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
Tag: swimming
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
The Team Philosophy / Coaching Mismatch
If you haven’t been on many swim teams, it may be hard to imagine that every swim team is fundamentally different. And this largely comes from two aspects of the team: team philosophy, and the coaches. Ideally, the team philosophy guides everything that the team does, how its members interact with each other, and it… Continue reading The Team Philosophy / Coaching Mismatch
Our Unhealthy Obsession with Race Times
Last year I wrote about how the swimming world has an unhealthy obsession with Personal Bests [PBs]. And since then I've seen countless more examples of swimmers treating non-personal bests as if it meant they were a failure. But I've also seen swimmers get unhealthily obsessed with their race times in general. The problem is… Continue reading Our Unhealthy Obsession with Race Times
The Troubled Life of a Drop-Dead Sprinter
If you've spent any time in swimming, you've probably known a drop-dead sprinter or two. Now, I'm not talking about a normal sprinter who can do a fast 50 or 100, but trains pretty much like everyone else. I'm talking about a sprinter who can do a blazing fast 50 or 100 in a meet… Continue reading The Troubled Life of a Drop-Dead Sprinter
Disqualifications: Fight Them or Accept Them?
Disqualifications. They're a common and necessary part of swimming. They lurk behind every start, turn and stroke. They can generate tears, anger, outrage, swearing and sometimes even acceptance. And they occur at local developmental meets, the Olympics, and everything in between. But what amazes me about them it the incredible diversity of attitudes towards them.… Continue reading Disqualifications: Fight Them or Accept Them?
Coach Rick - Mighty Tritons Swimming 