Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Latest&Greatest”
Reaction Time in Sprinters Background: Reaction time is often gloried in the sport of swimming with minimal support, as no studies have correlated a quick reaction time with starting success. However, in sprint events where champions are determined by hundredths of seconds, it is difficult to claim a quick reaction time is insignificant. Reaction time the time between a “sensory …
Background Overtraining and overreaching are common in the sport of swimming. No matter if you are a high or low volume advocate, swimming requires countless hours in the pool putting one at risk for overtraining. Some coaches feel overtraining is a beneficial part of training to ‘break-down’ the athlete and make them stronger, despite the literature suggesting overtraining causes increases …
Below is an interview help with Bill Sweetenham regarding elite swimming and faster swimming tips. If you aren’t familiar with Bill, he is one of the top coaches in the sport of swimming. Below are some of his career hightlights. Career Australian swim coach Sweetenham was a swimming coach at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) from the late 1980s till 1994. …
Low Back Instability in Swimmers and What to do about it! Excessive low back movement is directly correlated with low back pain. Excessive shoulder range of motion directly correlates with shoulder pain. Excessive ankle mobility directly correlates with ankle pain. Following the trend? Therefore, learning how to control these joints and providing adequate stability at each segment is essential. How does a …
Hyperoxic Recovery in Elite Swimmers Oxygen is essential for recovery and breathing more frequently is believed to improve endurance capacity. In swimming, repeated exercise bouts are typically performed in meets and practice requiring a lot of oxygen for recovery. Hyperoxia (respiration of air containing a higher partial pressure of oxygen than regular air) enhances the level of arterial hemoglobin saturation …
You look up, see your time on the clock and even before the disappointment grabs hold of you, that little voice in your head starts revving up. At first, it’s just mostly shocking related, “Are you kidding me?!!!” “I thought for sure that I had gone so much faster!” However, once the reality of yet another slow swim sets in, …
Bobbing up and down on a kickboard while pushing through a 1,000-yard kick set is common on most swim teams. Unfortunately, the kickboard provides a base of stability for the arms and core which is not present during swimming. Moreover, a board allows an athlete to use a pivot to propel themselves forward via the spiral line described by Thomas …
There are several considerations for optimizing swimming feedback: Timing – How soon after the task do you offer feedback? Frequency – How often do you provide feedback? After every length (novice swim lessons) or between sets with advanced swimmers? Extrinsic vs. intrinsic feedback – Examples of extrinsic feedback include verbal cues or watching a video. Generally, extrinsic feedback is associated with skill acquisition. …
We’ve discussed low back instability in swimmers before, but the flaws and ecclesiastic teachings surrounding stretching and mobility are immense. First of all, let’s break down some terminology. Stretching is a mode to improve mobility. Mobility and flexibility are closer in terminology but slightly different. By definition: Flexibility is the property of being flexible; easily bent or shaped. Mobility is …
Read a swimmer’s guide to Pain: Part II when you’re done 🙂 I have a vertebra out of place My back is out of alignment My knees are bone-on-bone so I can’t do breaststroke All of the above are common ways to describe typical injuries around the pool. And while there are often grains of truth in such statements, a …