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?
Tag: MTAC
Underwater Kicking: Some Numbers
These days everybody knows about that underwater kicking is a fast and necessary aspect of swimming. And we all know that the fastest swimmers generally have incredible underwater kick speeds and distances. But what surprises me over and over is the general lack of numbers involved with this knowledge. How fast is it? How long… Continue reading Underwater Kicking: Some Numbers
The Lazy Way to Get Faster
I still remember this phrase from my university coach in my freshman year. It's such an appealing idea. The Lazy Way to Get Faster. Who could argue with that? I have to admit that I distrusted the idea at first. Swimming is known for fast freshmen, and of course being teenagers we already knew everything.… Continue reading The Lazy Way to Get Faster
Warm Weather, Dehydration and Swimmers
Like many clubs, we have a rule. "No water bottle, no swimming." We still allow the ones without water bottles to do dryland for the whole practice (it's hard!), with trips to the drinking fountain every 15 minutes. But they aren't getting in the water to swim without a bottle of water or a protein/dextrose… Continue reading Warm Weather, Dehydration and Swimmers
The Importance of Simple Concepts
I know this is going to sound like new-age jargon, but I can't emphasize enough the importance of coaching with simple concepts. This was really brought home to me this year with my volunteer coaching of a very special group of kids. They only train 2 consecutive days a week, 1 hour per day. And… Continue reading The Importance of Simple Concepts
The First Long Course Meet of the Year
Our team is like the vast majority of swim teams in the world. We have no real access to long course training pools, and so we train short course all the time. This makes the transition to the long course season difficult, and it makes the first long course meet of the year very, very… Continue reading The First Long Course Meet of the Year
The Slowly Evolving Nature of the Breaststroke Pullout
In December I published a post about the Death of the Breaststroke Pullout (here) right after FINA changed the SW 7.1 rule. While the title was intentionally provocative, my feeling was that the breaststroke pullout was about to change in a big way. Almost four months later I can honestly say that it kinda, sorta… Continue reading The Slowly Evolving Nature of the Breaststroke Pullout
The Roles and Responsibilities of a Head Coach
There's not much that gets a head coach more animated or frustrated than asking them about their responsibilities as head coach. And this is probably because the job involves so much more than just coaching. After researching a lot of different sports, and asking swim coaches on an excellent Facebook swim coaches discussion group, I… Continue reading The Roles and Responsibilities of a Head Coach
6 Things I Don’t Miss About Swimming in the 1970s
There is no doubt that swimming in the 1970s was exciting. Goggles had just been introduced in the late 1960s, and this allowed swimmers to train as hard as their bodies would allow, instead of training as hard as their eyes would let them. As a result, swimming records of every kind were broken on… Continue reading 6 Things I Don’t Miss About Swimming in the 1970s
More Than You Want to Know About Shaving and Swim Performance
If you've been involved in swimming for any period of time, you know about the shaving tradition. This is where swimmer at big meets often shave virtually all available skin not covered by a bathing suit, with the exception of the eyebrows. Normally this includes arms, legs, torso, and sometimes even the head. The loss… Continue reading More Than You Want to Know About Shaving and Swim Performance
Coach Rick - Mighty Tritons Swimming 