What process does a swimmer need to follow to make a meaningful change in his or her stroke? What's the expected timeframe for change, and is the timeframe different depending on what aspect you're trying to change, e.g., does it take longer to change something involving the head... or the body... or the arms... or the feet?
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I have thought about this for a long time. Here is the process I believe will work.
I am not sure about the length of time for each phase. I have heard the number 20,000 perfect repetitions (strokes) to become a habit. So the first two phases may be the length of time it takes for that many perfect strokes at the prescribed intensity. I have changed tempo very quickly with a few technique changes. I recently changed my timing for distance free and was able to increase tempo from 1.6sec/stroke for learning to under 1.0 in less than a week. I don't know how long the last two phases would take. I have been toying with a seasonal plan like that Maglisho wrote that Salnikov used to be the first man under 15 minutes in the 1500. He basically moved through all the usually physiology paces (prep, base, power, speed, taper) in a 10 week cycle. It makes sense to me to spend 10 weeks really imprinting a change before trying to tackle a new change. I know most coaches try to bring in a couple changes a year and progress those changes together throughout the year. In my proposed plan, you would have time to take 5 changes from learning to race pace in a year. Of course, this is all theoretical thought experiments at this point. |
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Before I can answer some of the questions I need to cover a few global items that affect everything. Also this is a cliff note version since to really cover this in depth would require quite a number of pages of thoughts. We all think of the muscles as being the prime movers with regards to mechanics, but cut to the quick, what makes us move is that chain of neurons all involved the process of dictating the exact power and timing of the working muscle. So when we talk about making changes to patterns or positions, we have to understand that we’re not attempting to change the pattern relative to the muscles, but we’re changing the patterns relative to the neuronal activation patterns in the brain. When dealing with change we can’t just look at the moving part and try to restructure the pattern of movement relative to that part, we have to understand that there are a variety of elements involved in supplying information to the brain with regards to that pattern. Those elements include: the motor cortex, the somatosensory cortex, the visual cortex, and the vestibular system. So when you make a change, you have to account for all those elements, and you have to create circumstances where the athlete is wired into how each of those elements impacts what they are trying to do. I’ve talked before on this site about how the visual cortex is a major player with regards to supplying the brain with muscle management information, and more often than not, when you take the visual out of the equation, you allow the sensory cortex to get more involved in helping make the change. Plus you don’t have the eyes getting in the way by trying to push the brain to go back to the original patterns based on what sees. So creating new patterns results in the creation of new neuronal activation patterns, and the subsequent wrapping of myelin to enhance the speed and strength of the electrical signal sent through that circuit. I mention that since to get myelin to wrap, you have to be working in a state of total focus on the subject material. To do anything less might result in miss steps back to the original patterns and result in total confusion in the brain as to what the goal is.
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Good thoughts here. I'm still trying to change certain things. I competed in the 70's and early 80's. A LOT has changed since then. About the only thing I've made permanent is my head position. I'd say it takes a full year to change a bad habit. |
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I think AWARENESS (or feel of the water) is the key starting point. Feeling the resistance one is generating is difficult and any change should start from here. I do believe that it takes a lot of time to change different aspects of the stroke. As for example it was much harder for me to develop a quick butterfly catch than to breathe really low. |
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Tomas is right. It's all about awareness. When you ride a bike, do you think about what every muscle in your body is doing? No. It's automatic, unless you are still learning. When you are first learning something, you have an awareness of everything that is happening in your body at every second. Once you have gotten the hang of something, you lose that. The action becomes automatic. As swim strokes are always evolving, a great swimmer needs to be capable of constant change, and that can only happen if the swimmer is aware of every movement, every feeling, and everything about his or her relationship to the water at any given second. |
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Eric
Tomás
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