Josh Amberger & The 'Serape Effect'

The Serape Effect is a cross-body connection that stretches some of the upper body muscles to their greatest length in order to create a snap-back effect. When this tension is released from these muscles they shorten for the completion of the movement, and a greater velocity is applied than had the muscles performed from a normal resting length.

Fastest swimmer in Ironman, Josh Amberger, uses this extremely well to be able to consistently hold a fast pace and rhythm despite not having some of the traditional technical elements you'd see in many elite pool swimmers such as a high elbow catch.

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[Fresh]

The kick looks insane...so much energy utilised but the guy is a weapon in the water so it clearly works for him

[samn]

Nice hearing you talk about this. When I can engage the opposite hip and trunk to the pulling arm it feels great. There is a surging feeling which is nice and exhilarating. Adding this kind of body awareness adds a lot of interest to a sport which can be a little robotic at times and allows the mind to relax too.

[philiplacey]

Started working on this today on my OWS, water was pretty choppy so it was hard to work on timing but I could feel a difference. The way my mind interpreted it, I was "leading with hip". Looking forward to playing more with this concept.

[amysun]

That kicking speed for long distance swimming is insane

[trykozmaksym]

This channel is golden - I feel almost ashamed watching such a good stuff for free :) the full membership is a bit above the budget but this upcoming video membership looks worthy!

[mlegrand]

Great video. I hadn’t heard of this snap back effect. 👍

[SestoElomenTo]

hmm. (rubber band) recoil effect. Got! It! Thanks..seems it's what i may be doing. I've picked up swimming in 2011 and i'm self taught, it wasn't until around 2016 that i broke through a barrier of being able to swim 1600m in 29 min. I only train for sprint triathlons, but i'm always pushing myself to go further, just a few weeks ago i went for another barrier breakthrough, i went for 3200m in 1:02:26 and felt i could go further, i don't know if this is good pace for a 42 yr. old who works 9-5 and works out sparingly throughout the week, i cant say enough about Effortless Swimming and the impact your videos have made. Thanks for all that you do.

[robohippy]

Well, no clue as to why you call this a Serape Effect, but in my martial arts classes (Tai chi and Wing Chung) teachers called it spiral energy or rotational energy. Same thing used in any throwing or kicking sports action, crack the whip with rotation. Butterfly would be crack the whip with a body wave. Not a loose whip though, more like the ratan cane/staff. I guess I could add action/reaction to the definition...

[Cookefan]

My interpretation of this young man is that he is much like other”mold breaking” young athletes in highly regimented sports that lean heavy on technique. He is like a swimmers Muhammad Ali, he seems to be doing everything wrong, but he has the speed and winning record to back up what his style is. The question will be, how long can he keep it up as he ages. Just like all those other special ones, it would be futile to imitate or try to capture his style. In time other young ones might try but I think that we should all be rotating our hips and doing what’s standard issue. I think it’s ok to analyze him and break it down but I think after that we can just enjoy his genius! Cheers from Colorado Springs, Colorado.

[karakokin]

It is spelled “sarape” with an “a” 😅 thanks for the video! And regards from Mexico 🇲🇽

[matthewconner]

The serape effect implies that the shoulders are rotating relative to the hips. Also, rotating the hip before pulling would seem to relax the serape tension which is not, apparently, what one wants.

[karstenmeinders]

It is a puzzle to me: a crazy kick und the arm movement looks as if he does not catch the water. Actually it seems he gets propulsion just by the kicks. But he is a good triathlon swimmer -so it remains a puzzle to

[thomasbarnes]

Can you do this effect if you swim catch-up?

[christoph_wattever]

Incredible how very different swim styles lead to good swim splits. It looks so inefficient in a way but still he's usually first out of the water. But also he's probably doing fast intervals in this video I'd guess

[alksjdlakjdskfsalkjd]

Can I say that : serape effect = proper hip rotation?

[adamding]

Not perfect skilled, but this guy is ridiculously strong and enduring. Just look at the kicking...

[LikeKoby]

This technique is brought to you by bi-lateral breathing. It doesn’t cost you a thing!

[deanb]

This shows the problem of trying to look at the pro's. I mean, seriously that looks like some of the 'before' video's that you show. It's a bit like studying Chris Froome and trying to learn cycling technique...you just wouldn't do it.

[etiennechevrier]

I must admit this is frustrating, so much emphasis made by coaches to work on stroke length and catch and I keep seeing these fast triathlon swimmers like Amberger, Wltshire, Amélie Kretz who have short quick catch with not pause at the front.

[trykozmaksym]

Does this not contradict to how 2-beat kick works? That seems and feels really confusing to work with one side, instead of with the diagonally opposite, which indeed feels natural.