trainer teaches swimmers and triathletes to conserve energy and swim with "the body", not just the arms and legs.
The DrySwim Trainer, invented by Internet Developer and Swim Coach James Davis of Pelham, NY and Chief Engineer Paul Dowd of Creative Engineering in Bronxville NY, believe that athletic movemments with "the body" is a universaly consistent principle, understood throughout all sports. Everything from hitting a golf ball to throwing a baseball to kicking a soccer ball requires the body to rotate along the center(long) axis of the body running from the top of the head, down to the spine and to end of the toes. This rotational axis acts as the power source of every swim stroke.
This is the concept behind the design of the DrySwim Trainer and Exerciser. The DrySwim Trainer and Exerciser is the first ergonomically-designed exercise machine for swimmers. You can't swim wrong on the DrySwim Trainer. Its patented design forces swimmers and triathletes to conform to the proper body position and therefore works as a foundation to train properly and exercise correctly using the correct technique necessary to pace smoothly without exerting unneeded energy. The arms, legs, the head and the body should be in the best position throughout the whole phase in order to perform the correct movements. The rotation of the hips provides the power behind every swim stroke and power is hand speed.
Below are the ideas and theories of swimming on which the DrySwim Trainer was designed:
- The rotation of the hips (not the muscles of the arms) generates the hand force applied to the water.
- The muscles that pull the arm through the water are attached within one inch of the top of the arm.
- With a 21" arm, the lever ratio is 1:20, which means that 100 lbs. of pull by the shoulder muscles produces only 5 lbs of force at the hand as it pushes back against the water.
- The torque generated by the larger, stronger hip muscles, on the other hand, whips the hands through the water, much like golfers or batters whip their clubs and bats through the air with a fast turn of the hips.
- Elite swimmers that were able to make modest increases in the acceleration of their hips doubled their peak hand force output.
- The time spent on the side should be maximized so the shoulders do not break the water-line and do not produce bow waves. This should result in reducing frontal cross-section, reducing drag, and increasing the ratio between the body's waterline length and width.
- Similar improvements are possible by orienting the narrowest direction of head, hands, legs and arms into the water, but the torso is by far the most critical.
- The motion of the hand, arm and leg from the back to the front should be in the air for as much time during the recovery stroke as possible.
- In the water, the hand, arm and leg should be oriented as hydrodynamically as possible, because the returning appendage has to move at least twice as fast as the swimmer.
- In the water, a swimmer generates eight times the drag (which increases with speed) of an equal amount of torso frontal area.
- Rotating shoulders adds power to the pull by using abdominal muscles to help pull the arm through the water.
For many triathletes, the swim leg of a triathlon is often the most demanding, especially if the athlete has no former swimming experience. The main reason for this could be lack of experience in competitive or open water swimming, access or availability to pools and water, time constraints to get to and back from a pool, or lack of access to proper coaching and instruction. The DrySwim Trainer could be a solution for triathletes since no pool is needed.
The DrySwim Trainer is a floor model and is used without water. There is nothing that you can do in the water that you can't do on the DrySwim Trainer. You can train distance or sprints, do long workouts or short ones and you can do drills including "the catch up" or "single arm drills". Additionally, the inventors believe that swimming on the DrySwim Trainer burns more fat than swimming the same workout in the water.
What do you think, swimmers - I think creativity is amazing!
Swim On!