Long and Strong

Several coaches were hanging out poolside last weekend talking about the recently concluded National Championships/World Championship Trials held earlier this month in Indianapolis. We asked one coach who put a swimmer on the US Team headed to Rome for the World Championships this month what his opinion was about the meet; what did he take home from the experience.

His answer was succinct and to the point: "Long and strong," he said. "All the fast swimmers are long and strong."

In a 50 meter pool, which as you know is where all World Championship and Olympic contests are held, swimmers do indeed benefit when they are long and strong: Long with their strokes and strong to carry their speed over the longer distance of the 50 meter pool.

What can we all take from this simple advice? We always need to be mindful of our distance per stroke. We always can work on our general and sport specific strength component.

We recommend that each workout has a set of drills and a set of training that incorporates the concept of distance per stroke. A quick example of this would be to swim a 50 (yards or meters) counting your strokes per lap and keeping them the same. Once you arrive at this "X" number you have your base line count. Then swim a couple of 50's at X-1; then go a couple more at X-2. You can do any stroke you wish so long as you count the number and work to reduce it. Then do a set of 9 x 50 swimming all of them at the same time but do the first 3 at X, the next 3 at X-1 and the last 3 at X-2. there are other examples but this gives you an idea of how to mix the concept of "long" into your workout.

The "strong" part is pretty simple. If you go to the gym and already have a routine then simple add a couple of pounds to the lifts you do, or add a couple more repetitions to your sets. Work on the prime muscle groups that you use in swimming and if you are not sure then ask one of the trainers at your gym.

Or you can do pushups and pull-ups, squats and calf raisers at home. It doesn't take a gym to get stronger; all it takes is your desire!

Give this a try for 30 days and we are pretty sure you will feel and see the difference in your swimming. What works for the fastest swimmers in the world works for all of us.

Have a great week in and out of the pool. We are here to help so let us know how we can!

Growing Pains

As businesses and teams work through these competitive and challenging times we think it is wise to use the proverbial "growing pains" as an opportunity to learn, to improve our product or service and to re-examine how we deliver the same. If you have the best product but are weak at delivering it you will soon be out of business. If your business is a swim team your "product" is perhaps more accurately described as a "service" that you provide. Again, we think the delivery of this service is what sets the strong apart from the weak. And we will be so presumptive here to suggest that it is relatively easy to draw the distinction between the strong and the weak.

Healthy teams are ones that continuously grow; the numbers of athletes are up; the financial foundation is solid; the coaching staff is growing; the swimmers are having more fun and swimming faster when it counts, meaning at the more important meets. In any given geographical area there are always at least two swim teams, usually many more. This gives the swimming public a choice. We find that folks most often vote their approval with their checkbook and their presence.

Our team here in northern California is healthy and at the same time we are experiencing growing pains. Our staff has been spending time this summer asking our swimmers to evaluate and where necessary to re-think their concept of what a team is, how it functions more effectively. In so doing we looked for examples of other successful athletic programs. This led us to an enlightening article about Pete Carroll who is the Head Coach of the football team at the University of Southern California. His teams' record over the last decade is more than impressive. He has had winning seasons, won National Championships, and been in more Bowl games etc than any other program. What caught our eye was that he has not been through a normal "win and then re-build" cycle. He just keeps on winning. Talk about consistency.

We found it instructive for our purposes working with our team to learn that Pete has only 3 rules: 1 - Protect the team; 2 - No complaining, no whining, no excuses; 3 - Be early. Pretty simple and yet these three rules encompass what you need to have a strong foundation as well as a major structure on top of that foundation.

We especially like the 2nd rule. Winners in life are accountable to themselves and their team. They don't complain because if they were to do so they would be victims. Winners are never victims...and victims are never winners.

If a person says "I couldn't do "X" because..." they are off-loading the responsibility for their performance onto someone or something else. They are abdicating their responsibility and being a victim. A winner simply says, "I didn't do it today, tomorrow I will". End of story.

As we help shape our young people's tool kit we believe understanding this distinction is critical to their success - both in the pool and in life. We are interested in your opinion!

If You Felt Like Swimming a Mile...

Every now and then when you think about going to the pool you may consider "How far am I going to swim today?" And for some peculiar reason we often think in terms of how far we swim or the number of laps we carve out for ourselves.

In our sport of competitive swimming the "mile" is the term given to the 1650 freestyle. We have no idea how that came to pass since an actual mile is 1,760 yards. If there are any swim historians out there please illuminate us! At any rate a 1650 is 66 laps in a 25 yard pool and is often a distance swum in practice by competitive swimmers who race at that distance. You may have done so yourself - more than once; or you may have considered doing so but thought it would be boring or that you would lose count - or lose your mind doing something so repetitive.

For those of you who like things in neat packages we offer the following set we ran at Master's workout this morning. It is exactly 1650 yards long. The terminology "X" and "X - 1" refer to the number of strokes you take for one length of the pool. Have fun and let us know how it goes for you!

After a normal and suitable warm up swim here is the set. Take 20 seconds rest after every swim all the way through. When you are done swim an easy 300 and pat yourself on the back!

8 Rounds:

1x50 swim the 1st lap at X and the 2nd lap at X-1

1x25 swim at 85% effort at X

6 Rounds:

1x75 swim laps 1&2 at X then lap 3 at X-1

1x25 swim at 90% effort at X

4 Rounds:

1x100 swim 1st 50 at X then 2nd 50 at X-1

1x25 at 95% effort at X

Plagiarizing Is OK

We think if we "borrow" from ourselves it may not actually be plagiarizing at all! At any rate we are getting our team - see us at www.northbayaquatics.org - ready for fast swimming later this month and early in August. We thought we'd share with you our workout from this Saturday in hopes that it would help you and at the same time encourage you to share back with us some of your ideas/special sets. We believe that sharing ideas is one of the best ways to generate discussion and find solutions. Our way isn't the best way; it is merely the way we go about getting fast swims - and we are always fine tuning the process.

Each swimmer got a copy of the Menu when they got to practice. They chose Plan A or B in the appropriate group. We began this workout with an hour of warm up activity that included a lot of drill work and some relatively benign breath holding swimming. We hold our breath often in warm ups since it pushes the pulse rate up. The Junior Olympic group races in 2 weeks, Sectionals are in 3 weeks and the US Open is in 5 weeks followed by the Junior Nationals. There were no intervals on these swims. It took us about 45 minutes to get everyone "fed". We then loosened up with a "50 Fly on the 4th of July" having each swimmer predict to the hundredth what their time would be. The winning men's time was .10 and the women's .03 from predicted. Fun stuff! Let us know what you think.

4th of July Menu Today's Specials

Healthy Appetites - National Qualifiers

Plan A: 500 carbs

1x200 broken .10 at 25, 75, 125, 175

2x100 - #1 broken .10 at 50 #2 broken .10 at 25, 75

2x50 - blocks or running dive OR 4x25 blocks or running dive

Plan B: 500 carbs

2x100 broken - #1 .10 at the 50 #2 .10 at 25, 75

2x75 broken - #1 .10 at 50 #2 .10 25, 50

3x50 blocks or running dive OR 6x25 blocks or running dive

Moderate Eaters - Sectional Qualifiers

Plan A: 400 carbs

1x200 broken .10 at 25, 75, 125, 175

1x100 broken .10 at 25, 75

2x50 blocks or running dive OR 4x25 blocks or running dive

Plan B: 400 Carbs

2x100 broken - #1 .10 at 50 #2 .10 at 25, 75

1x 75 broken .10 at 25

1x50 blocks or running dive

3x25 blocks or running dive

Heart Healthy Light Fare - JO Qualifiers

Plan A: 300 Carbs

1x200 broken .10 at 25, 75, 125, 175

1x100 broken .10 at 25, 75

Plan B: 300 Carbs

1x100 broken .10 at 25, 75

3x50 blocks or running dive

2x25 blocks or running dive

Wisdom Around Every Corner

There appears to be wisdom around just about every corner, or so it seems to us. In yesterday's paper there was a short piece about Amare Stoudemire, the often unbelievably talented, and sometimes injured (which athlete goes through his/her career without injuries?) basketball player for the Phoenix Suns. The writer spoke of how when the Suns acquired Shaquille O'Neal a few years ago that Amare went into a funk, taking the arrival of Shaq as a personal affront to his ability and the organization's faith in him. With Shaq clogging up the middle, Stoudemire went into a shell, offering the Suns no help on defense or the boards.

A club executive said, "If Amare is going to be among the great players, he's going to have to dominate the game in other areas - rebounding, defense, passing. There's going to be a time when he can't jump as high, and he'll have to rely on his mastery of the game, not ability. He'll have to play smarter, not harder."

We are going to read this at our team meeting this week. Too often swimmers rely on more and or harder training to improve forgetting the importance of swimming and racing "smarter."

So, a short list for you this week might look something like this:

For a swimmer...When was the last time you did a set where you:

Actually watched the clock to check and see if your swims got faster as practice progressed?

Counted your strokes to make certain your efficiency was as high as possible?

Did a kicking set that really had your heart rate up into the anaerobic range?

Made sure your head followed your hand on the last stroke into a flip turn?

Got an extra two or three feet off the wall because you were underwater deep enough?

For a coach...When was the last time you:

Wrote a goal for practice, then the workout, and then evaluated your success?

Asked a colleague for an idea for a set?

Made sure you said "Hi" and "Goodbye" to each swimmer at practice?

Told a joke in the middle of workout?

Wrote the team report cards?

We are sure you get the idea here. At some point working as hard as you can will not be enough to keep your game improving. You will need to rely on your intellect. The reason for this is very simple: the people you are chasing have already begun using theirs.

Let us know how we can help. Have a great week in and out of the pool!

More Lessons From Tiger

The great ones in any field never stop teaching. To learn from them all we need do is observe, keep our eyes and ears wide open and pay attention.

This weekend Tiger Woods is playing in the U.S. Open which is one of golf's "Majors". When he wins his next Major it will be number 15 for him. Jack Nicklaus holds the record at 18.

He is coming back from major knee surgery about a year ago, working at his game after changing his technique yet again (the great ones are always trying to improve). He said last Tuesday "I feel great, I keep getting better and better."

He is finally feeling strong enough to resume his routine of going to the practice range following a round in a tournament. Yes, you read that correctly. Woods goes to the practice range immediately after a round in a tournament.

We are not certain how many swimmers go into the practice pool for a set after a day of racing...none on our team do...not yet anyway.

More from Woods; "To get better at this game, you have to put in the time. You don't think about it and magically get better every day. You have to do the work, and I'm able to start doing that now." Woods is a golf geek in this sense. Listen to him talk about practice and you begin to realize he enjoys those range sessions nearly as much as playing in the tournaments. He didn't win 14 Majors on sheer talent alone.

Never stop learning; never.

Have a great week!

Guaranteed To Stretch Your Brain

Last week we had a long and interesting piece on the "suit wars" issue. This week we present a much shorter take on a different but clearly (at least to us) related matter.

In his book "Virus of the Mind" Richard Brodie writes about "The New Science of the Meme". For your consideration we offer the following excerpts:

"Definition of Meme: A meme is a unit of information in a mind whose existence influences events such that more copies of itself get created in other minds.

The most interesting thing about memes is not whether they're true or false; it's that they are building blocks of your mind.

Memes can and do run your life, probably to a far greater degree than you realize.

One of the ways the memes you are programmed with greatly affect your future is through self-fulfilling prophecy.

The distinction-memes you are programmed with control what information you perceive. They actually make reality look different to you."

We find this kind of discussion fascinating since we are in the fulfillment business...helping athletes and coaches reach their vision. And to do that we all must be very aware of what our reality looks like.

Have a great week and let us know what you think!

Very Interesting Take on Suits

We have stayed away from the swim suit issue for quite awhile, both on our own team and here on this site. The following is a bit on the long side but raises some rather intelligent questions. We thought you would enjoy. Let us know!

Record Evolution: It May Not All Be In the Suit

Redefining Effort

In our never ending quest to find techniques that will get us to our desired places quicker...and that word "quicker" is the key one...we have been talking amongst ourselves looking for better ways to train. Our primary objective in these discussions has been to make training more relevant to our swimmers in a meaningful way. We define "meaningful" in this context as training that the swimmer can see will make them stronger and faster.

So, rather than keep repeating the same old sets on the normal intervals, we have been mixing things up a bit...and not just for the sake of mixing them up. We are exploring new territory that has direct implications to more speed. We, after all, are competitive swimmers seeking more speed.

Here are two simple things you can do that will redefine effort on your part, or on the part of your swimmers.

1 - Swim with added resistance. Take this one step at a time or you may push yourself into a deep hole. You can swim 25's and 50's with parachutes. Go to your online swim shop and start with a yellow one. Or swim with ankle weights...or with tennis shoes on...or with a Clorox type bottle tethered to your ankles with a tube or band (a cut up inner tube works well). The last one is nice because you can vary the amount of resistance by filling more water into the plastic jug.

2 - Swim with a pair of soft fins. We define "soft" as anything more flexible than the traditional zoomer style fin. Big scuba fins are too big and may load up the legs and hips too much. We also have our butterflyers swim with mono fins. The idea here is to be able to swim so fast that you become aware of what real speed feels like. You also have a much greater appreciation for body position at super fast speeds. Give your self enough rest so you can swim fast and as with the resistance idea start modestly. We swim up to 100 repeats with fins.

As you redefine effort you gain a greater appreciation for exactly what is involved in preparing for faster swimming. Give this a try and let us know how it goes for you!

To Shave Off Some Time

One of the quickest ways to swim faster times in the pool, whether in meets or practice, is to work the walls more efficiently. If you watch super fast swimmers at the elite level you will notice they all turn well. While you may not swim as fast as they do you certainly can learn to take advantage of the tremendous push off of the wall. And to do so is remarkably simple.

The two main components are depth of the push off and the streamlined body position.

The "cleanest" water in the pool is between three feet and five feet under the surface. The top three feet are turbulent due to the disturbance you have created by swimming into the wall. Once you get below that turbulence you get "clean" water, i.e. more stable water you can get leverage on for moving forward again. Also, if you get deeper than five feet when you begin kicking the wave action created from your legs will bounce off the bottom. If you swim in a pool that is shallower than 7 feet you will need to adjust the depth upward accordingly. (A pool six feet deep will have an optimum underwater range of something in the 2.5 - 4 foot depth, as an example)

A way to measure this is simply push off on the surface and glide until you stop. See where you are on the lane line or side of the pool. Repeat three feet under and you will gain several inches or even a foot more distance. So push off the walls down into the clean water to gain additional distance without even swimming another stroke.

A streamlined body presents less resistance to the water and therefore allows the force used to move it further. A sports car cuts through the air much cleaner than a snow plow...forget the horsepower issue! (If you took the snow plow off the truck it would be faster!)

The three simple things to consider when streamlining your body as you push from the wall are: 1) put one hand on top of the other while gently squeezing your ears with your biceps; 2) pull your belly button up into your spine to reduce mid body sag; 3) point your toes toward the wall you just pushed off from.

If you will come off the wall in clean water (deeper down) with a streamlined body position you will travel farther with the same amount of effort. That is an excellent thing!

Let us know how it goes for you!


Quote for the Week

"Long course swimming is the truth serum of our sport"
Terry Stoddard...Head Coach Swim Pasadena

It May Be Time To Change

We went to the races this weekend and did we ever learn some stuff...as in a ton! As coaches we are a lot like teachers. If there were never any tests we wouldn't know how much the students were learning. Racing is the absolute best feedback mechanism for measuring our effectiveness as coaches and swimmers.

When we finish a training block with a series of meets that matter to the swimmers we really get a chance to evaluate our progress. When things go well it is tempting to think we have it all figured out. And conversely when they don't go well it is equally tempting to toss everything out the window and start from zero again.

As is often the case, we believe the answer lies somewhere in the middle. The additional challenge as coaches is that we must evaluate for an entire group of swimmers. The easiest way for us is to make lists...what we did well so that we keep doing those things and what we need to improve upon so we can look for solutions. We issue a "report card" to each swimmer and that gives them specifics they can work on in the context of the general workouts.

As an example, the following are two case studies from swimmers we train with a focus on the need to change what they are doing. (They do many things correctly but in the interest of space and time we will limit this discussion to the changes we want).

George (not his real name) swims the 200 and 500. He swam lifetime best times in the just concluded training block. When he races he swims with his head too high which means his body position is not as flat as we would like. Also, off each turn he pulls first with his breathing side arm which means he gets very little forward pull on the first stroke.

Solution: We will have George swim more in practice with a snorkel so he and his body learn what it feels like to swim flatter in the pool. While swimming with a snorkel he will get more aerobically fit in addition to having his correct body position reinforced. We will have him pull of each turn first with his non-breathing side arm so that his muscle memory knows that he pulls first with his left arm (non-breathing side arm) and then with his right arm (his breathing side arm). We will allow him to swim with fins for added speed assistance so he can make more challenging intervals and still swim correctly. Laps swum incorrectly are not only a waste of time; they build more poor muscle memory.

Rachel (not her real name) had a couple of tough weeks leading up to the big meets and for several reasons did not swim her best times. We think her primary event is the 200 free. She was very disappointed and frustrated. Even more critical, she has lost her confidence. She loves swimming but feels a little lost as many of her teammates had lots of success.

Solution: What we as coaches and she as the swimmer have been doing obviously is not working. It is time to admit that and find a new direction. She has excellent stroke mechanics so we don't need wholesale changes there. We are going to drop her dry land program of lifting and have her work out with a local boxing coach. This will keep her aerobic fitness level high, give her some one on one athleticism work (this coach really puts his clients through the paces in a positive no nonsense way - we already have three swimmers working with him), we will challenge her more in workouts with different sets than she usually uses (this will keep her from being able to compare too much with what she already knows about) and we will have her train with the sprint group two days a week or even three vs. the 200 group. On kicking days will have her use fins and even a snorkel occasionally so she can kick on faster intervals so she knows what it is like to move faster in the water. We also will no longer use her lifetime best times as a reference point. Rather we will use her season's best times and work from there. We don't really know if this will work. What we do know is that our current path is not working. Her confidence will grow from the work with the boxing coach and her faster swimming in workouts with fins. We may find that she needs more sprint work even though her best event is the 200. We may even discover we were wrong and her best event will be the 100 free. She also can swim fly so that may emerge as another event for her.

We encourage all coaches and swimmers to use meet performances as feedback mechanisms. Keep doing what is working well and drop that which isn't. The best coaches - measured by their effectiveness - adapt to their athletes...not the other way around...in our opinion. What is yours?

And the Answer Is...?

A lot of our swimmers are in the final stages of their school year and there is a round of state wide testing going on soon to be followed by final exams. Add to this the usual end of year reports and projects and it promises to be a very busy time for all student/athletes.

Oh, and did we mention that at least here in Northern California it is high school championship swim season time? Well it is! And so there are lots of excited and occasionally nervous, anxious and at times over amped athlete/students.

We thought you might have fun with this little test, even if you are no longer hitting the books as it were.

1. You are racing a 50 yard free. Would you rather be?
A) Over trained and under rested
B) Under trained and over rested

2. You are racing a 100 yard breastroke. Would you rather be?
A) Over trained and under rested
B) Under trained and over rested

3. You are racing a 500 yard free. Would you rather be?
A) Over trained and under rested
B) Under trained and over rested

4. You have a late night of studying. You will only get 6 hours of sleep. What is the best option for those precious 6 hours?
A) 10 PM - 4 AM
B) Midnight - 6 AM
C) 1 AM - 7 AM

5. If you had a choice (and you always do!) is it better to hold your breath into or out of a freestyle flip turn?

6. All things being equal which start is faster?
A) A track start with your thumbs on the top of the block for good balance
B) A track start with your back leg slightly "loaded" up
C) A start with both feet gripping the front of the block for explosiveness

7. Which of the following is the fastest part of the 100 yard freestyle event?
A) The second lap because you are still fresh
B) The first 6 yards off the turns
C) The last 6 yards to the touchpad because you are inspired

8. True or false: You want the most distance per stroke in all events from the 50 on up.

9. As soon as possible after your race you want to:
A) Find your teammates and get your picture taken
B) Find your parent(s) and have them tell you what a great swim you did
C) Find your coach and recap your swim
D) Get in the pool and loosen down

10. True or false; In butterfly you want to have a very smooth undulation from the tips of your fingers to the tips of your toes.

11. It is race day. Which of the following is most important to your success?
A) That you have your fastest suit available
B) That your goggles stay on the entire race
C) That you keep your focus in your lane
D) That you race the rest of the field
E) That you do your best time
F) That you swim your event correctly
G) That you negative split your swim
H) That you had a really good breakfast
I) That you felt good and had fast times in warm-ups
J) That you hit all your turns
K) That your start was really quick
L) That your coach said all the rights things to you before you swam
M) That a teammate gave you a pat on the back on the way to the blocks
N) That your Mom/Dad stood at the end of your lane cheering for you
O) That your Mom/Dad blended nicely into the background and were basically invisible
P) That you were well hydrated
Q) That the warm up pool wasn't too crowded and you could do everything just right
R) That your breathing pattern was perfect
S) That your depth on the push offs was correct
T) That you wore your shoes to the blocks (plus hat and gloves if it is cold)
U) That you had the perfect state of arousal behind the blocks
V) That you had a massage and feel relaxed but strong in the water
W) That if you have the chance to win, you grab it
X) That you were able to put aside for the day your "other stuff" (we all have other stuff)
Y) That your Coach/Mom/Dad/Boyfriend/Girlfriend loves you
Z) That you had a few good solid weeks in training with some fast times as well

Or the bonus option: That you "got lucky" and "it" all just worked out fine

12. Rate the above in importance from 1-27

Let us know what you think about our PRE-SAT test. In case you were wondering, the SAT comes when you get behind the blocks. Have fun and swim fast!