Everything about the pike's shape serves one movement. The body is a straight cylinder, the dorsal and anal fins are placed close to the tail so that the whole rear third acts as a single paddle, and the mottled green flank breaks up outline against weed. The fish holds motionless, then covers a body length or more in a fraction of a second.
High-speed analysis of pike and other esocids shows the strike beginning with a C-shaped body bend that stores elastic energy in the tendons and connective tissue of the body wall, released as the tail sweeps. Acceleration rates measured this way exceed what the contracting muscle mass alone would predict, which is the signature of elastic power amplification. Backward-curved teeth then prevent escape once the jaws close.
How much of the total power comes from elastic storage rather than direct muscle contraction is still debated, and estimates depend on assumptions about tendon properties that are difficult to measure in a living fish.