When you swim, there are so many little fine points to monitor that it's simply too much for the mind to process. This is why sculling, practiced on a regular basis, can build awareness in your hands, teaching them how to find the best way to hold water, rather than having to think about it.
Whenever we have a chance to work with a great athlete, we always learn little tidbits that keep the sport fun. Jason Lezak shared with us a story of his training at Rose Bowl Aquatics in which they did 8 x 200 meters, with 8 "pullouts" at the end of each length.
It took me quite a while in my early days of coaching to realize that my athletes didn't understand many things I took for granted. I had swum at such a high level for so long, that I had gone beyond the teaching aspects of the sport, and just wanted to train these swimmers.
Sculling is a back-and-forth movement of the hands and forearms that provides almost constant propulsion.
Swim training involves hard work, but it can't be super intense all the time. There needs to be time set aside for swimmers to search, and figure out their strokes. But too much time spent relaxing isn't good either.
Reaching your potential in swimming means working on your distance per stroke... but increasing your cadence is also extremely important. If you have beautiful long strokes but no turnover, you're just going to look pretty... when you lose.
In all strokes, counting strokes is an effective way to monitor your stroke efficiency. Plus, when you're training a long set and your mind begins to drift, stroke counting can help you stay mentally involved.
A couple weeks ago, I was playing around with my camera in the diving well, and blew out a couple bubble rings. I posted the short clip on Facebook only to be asked a few times... "How did you do that?" Since I'm on the road this week, I figured we could all use a little break, and I'd have some real masters demonstrate.
Working the inner thigh for breaststroke, as well as developing quick, explosive power for starts, turns, and general racing is always a great idea, but sometimes tough to do in our sport.
During the holiday season, we all know that hard training is on tap for everyone; however, there should be SOME time for fun.
In getting a new season started, I decided I'm going to substitute practices this season with daily training on my Vasa Ergometer.
Last week, we presented 3 simple exercises to help prevent shoulder injury. Here are 3 more, just in time for the start of the fall season.
With a new swim season about to begin, it's time to start strengthening your shoulders and back muscles BEFORE you have a problem. Here are 3 simple exercises to help ensure an injury-free season.
In a recent article for Swimming World Magazine, we wrote about a drill that coach Dave Marsh uses with his backstrokers.
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