In the recovery, the arms are swung sideways across the water surface to the front, with the elbows straight. The arms should be swung forward from the end of the underwater movement; the extension of the triceps in combination with the butterfly kick will allow the arm to be brought forwards quickly in a relaxed manner. In contrast to the front crawl recovery, the arm recovery is a ballistic shot, letting gravity and momentum do most of the work. The only other way of lifting the arms and the shoulders out of the water would be by dropping one's hips. Therefore, the recovery, at least the acceleration of the arms, is in no way relaxed . It is important not to enter the water too early, because this would generate extra resistance as the arms move forward in the water against the swimming direction, however, during longer distances, this is difficult to avoid, and it is more important to avoid dropping one's hips. A high elbow recovery, as in front crawl, would be disadvantageous because of the natural undulations that are partially caused by the recovery and the relaxed movement caused by the momentum of a triceps extension. Limitations of the shoulder movement in the human body make such a motion unlikely. The hands should enter into the water with a narrow V shape (at 11 and 1 o'clock, if viewed like a clock) with thumbs entering first and pinkies last.