The art of sculling

Sculling is a hand movement a swimmer can practice to help improve their feel for the water. Swimmers for years have spoken about acquiring and losing the feel for the water. When it is has been lost due to a period of illness/exams/holiday keeping the swimmer away from the pool, sculling drills are emphasised to help relearn the feel for the water.




Sculling movements help improve the feel for the water and the ability to hold onto the water. An improved feel for the water helps to make the water feel more solid, as if you had something substantial to hold onto. This will help you pull the body through and over the hand keeping your distance per stroke high.

To add to the complexities of the mechanics of the pull phase, ie a high elbow, fingertips down and a vertical forearm, ideally there are also subtle pitch changes in the hand to consider. If your hand moves in a straight line from A to B then water in front of the palm of the hand accelerates with the hand movement. If water starts to accelerate then the body does not move forwards as efficiently as it could. Combine this with a movement that is too fast and then the water starts to slip around the back of the hand, which will again diminish your distance per stroke as the hand slips under the body.

The intricate hand movements are not really something that can be taught; you could never calculate and implement the precise movements in degrees. Sculling will help you work them out for your self and strengthen your hold on the water. Swim coaches will lecture about how the hand movements under the water are always from slow at the front of the stroke to fast at the back of the stroke. This makes sense to avoid the issue of water slipping around the hand if you pull too hard too soon. Think of a front wheel drive car in poor conditions and how the front wheels slip if too much power is applied. With an improved feel for the water you will develop the ability to apply as much power as your stroke can control and make use of.

When watching a good swimmers hand movements under the water you will notice the slight changes of direction the hand makes. These pitch changes and subtle changes in direction helps avoid the issues of the water accelerating so quickly or slipping around the hand. Sculling makes use of the forearm as an extension of the hand to increase the surface area of the usable paddle. The motion comes from the elbow not the wrist. Movements of the hands should be symmetrical between left and right, keeping constant water pressure around the hands. Don’t cup the hands leaving the paddle smaller then it needs to be.

Sculling is a motion that originates in the elbow, minimal movement through the wrist and with the hand sweeping in and out. The hands slice back and forth creating lift as the thumb leads up when slicing left and then with the little finger leading up as the hands slice right. The pitch of the hand will change as the need to generate more lift dictates. At many swimming clubs when introducing sculling to the youngsters often coaches encourage them to just wave at the bottom of the pool while standing. With the fingertips pointed slightly down they can lean back and use the scull action to pull themselves forwards

Chances are you have used sculling motions on a race start line to help manoeuvre yourself into position either while vertical or horizontal. Subtle changes to the hand positions and you can move forwards, back or sideways. I often think of scull movements as the small thruster rockets that help manoeuvre the rocket into position! While balancing on the start line it is those small waves of the hands that keep you still waiting for the gun!

Sculling can be practiced in many Body positions – flat on the front or back and either feet or head first. You can also perform sculls as if you were sitting in a chair or upright in a crucifix position. Some more advanced positions involve being vertical and head down! Some coaches are of the opinion that no kicking should be done in any sculling drill as this gives you the chance to isolate the sculling motion and focus on it 100%. This might be something you need to work towards as your sculling improves, so start out using the legs (when appropriate) and keep in mind they are there for balance rather then propulsion.

The first drill we will look at is the 3 position basic scull. In the first position there is very little lift needed so the hands stay quite flat, palms facing the bottom of the pool. In the second position the hands deepen (keeping the elbows high) meaning the pitch change of the hands can be steeper to generate some forwards motion. The third position with the hands under the elbows can be used with the steepest pitch change to create forwards motion

Basic 3 Hand position Scull
Head first, prone body position, arms out in front. Face down with a gentle flutter kick for balance (non-propulsive)
1) hands outstretched in front, palms facing down, waving at the bottom of the pool.
2) hands outstretched in front, pivot from the elbow, palms down about 20cm under the water level again waving at the bottom of the pool. The movement here is to originate from the elbow with a steeper sweep of the hands.
3) hands pointing down, underneath the elbow. In this position you can make use of the steepest sweep of the hands as you get to push the most water back and forth.

Basic Backwards Scull
Feet first, prone body position, travelling backwards. Face down, NO KICK!
1) hands outstretched in front, palms slightly up,
2) waving at the wall you are moving away from.
3) Fingertips pointing slightly up this time.
4) Use a pull buoy to help keep the legs up.

Basic Head First scull
Supine body position, face up, gentle flutter kick for balance (not propulsive)
1) hands by your side, palms facing down,
2) waving at the bottom of the pool.
3) Fingertips slightly up.

Basic Feet first Scull
Supine body position, Face up, ideally no legs!
1) hands by your side, palms facing down,
2) waving at the bottom of the pool.
3) Fingertips slightly down.
4) Use a pull buoy to help keep the legs up if necessary
5) push in a motion opposite to the direction of travel, and the body will move in the feet-first direction.

Advanced Positions
The following sequence is made harder by keeping the body vertical to a greater or lesser degree. A little more propulsion is needed to move the non-streamlined body position through the water. Initially I would practice keeping afloat in the traditional ‘treading water position’ but without the treading of the legs! As mentioned the hands will sweep in and out creating lift and helping keep you afloat. Keep the elbows in at the side and the forearms horizontal as the hands sweep out and aback. The degree of pitch change of the hands need not be too great to create the necessary lift in this position. No bend of the wrists here, ensure the arm movement is smooth and continuous.

The Crucifix
Get into position by keeping the body upright, feet pointing to the floor (no kick) head above the water, hands out in front with the fingertips down. An effective scull movement should see you able to keep the body perfectly straight and bring the feet to the surface. There are a few solutions to this and you may need to experiment with what works well for you. Once you have reached the surface with the feet out in front allow them to relax and drop back into vertical. The reverse can then be attempted, keep the body straight and bring the feet up behind you to the surface. Hands will now need to adopt a very different position. See if you can work it out!

360deg vertical
Body upright, feet pointing to the floor (no kick) head above the water, hands out in front, fingertips down with one hand slightly offset. An effective scull movement should see you move vertically around in a full circle. Try clockwise and anti.

FORWARDS VERTICAL
With the body upright, feet pointing to the floor (no kick) head above the water, hands out in front, fingertips down. An effective scull movement should see you move vertically forwards.

BACKWARDS VERTICAL
In the vertical treading water position, hands out in front, finger tips up. An effective scull movement should see you move vertically backwards.
Combining these two scull varieties should see you be able to move back and forth across the lane in an upright position.

CHAIR
A wonderful scull workout combined with an abdominal exercise. Head is above the surface of the water, hands and arms in front of the body, finger tips down. Bring the knees up into the chest. A vigorous scull motion should have you move forwards! To quickly feel the scull and improved hold on the water we will often break into relay teams and Chair Scull to halfway before turning around and sprinting back on full stroke. Be careful the scull motion does not become a breaststroke arm action in an attempt to create speed. This position is also a great opportunity to check on hand positioning and finger spacing. Attempt to scull in the Chair position with your fingers wide apart. You will soon struggle and feel how inefficient this position is.

Competitive swimmers of all abilities rely on scull to promote a greater feel for the water. In my opinion Sculling practice is essential for Triathletes. Few will have come from pure swimming backgrounds and naturally have a good feel for the water. What makes the ‘feel for the water’ so important for Open Water swimmers/Triathletes is the idea that for large portions of races they will be ‘catching’ disturbed water when they sit on peoples feet during sections of their race when they are drafting. If they practice hard to achieve a really good feel for the water then they should be able to make best use of a poor swimming environment ie when it is unavoidable to catch disturbed water.

About the author of this blog post
Article reproduced courtesy of Dan Bullock M.I.O.S who runs Swim for Tri and is a highly regarded coach, winning awards as London Region Coach of the Year in 2005/6 and 220 Coach of the Year in 2005. Contact him on 020 7650 7880 or by email info@swimfortri.com or through their website: swimfortri.com.

© swimfortri.com