When writing your seasonal plan you must start with your taper. What dates are your championship meets, yes meets? You don’t train all season/year just for one meet. Tapering is up to a 7 week process that prepares an athlete for multiple meets, not a one or two week resting process after yardage overload and […]
Read MoreA LOT! Kicking drives speed, controls body position and is essential in the timing of all strokes. Legs are the most understood part of the body especially for swimmers and their coaches. The understanding of how long it takes to get your athlete’s legs in shape, taper and rest your swimmers’ legs is a detailed […]
Read MoreI don’t think coaches give test sets enough merit or follow through with a purpose. I will outline a series of test sets that lead up to goal times(race pace for the year) for championships. Begin by establishing goals for your swimmers which will also set race pace training for the season. Remember to be […]
Read MoreI think most of us are good at identifying minor stroke corrections needed for our athletes but are you actually finding the real problem. Before you tell your swimmers simple solutions please diagnose their issues. For example; turn your hand inward, widen your recovery, lower your head, etc. are lazy solutions and yes probably need […]
Read MoreWhy do swimmers and coaches feel there is a big mystery about tapering and hope that it works? This is crazy! If your seasonal plan includes progression of race pace work and the proper recovery throughout the season then you have the experience to know that your taper will work. Tapering is the progression towards […]
Read MoreWe all have knowledge of swimming drills for each stroke as they have been handed down by coaches for many many years. I just ask coaches to please understand the reason you are coaching a specific drill to your swimmers and each swimmer to understand what they may be learning or unlearning from the drill. […]
Read MoreThis is a continuation of the starts newsletter. We will continue to expand and detail every aspect of the start. There is a swim workout and the end of this article with outline explanations of how it was written. Full season outlines are also in the 23 week, 14 week and Faster Swimming books. […]
Read MoreThe forward start is one of the most ignored and misunderstood skills of swimming. Improving a start may only drop a small amount of time but this will be the difference between winning or losing and qualifying or not. A quality start allows swimmers to launch off the block sooner with greater speed, superior body […]
Read MoreThere is a lot of information about teaching the high elbow in swimming and I feel there is a lot of misinformation. I ask you as coaches and seasoned swimmers to really think about the mechanics. RECOVERY OF THE STROKE: Most coaches just teach the high elbow in the recovery of the stroke with drills […]
Read MorePlease remember to test your swimmers regularly thru the 23 week season. You can administer the following test sets every other week ending the week of your swimmers biggest meet of the year. The test sets will teach your swimmers to maintain race pace thru the season. You will notice the intensity of the sets […]
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