Coaching

The View From Mount Stupid

July 23, 2015July 23, 2015 Rick Madge7 Comments

As coaches we are often expected to act as mentors, technical experts, motivators, physical diagnosticians, nutritionists, strength trainers, statistical analysts, etc. There are an incredible number of roles we play, and there is no conceivable way we can be experts in all of them. And yet, we have to take on these roles to do… Continue reading The View From Mount Stupid

Coaching

Deconstructing Fly-Dive Butterfly

July 17, 2015July 17, 2015 Rick Madge10 Comments

The FISU Men's 200m Butterfly video from a few weeks ago quickly make the rounds for a quite surprising reason. The 2nd place finisher from Japan, Yuya Yajima, basically swam a legal version of the Fly Dive drill. If you haven't seen it, it's best if you view it (here) before reading ahead. Yajima is… Continue reading Deconstructing Fly-Dive Butterfly

Coaching

Team Culture: How Do You Handle Mistakes?

July 10, 2015July 10, 2015 Rick Madge2 Comments

In the last few weeks I've read two excellent pieces about how organizations handle mistakes, and they came from two complete different worlds. The first is a fascinating book, Creativity, Inc., by Ed Catmull, President of Pixar Animation and Disney Animation. He talks a lot about company culture, and how it's critically important to the… Continue reading Team Culture: How Do You Handle Mistakes?

Coaching

Elite 50 Freestyle: Are We Swimming This Wrong?

July 2, 2015July 3, 2015 Rick Madge12 Comments

I have to admit, it took me a long time to figure out how to analyze the Long Course 50 Freestyle. After all, it's basically a maximum effort sprint with no turns. That's not a lot to work with. I actually got my break while I was analyzing underwater speeds (Underwater Kicking: Some Numbers) and… Continue reading Elite 50 Freestyle: Are We Swimming This Wrong?