The Need for Speed

It matters not your competitive distance. All swimmers who want to improve in their chosen event ultimately need to gather more speed. This seems obvious for those racing the 50 and 100. It also applies to the 1500 meters, the open water and the tri-athletes. If you want to move up in the rankings you need speed.

It is relatively easy to find. It is in your home pool every time you go there. The key phrase is "every time you go there". You bring the speed and you "purchase and bank" it when you train in a certain way.

The workout below is an example of how to build some speed into your body. It mixes some reasonably paced recovery/technique swims with some pure lactate threshold rushes. It is perfect for racing junkies. Even if you are not one of those give this a try and see what you experience. It may open your eyes to some new possibilities.

Warm up well for a total of about 1500 yards/meters; be sure to include some stroke work. Finish with 4 or 5 x 50 build up to 80% effort, say on the minute interval.

3 rounds continuous of the following: each round = 750 with 300 worth of "effort"

1x200/4 - 150 at 75% - rest 10 seconds - blast a 50
1x150/3 - 100 at 75% - rest 10 seconds - blast a 50
1x100/2 - 50 at 75% - rest 10 seconds - blast a 50
1x50/1 - blast the entire 50
Then go directly into
1x100/2 - 75 at 75% - rest 10 seconds - blast a 25
1x75/1:30 - 50 at 75% - rest 10 seconds - blast a 25
1x50/1 - 25 at 75% - rest 10 seconds - blast a 25
1x25/.30 - blast the entire 25

Here is the key: go directly into the next round of 200/4 as above etc on the .30 second interval of the last 25 blast.

At the very beginning you will wonder, "Why all the rest?" after the first 200 and then the 150. If you do this properly, you will quickly understand the intervals. They give you enough rest for basically "active recovery" but then the rest begins to go away but the effort swims keep on coming. Done properly this will challenge you. You can add in stroke on the blast 50's and 25's. We recommend the 75% swims done freestyle (or backstroke) with a snorkel to rebalance your stroke.

Make certain you loosen well, in the 600-1000 range depending on your training and fitness level. If you are new to interval training begin with one round of this set progressing to two rounds and then finally three. Two rounds = 1500 with 600 at effort; three rounds = 2250 with 900 at effort.

When we do this type of intense swimming we always follow it with a recovery workout...or a day off! Let us know what you think. If you have a similar set to share send it to us and we'll put it out there. Have a great week at the pool!

An Important Reminder

A few of our team, from 10 year old Claire to 17 year old Allan, raced this weekend at the Far Western Age Group Championships. It was a good reminder that it is important to always (strive to) do the best you can with what you have available.

For some of our younger less experienced swimmers this is a very big meet. Over 250 teams from the west coast plus several from the east coast come out to this meet. The first two days were warm and sunny and spirits were high and times were fast. On days three and four the weather turned ugly. Sunday was 50-ish, winds gusting to 40 and heavy rain. Did we mention the meet was held outdoors? You get the picture.

For our older high school age swimmers this was a training meet. We have been pushing very diligently in the pool for 4 weeks now. We asked the group to pick one day of the four and go race since we knew the level of competition would be high. It was an opportunity for them to see what they could do in a tired state. (One of the things college programs look for is swimmers who can race well when tired.)

As we went through the meet, especially today, we kept reminding the swimmers to do the best they could with what was available.

10 year old Claire entered the day with a best time of 29.8 in her 50 free. She left the day the same. She swam a 30.1 and was so disappointed since she has in her mind a 28 something. But we reminded her that she held her breath off the turn – for the first time! – And was very close to her best…in the pouring rain. We turned tears into smiles.

17 year old Allan swam a 5:08 in his 500, out in 2:33 and back in 2:35. This from a young man who kicked 10x100 on the 1:40 on Friday, most of them under 1:15, several under 1:10. A very solid training swim in our minds.

Madison actually improved her 100 breast from 1:17 to 1:16 by executing much better pull throughs. We have been working on this aspect of her swimming for a while and today…in the storm…she pulled it off.

Sandy swam his 200 im in 2:03…his best is 1:53. Yet his under waters in backstroke were a full 10 or 11 yards…not the 12+ we are looking for but much better than he has done before. He was out in 58 for the 100. This is from a 15 year old swimmer who is headed for the top of the mountain. His last 4 weeks of training are spectacular. This swim today is really good. He then followed it with a nice, clean start and turn 50 free in 22.7. This is a very impressive morning for him.

His 13 year old brother swam his 200 fly breathing every other stroke the entire way for the first time. Scott actually swam his best time improving from 2:14 to 2:11.

Charlotte has been training up a storm of her own. On Friday in the sun she swam 54.5 in her 100 free which is darn fast for her. Today in the storm her 50 was 25.3. She was disappointed but the effort was solid, out in 12.1 back in 13.2 which if you consider the dive is negative split. Charlotte has very little easy speed right now. She will go a 23+ in 7 weeks at the high school championships and 52 in her 100. She is a sophomore who is going to make some college coach very happy.

As we went through the weekend we were reminded that no matter what meet you go to not every swimmer will record best times. It matters not your level of preparation or rest. No meet winds up at the 100% level…not even the Olympics. And yet there are many swims that are noteworthy for a wide variety of reasons.

Our task as coaches and swimmers and parents too is to find the value in every attempt regardless of the outcome. Each of us has swum or witnessed a race that resulted in a best time that was nonetheless not constructed well nor executed the way it was intended.

We are blessed in swimming with the non-subjective valuation of the stop watch.
We are cursed in swimming with the non-subjective valuation of the stop watch.

Do the Best You Can With What You Have

Kicking, Kicking, Kicking

This is the headline of the third point listed in the March/April 2010 Splash Magazine article entitled "So Long, Suits". The article outlines the "top 4 adjustments swimmers must make" now that FINA has sent the high tech suits to the Smithsonian. The other adjustments are "Improve Core Strength and Stability", "Eliminate Excess Drag" and "Technique Rules Again".

The main point of the Kicking adjustment is now that the buoyancy provided by the suits is gone swimmers will need stronger legs so that their kicking stays with them all the way to the finish so their body position remains advantageous. As the article so succinctly states, "Whether it's the end of a race or off the start or turns, no suit will cover up legs that are out of shape."

Fortunately there is a very clear and inexpensive solution; the more and faster you kick the less you will be hampered by leg fatigue or lack of a high tech suit. And the best thing about kicking is that it requires no special talent; all you need is will power!

However, it is all too often that swimmers (just about any athlete for that matter) will continue to work on their strengths figuring that will save the day. We figure that about 1/4 to 1/3 of training needs to incorporate leg work. We don't hit that number yet but we are working in that direction. We want leg power for short course and we know we need it for long course. If you are an open water aficionado you need it too. Tri-athletes need it as well.

We are including some kicking in our warm ups often and will add it to our loosen down swims as well. We even break some swims into part kick and part swim. The way to incorporate this into your training is only limited by your imagination.

Pick your starting point - where you are now in terms of a normal kicking set and interval. Then set a goal to work to change the duration, distance, interval and intensity of the kicking.

An example: you currently can kick 8x50/1:30 and that is pretty much it for you. Next time go 4x50/1:30 and then 4x50/1:20. Then try 2x100/2:50 and 2x100/2:40. Then add a couple more repeats and then knock another 5 or 10 seconds off the interval. If you swim 4 days a week make a kick set part of the workout twice a week. You can put on fins regardless of the caliber of kicker you are. It is fun to kick really fast! You can even begin, with fins, to kick on the same interval you usually swim. Be patient and give yourself some time. You will see steady and encouraging progress. And you will see an improvement in your racing as well. You will feel fresher deeper in the swim. You can actually pass people in the last 10 yards if your legs are still with you. When you do that you will feel so empowered and encouraged.

On our senior training team we now can kick 100's on the 1:40 for 2000 yards worth. Two years ago that was not possible. We kick 200's on the 3:30 and we are headed down from there...beginning this week!

You can do 100 short course repeat swims where you kick 25, put the board up, swim a 50, then rest 10 seconds and grab the board and kick the last 25 full blast. Find an interval that gives you 15 or 20 seconds rest. If you do 10 of these you will have added 500 yards/meters of kicking to your workout. Trust us when we say "that is a good thing".

Send us your favorite kick set and we will share it with others. Have a great week at the pool and bring your kick board. You will be pleased with the results...guaranteed!

Helping Put Things in Perspective

Now and then we run across a well written piece about a meaningful topic. The article below is an example of this. There are several themes running through it and we hope you will enjoy the messages. Parenthetically, as we write this on Saturday morning March 27, 2010 the NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships are being contested with a never before seen twist. The meet was postponed for 24 hours due to a number of athletes from three different schools being stricken with what appeared to be an intestinal virus on their flight to the meet. We wonder if Nimrod was one of them.

Patrick Finley: Israeli finds peace in, out of pool

Arizona Daily Star Monday, March 22, 2010

Arizona's Nimrod Shapira-Bar Or found out he was going to swim in the Beijing Olympics just five days before his first race. He finished 15th in the 200-meter freestyle and set a personal best in the 100. Nimrod Shapira Bar-Or isn't political, but he has a story to tell.

The Israeli stood on the pool deck of Hillenbrand Aquatic Center last week with plenty to worry about. Today, the freestyler will fly to Columbus, Ohio, where, starting Thursday, he will compete in five events at the NCAA men's swimming and diving championships.

For two years at The Bolles School, a prep palace in Jacksonville, Fla., Shapira Bar-Or, who is Jewish, lived with a man who would become his best friend.
Jowan Qupty is a Palestinian from Jerusalem. The two were acquaintances as kids, but didn't grow close until they shared an apartment together.

Qupty, who swims at Missouri, said that, back home, "people were amazed all the time" that a Jew and Palestinian could coexist.

That's a statement in itself.

"It's all a group of leaders," Shapira Bar-Or said. "And it's making both sides stress. "It shows how simple the situation is. If I can live with a Palestinian guy, I'm sure in our country we can live with a couple millions of Palestinians and Israelis together."
Qupty said politics didn't come up much in the house - "so, just in case, it wouldn't ruin our relationship."

You don't come to this spot in the Sports section - or talk to a UA swimmer - for geopolitical analysis. But, even in a small apartment in North Florida, a little peace is a great thing.

"It showed how simple the case was," Shapira Bar-Or said. "That two people can live together. All the war, all the money spent, for nothing."

Qupty will check in with his best friend via phone all week, when Shapira Bar-Or swims the 100, 200 and 500 freestyles, and the 4x100 and 4x200 free relays. He struggled last season after missing most of it with mononucleosis.

He doesn't want to be nervous this week; it'll ruin his swimming.

"It's kind of a secret," said the man whose first name recalls a biblical hunter. "It's a really, really simple thing. Don't stress about it."

If the 20-year-old sophomore sounds like the author of "Zen and the Art of Freestyle Swimming," it's because he learned the lesson in the most amazing way possible.

He knew at 12 he wanted to swim competitively, and that Israel's youth programs were no longer the way to improve. With a passport - his mom is British - Shapira Bar-Or moved to Bath, England, where he took an apartment on campus and attended high school.

He trained twice a day alongside record-holders and even lived by himself, cooking his own meals, just to swim faster. At 16, he moved home to Israel and quit school just to train.

Despite the training, he missed the cut for the 2008 Olympics - but then Israeli freestyler Max Javen tested positive for drugs.
Shapira Bar-Or was on vacation with his family, having not swam for eight days, when he was offered a spot on the team. His first race was five days away.

After a life of training, it would have been easy to stress out. He didn't. He worked in the pool, but not to exhaustion. He flew to China three days before the first race. He smiled a lot.

Then he finished 15th in the 200-meter freestyle and set a personal best in the 100.
"It taught me a lot, how swimming is in your head," he said. "You don't have to think about anything other than jumping in and having fun.

"Your body's like a machine. We train for six hours a day. Your body knows what to do. It's only the brain that can be like, 'Don't do it.'"

The result was astounding.

No stress, no anger.

Just peace.

"I had the best race of my life," he said. "I hope (this week) I'm going to have better races."

Every Now and Then

Someone once said that music is the international language. We here at Swim Coach Direct are big fans of most kinds of music. Don stumbled across this one while listening to the satellite radio in his car. Tuned into the E Street Radio station one day the guest D-Jay was saying how his sales manager concluded a meeting with the following song. While we watched the Women's NCAA Swimming Championships unfold last week we couldn't help but think about this message. With one day remaining there were five teams within something like 7.5 points of each other.

Have a great week at the pool. Each day we go to the pool we find it filled with dreams, passion and interest no matter the age, speed or proficiency of the swimmers. We think all coaches need to "Stand On It!"


STAND ON IT

Well Jimmy Lee was hookin' 'round the far turn of a funky southern Florida dirt track
He had mud caked on his goggles and a screamin' 350 stacked up on his back
Well as he passed the stands he was feelin' all tuckered out,
When through the roar of his engine he heard somebody shout
"Stand on it, come on boy, stand on it"

Mary Beth started to drift, she hit the shift but she just couldn't get a hand on it
Racin' some Red Hill boys, she had the deed to the ranch and a grand on it
With eight grand blowin' hot on the red line
She blew past a hitchhiker out on Route 39
He hollered "Stand on it, go 'head baby, stand on it"

CHORUS
Well now when in doubt and you can't figure it out
Just stand on it
Well, if your mind's confused, you don't know what you're gonna do
Well buddy, stand on it
Well if you've lost control of the situation at hand
Go grab a girl; go see a rock and roll band
And stand on it
Come on man, stand on it

Well now Columbus he discovered America even though he hadn't planned on it
He got lost and woke up one morning when he's about to land on it
He wouldn't of got out of Italy, man that's for sure,
Without Queen Isabella standing on the shore
Shouting "Stand on it, go ahead man, stand on it"

CHORUS

Bobby was leadin' the pack, he settled back and he got ready for the long haul
Well fifty yards from the finish line somebody roared up and they blew him into the wall
Well he rolled over twice, lucky to survive
Layin' in the back of the ambulance more dead than alive
Somebody shouted "Man, you call that drivin'?
Why didn't you stand on it?"

Music and Lyrics by Bruce Springsteen

A Mixed Bag of Tricks

This week's offering is a compilation from three different sources, each with their own piece of wisdom to share. We think one of the most enduring characteristics of coaching is the willingness on the part of most coaches and programs to share their ideas. Some do not take part in this but by and large the coaching family is one of openness. This is a very positive attribute since the thread of improvement gets stronger with each "generation" of an idea. If you have an idea we encourage you to share it with a colleague or with us and we will toss it out there (with your permission of course) for all to see, riff off of and benefit from.

Ken DeMont of North Bay Aquatics delivered a great workout on Saturday.

Warm-up was about 30 minutes of swimming and drills.

6x150 kick spiking the last 50. The interval was 2:45 (I forget, it may have been 2:30 - no matter, it was somewhat challenging but not crippling)

6x100/1:40 progressive (descending) 1-6
5x100/1:30 pro 1-5
4x100/1:20 pro 1-4
On the 6 and the 5 we had stroke specialists mixing in non-free. On the 4 everyone swam free.

A 10 minute sculling set followed, going 25's working on perfect body position. We use snorkels on nearly all sculling sets.

5x100/1:40 pro as above - mix in strokes
4x100/1:30 pro as above - mix in strokes
3x100/1:20 pro - free

10 more minutes of sculling

4x100/1:40 pro as above
3x100/1:30 pro as above
2x100/1:20 pro as above

Cool down with 25's on 5 seconds rest swimming as well as possible working on a few simple drills...

This set was excellent for several reasons. What I liked particularly was how it pushed them stroke wise and then finished up all freestyle on a shorter interval. You can use the template and adjust your intervals accordingly. At the end of each set on the 1:20 you could see who was fully engaged by the immediate exhaustion. We had several breakthrough swimmers. This will make for excellent "coaching ammo" at our Monday team meeting.

I had a nice visit with my 87 year old Mom, Helen Swartz last week. She is absolutely dying from kidney failure. These are her words towards the end of lunch.

"I believe each person should do their best all the way to the end. So that is what I am doing - my best to the end. And only that person really knows if they are doing the best they can."

We will share her wisdom with our team this week, making certain they understand the credibility of the last sentence above.

Coach Mark Stanley at Montgomery High School in Santa Rosa, CA asked us to check out hulu.com and search for "Messner". We did and were blown away by the free video. Messner is considered by those in the know to be the most prominent mountain climber of the modern era - perhaps any era. His insights into his abilities are fabulous. He really understands and gives huge credit to his mental toughness. We are figuring out a way to show this film to our team. It will make a big impact on more than one of our swimmers.

So, thanks Ken, Helen and Mark for sharing. Let us know how it goes for you and if you can spare an idea or two please feel free to do so. We are, after all, in this game together!

What We Learned & Two More Great Quotes

We were in Austin, Texas this past weekend at the Grand Prix meet and saw this quote on the back of a T-shirt, "The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary". We liked that one a lot.

There are many places in the world where athletes are training diligently and that is a very important component in the equation for success. Whenever we compete at big meets where we rest, shave and taper we are attempting to achieve one of the most important things we teach, namely how to perform our best when it counts the most. There are not too many places in the world where athletes learn this vital skill, the one of dealing with the pressures and being able to perform as planned. We want our program to be recognized by our athletes as one of those places. And so it is that when we reflect on these meets we learn the most valuable lessons, indeed far more valuable than the ones we learn during training sessions. In no particular order here are some of the items on our list after the Texas Grand Prix.

• 1 - 10 weeks of training is good but not as beneficial as 30.


• 2 - No matter how much speed you have you MUST be able to swim the last 25 yards or meters with conviction.


• 3 - You must be able to compare suits to suits...meaning tech suits to textile suits as regards to times achieved.


• 4 - If you benefited greatly from a tech suit then you need to build your own body into one of those suits. Reduce not so much your weight - though that will help - as much as your percentage of body fat. Core strength is critical.


• 5 - Value your swim based upon the construction and competitiveness of it and not merely the time...see #4 above.


• 6 - When you swim a great race you absolutely must take that passion and pour it into your next round of training. You are now free to train at a higher level of intensity.


• 7 - When things don't work out the way you planned, allow yourself a moment or three of disappointment...and then get over it (and yourself if need be!).

The second great quote at the meet came from one of our swimmers who was offering some assistance to a teammate who was disappointed in a swim. We really liked this one a lot...if we owned a T-shirt shop we'd put it on one now.

"The art of this sport is being able to pick yourself up after a disappointment like this." A. Sayadi

A Sampler from Vancouver

We have been enjoying the competition from the Winter Olympics in Vancouver these past two weeks. Watching the best in any field come together testing their courage and confidence is always a treat. We especially take note during the interviews of the self talk of these athletes. You'll remember a while back we noted that when you hang out with champions you can learn a lot listening to how they talk. It was then suggested that you keep a sharp ear for how you talk about yourself and your performances as you go through your day.

The following are excerpts from some US medalists. If we lived in Germany or South Korea we would have more quotes of a similar nature from German or South Korean athletes.

Evan Lysacek - figure skater
"It was definitely my best, and that is what I came here to do. Of course you know it's been tough the last couple of months not thinking about the results, but I've had to shove all those thoughts out of my head, and my thought process was just mind your own business. I wrote that on a little card when I got here and taped it up in my room: Mind you own business, worry about what I have to do and what my job is, and the truth of the matter is that mission was accomplished here."

Julia Mancuso - alpine skier
"My coach kept saying, 'You've got to just keep doing it, just keep going on,' no matter how frustrated I got in all the fall races...but my training has been really good and I proved today I could do it."

Bode Miller - alpine skier
"At our level it's more about self-discovery." As for the Olympics, he added, it's not about obsessing over medals - and certainly not about obsessing over other people obsessing about your winning medals. "It's about digging deeper and finding inspiration...having fun, about skiing like I did when I was a kid." More from Miller - "I've never had too many confidence issues in my skiing. But to execute on a day like today, and the way I executed, the way I've skied, is something I'll be proud of for the rest of my life. I've put down absolutely wide open runs before - I could have skied better today - but I skied with 100 percent heart and I didn't hold anything back."

Whenever top performers are interviewed you will most usually see similar self-talk. Take a moment over the next couple of days to monitor what you say to yourself (and others) as the events in your world unfold.

Have a great week in the pool...we know we will!

An Example of Advanced Clear Thinking

We were at a CAL dual meet a month or so ago and had a chance to chat with Nort Thornton. Nort has coached so many swimmers - many of them among the world's fastest - that he has seen stroke progressions few have had the opportunity to witness. Whenever he talks we listen. He offered to share with us his views on some things he believes really make a difference. We shared this information with our team and we can tell you they were all ears. So, with Nort's permission we offer the following. Below are some of the key points. Enjoy...and thanks to you Nort for sharing!

My Thoughts on the New Breaststroke

by Nort Thornton

After coaching for fifty plus years as a head coach at the high school, country club, U.S. Swimming Club, Community College and NCAA division I levels, where I had sole responsibility of coaching the whole team on all of the four competitive strokes, I retired from the University of California at Berkeley where I have been for the last thirty-three years. I decided to volunteer to help out, and our present coach David Durden was kind enough to put me to work. It isn't really work when you love what you are doing. We decided that I could be the most helpful if I looked after the breaststrokers swimmers, so that is what I have been doing for the last two years.

When you only have one stroke to think about, I found that I could think about it in much more detail, and in different ways. There is an old saying that goes- "when you look at something differently, the thing you look at changes." I believe this to be true. Here is my thought process. I looked at a couple laws of nature. 1.) Water is 1000 times thicker than air. To move through water takes concerted effort. Hydrodynamic principles that affect our movement in water tell us that as our movement becomes more forceful, and speed increases, water's resistance to it increases by the effort squared. If you fight the water, slap at it and splash around, tangling with the water's surface tension, and creating counter productive waves, the resistance explodes by cubing your increase in effort. The water not only resists our effort to move through it, it has various forms of drag. Molecules of water in the form of sheets that must be pushed aside to open a 'momentary hole' through which the body can propel itself. You could spend the rest of your life in the weight room getting stronger, and not win this battle. 2.) The quickest and most dramatic way to improve your movement though water is to ensure that the swimmer understands proper technique. A 10% improvement in technique will usually result in a 10% better effort.

What we need to understand is that speed comes from our body position, our line between our arm pulls. If we can have a narrow streamlined body line, so as to not push much water, we can slide through the water faster and farther on each stroke cycle. So basically the best swimmers are the ones that don't over power the arm and leg actions, but have the best streamline position.

The second most important element in fast swimming, in my opinion, is the ability to move water quickly, which increases as the swimmer first gets stronger and then more powerful. Finally, increased conditioning (getting in better shape) plays the third most important part. It is critical to be able to hold speed for your whole race distance, while dealing with the increasing discomfort. But think about the fact that it would take about a 50% improvement in conditioning to produce the same 10% improvement in effort that better technique affords.

The third point is becoming comfortable with less air while spending more time underwater. Since the walls of the pool are where you can generate the most power! speed, we need to be able to take full advantage of them. If lack of air leads you to shorten up your underwater sequence of the dive or push off from your turns, then you are giving up you main advantage~ Remember that you can move through the water from a push off in a streamlined position faster than we can swim on the surface; you do not want to give this advantage away under any circumstances.

I believe that proper technique (the least amount of drag and resistance) requires that:

• A. Swimmers maximize the streamline off of every wall (which takes breath control) and training to do this in oxygen deprivation.


• B. Extending the body to maximum reaching streamline position appropriate for each stroke, especially while in oxygen debt. Developing the neuromuscular adaptations to perform under the combat of racing is key to success.


• C. Not rushing the stroke just to sneak in another breath. Holding our stroke length and tempo at all times.


• D. "Less is more." Too much effort inappropriately applied during a race will not necessarily make swimmers move faster, but it will assuredly make them tired faster. Since you can only get a certain level of physical fitness, and the water continues to square or cube it's resistance, it should be obvious by now the greatest opportunity for improvement comes in the area of eliminating resistance and drag, or better technique. (more speed between the arm pulls.)

My thinking is, and it became very obvious, that we cast a "body shadow," as if we were standing directly under a floodlight, which casts a shadow on the deck around our feet. We need to successfully find a way to squeeze that shadow down to the smallest possible circumference. This should be our racing streamline position. Anytime we move our feet, legs, hands, elbows or arm we need to find a way to have these movements inside our shadow, in other words, not increase the circumference of our drag shadow.

Since the high tech swim suits are no longer legal, at least as of this year. Actually the wording of the new rules, which allow knee length suits, is written in such a way that the swim suit companies may be able to produce suits that still can give you some assistance. We will see how much money is to be made from these suits, and of course this will determine the direction that the sport of swimming will head. Assuming that we will need to produce proper body position on our own~ it is very important to learn to create body tension throughout the core, so as to maintain the bodyline that will allow you to maximize your elimination of resistance and drag. To swim downhill, you must learn to press your chest down, which because of your lungs, is the most buoyant part of your body. The body laying out on the surface of the water (face down), is balanced somewhere near the navel. If you relax your body tension, your chest will float up and you lower body will sink. At his point you are swimming vertically, which will create the most possible drag and resistance. The top swimmers have learned to develop enough tension in their core to keep their chest slightly lower than their hips in a tight streamline. Please do not think that you need to try to swim higher in the water. Any energy that is devoted toward staying higher in the water, is energy that is taken away from forward propulsion. Speed can best be achieved by maintaining a straight line.

In the water, we want to manufacture velocity. There are two ways to get faster swimming: 1) through biochemistry (the operation of muscles and expenditure and resupply of energy) and 2) through biomechanics (the physical forces that govern propulsion and the generation and conservation of momentum).

Most swimmers and coaches devote the bulk of their time and attention to conditioning (the biochemistry half of the equation) and very little tine to technique (the biomechanics). Most are only concerned with producing horsepower. But what is most important? Shaping and positioning the body to reduce frontal resistance. (Eliminating and/or reducing the resistance of the water to the body's passage through it.) This will create and/or improve the force production properties of the stroke.
If you can be a good "eliminator" and just and average "force producer," you can be very successful competitive swimmer. The eliminating skills depend far less on pure talent than do abilities in force production. You can swim a great deal faster by staying out of your own way as you move through the water. (Boats, cars, planes, and swimmers are all designed for the same purpose).

More from Drive

"Drive" by Daniel H. Pink continues to enthrall us. "As a psychology professor at Stanford University, Carol Dweck has been studying motivation and achievement in children and young adults for nearly forty years, amassing a body of rigorous empirical research that has made her a superstar in contemporary behavioral science." It occurs to us that we coaches and swimmers are very similar in that we are working daily in the field of behavioral science.

See if this doesn't intrigue you........

Dweck says, "Effort is one of the things that gives meaning to life. Effort means you care about something, that something is important to you and you are willing to work for it. It would be an impoverished existence if you were not willing to value things and commit yourself to working toward them."

Pink continues..."Another doctor, one who lacks a Ph.D. but has a plaque in the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, put it similarly. "Being a professional," Julius Erving once said, "is doing the things you love to do, on the days you don't feel like doing them."

We'll stop there. The best ideas are communicated simply. We think Dr. J said it better than we have ever heard it expressed.

Have a great week! Stay in touch...

Ah Yes...Motivation

Whenever coaches get together to chat, pick each other's brains, the word motivation almost always comes up. It is the rare coaching clinic that doesn't have the topic of motivation as, of all things, a "carrot" to get you to sign up and attend.

Here at SwimCoachDirect we have often thought about the subject in both abstract terms - what will work for a particular training group this week - and concrete ones, how can we motivate Mary to get engaged in her aerobic training more?

Our coaching colleague Nort Thornton at UC Berkeley mentioned a new book by Daniel H. Pink entitled "Drive". We picked it up, began reading and cannot put it down. It is one of those books that comes along now and then and really challenges you to alter your perceptions. Without trying to sum it up, especially since we are only part way through it, Pink really wants us to think about the differences between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation. The following are some of the morsels we found particularly tasty...

"Greatness and nearsightedness are incompatible. Meaningful achievement depends on lifting one's sights and pushing toward the horizon."

When writing about extrinsic motivation (which does work in some select specific situations) he points of the downfalls.

"Carrots and Sticks: the Seven Deadly Flaws"
1. They can extinguish intrinsic motivation.
2. They can diminish performance.
3. They can crush creativity.
4. They can crowd out good behavior.
5. They can encourage cheating, shortcuts and unethical behavior.
6. They can become additive.
7. They can foster short-term thinking.

"Self Determination Theory (SDT) begins with a notion of universal human needs. It argues that we have three innate psychological needs - competence, autonomy and relatedness. When those needs are satisfied, we're motivated, productive and happy. When they're thwarted, our motivations, productivity and happiness plummet."

Over the last three decades any numbers of scientific research projects in various places across the globe are delivering irrefutable evidence that in just about every field of endeavor we are led to the same conclusion. "Human beings have an innate inner drive to be autonomous, self-determined and connected to one another. And when that drive is liberated, people achieve more and live richer lives."

This is remarkable evidence that supports some of the most visible success stories in sports. When an athlete "owns" his/her career, the level of interest and thus achievement is much higher than when the coach is "in charge of motivation." Teams function at much higher levels when the various members are pulling in the harnesses together toward a self-determined outcome.

When you begin planning for your next training block, consider what makes you feel like you are making progress. Share that with your coach or team. Get those in the support positions to "buy in" and watch the fundamental change take place. Empowering yourself and those around you can be a very "motivating" step for all concerned.

Give it a try. Let us know how it goes for you!

Lessons Learned

We went to a swim meet this weekend and to no one’s surprise we learned some more goodies about how to be effective under the magnifying glass that is competition. This particular meet was held in a long course pool meaning 50 meters long. Not only is a meter longer than a yard, when you take away ½ of the turns you really get a good perspective on how the swimmer’s fitness is progressing – or not.

There is one axiom in our sport that goes something like this: one goal of a swimmer is to be long course fit and short course fast. To swim effectively in a 50 meter pool you need to be really fit. To compete effectively in any size body of water you need to have speed. If open water swimming is your thing then you absolutely need to be very fit. If competing in open water is one of your goals you will want to make certain that you have speed as well as fitness. Many a place is determined in racing by the closing speed at the finish. This applies to open water as well as pool swimming.

You can get long course fitness in a short course pool, even a 20 yard pool or a motel pool; simply do a flip turn before you get to the side of the pool, pushing off on the water, not the pool side. Try it sometime. You’ll be amazed at how challenging it is to swim laps like this. We often have our swimmers do 100’s or 200’s doing long course turns at one end while doing short course turns at the other. In our county there are pools that are 50 meters, 40 meters and 33 1/3 yards long. Each of them offers opportunities to get long course fit.

In fact, even swim programs that have 12 month access to 50 meter water day in and day out still practice a lot going short course. Too much long course swimming makes you a sled dog. Too much sprinting makes you a greyhound. If you are going to venture into open water or long course pool swimming make certain you are fit while keeping up your speed so you can be competitive at the end of the race.

We know there are a lot of you who are tri-athletes out there. In the cold of winter you can do a lot for yourselves by swimming even in a short course pool by simply varying your routines. Give it a try and let us know how it goes for you!