Tapering means a lot more than resting and is a long process to prepare the athlete for a series of championship meets or “The Big Meet”. The athlete will still increase aerobic capacity while developing the speed needed for the end of the season. Developing Speed and Power is the focus for the athlete’s niche […]
There are two major mistakes that most swimmers make in the 100 of any stroke, sprinting the first 25 full speed and not breathing. Teaching the swimmer how to control the beginning of the race is key. Swimmers need to understand the importance of breathing. Except for the 50 free, breathing is one of the […]
We have covered momentum before but it could be the most important concept for all swimmers to understand. Do your best to convey to all swimmers the importance of maintaining and creating speed. This takes focus and efficiency! Maintaining momentum from a start, turn, the finishing of strokes and kicking are extremely important. Teach your […]
Race Pace isn’t sprinting to exhaustion but creating the speed that will be needed to achieve goal times for each event. The main emphasis of Faster Swimming is if you train at slow speeds you will compete at slow speeds. If you train 500’s and you are a 50 freestyler you are not maximizing your […]
Practice You must simulate race conditions in practice to get better at racing. This includes having a plan for a general warm-up, perhaps an event-specific warm-up, what to do if no warm-up pool or lanes are available during the meet, what your athletes need with them behind the blocks (goggles, a relay card (?), a […]
Now is the time of year when everything counts. Hopefully, your swimmers have trained well and if they haven’t well then last call. Taper time is a well thought out process of preparing your swimmers for championships. Taper means QUALITY work and QUALITY recovery just to begin. Race Pace, Variable Speed swimming and kicking, Understanding […]
Coaches – please remember when the core of your training is aerobic you don’t need to lift with an aerobic agenda. Your swimmers are raising their heart rate a lot more than you think while lifting so just lift for speed and strength. Make sure that your swimmers maintain flexibility after lifting. Stretching after any […]
There are many, maybe even countless, methods to achieve athletic success. However, the principles of athletic success are few. Said another way, by someone much smarter than I – “Methods are many, principles are few; methods always change, principles never do.” Follow the principles listed below throughout your athletic career and find success. I suppose […]
MECHANICS: There are five categories and I am going to elaborate on #4 Momentum as it could be the most important to understand. The others are talked about in the Coaches Guide. Back of the hand mechanics with “arm and hand” as one-paddle. The catch and finish of each stroke. Body position and reducing drag […]
To feel comfortable in the water. To know stroke counts (per lap) for all strokes. To understand timing of all strokes. To have excellent walls and turns. To practice with proper stroke mechanics. A swimmer also needs experience racing and that takes, a long time and hundreds of races for mechanics and strategies of each […]