foam rolling for swimmers

Foam Rolling for Swimmers

admin Blog, Dr. John Mullen, Dryland, Injuries, Latest&Greatest, Training 1 Comment

Research investigating foam rollers, roller massagers, and other similar devices have generally reported increased range of motion (ROM), diminished perceived pain, accelerated recovery from exercise-induced muscle damage and augmented performance. This makes foam rolling for swimmers a pertinent topic for all swimmers and coaches. The mechanisms underpinning these significant ROM increases with rolling may be quite diverse. Muscle, fascia, and …

9 Things you Didn't Know About Swimming Detraining

Swimming Detraining: 9 Things you Didn’t Know!

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“What are you doing during the shelter-in-place?” “Is your team practicing?” “Anyone have any Zoom practice ideas?” These are the common questions from coaches and swimmers. Clearly, coaches and swimmers are concerned about swimming detraining.  I recently spoke with Dr. Rodrigo Zacca, Ph.D, a Postdoctoral Researcher of Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal who published a recent study on Effects of …

hand paddles

Hand Paddle Training Doesn’t Change Biomechanics

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Using hand paddles during swimming is a common practice in the sport. Although many swim coaches use hand paddles for training, do they consider how swimming hand paddle training influences swimming biomechanics? Utilizing paddles during training likely will alter biomechanics, but how does the paddle size change biomechanics? Shouldn’t this be a consideration considering the arms produce approximately 85% of …

Elite Swimmers Are Superior at the Swim Turn

Elite Swimmers Are Superior at the Swim Turn to Subelite Swimmers

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The swim turn is usually divided into 5 distinct stages that include (a) inward-turn, (b) rotation, (c) push-off, (d) underwater, and (d) outward-turn. Past research suggests swimmers with higher peak forces have faster turn time, reduced wall contact time, and greater mean impulse than slower swimmers (Blanksby 1996; Chow 1984; Takahashi 1982). However, more modern research is needed to analyze …

Friday Interview: Dr. Jan Prins Speaks on Competitive Swimming

Friday Interview: Dr. Jan Prins Speaks on Competitive Swimming

Dr. GJohn Mullen Biomechanics, Blog, Competition, Dr. John Mullen, Latest&Greatest, Training Leave a Comment

Something unique for our readers in this week’s interview. What follows are notes from a phone interview I conducted with Dr. Jan Prins, Ph.D. Dr. Prins is the Director of the Aquatic Research Laboratory at the University of Hawaii at Manoa along with Founder and Editor-In-Chief of the Journal of Swimming Research. He is one of the contributors to The Swim …

Risk factors for, and prevention of, shoulder injuries in overhead sports: a systematic review with best-evidence synthesis

Risk factors for, and prevention of, shoulder injuries in overhead sports: a systematic review with best-evidence synthesis

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The burden of shoulder problems highlights the need for injury prevention strategies. Identifying risk factors and developing strategies to prevent injury, based on these risk factors, are key components for preventing injuries in sports. This reflects the second and third step in the ‘sequence of prevention’ and ‘translating research into injury prevention practice’ models. Overall, 4,740 studies were excluded from …

3 Things You Didn’t Know About Ultra-Endurance Swimming

3 Things You Didn’t Know About Ultra-Endurance Swimming

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Take Home Points on 3 Things you Didn’t Know About Ultra-Endurance Swimming Ultra-endurance swimming often doesn’t result in maximal fatigue, cause hunger, or alter swimming hand path.This form of training isn’t as negative as some suggest on swimming skill. Many associate ultra-endurance swimming with pain and fatigue. However, we know little on the subject, despite it’s growing popularity. Now, many swimmers have …

Five Tips for Improved Freestyle Head Position in Swimming

Five Tips for Improved Freestyle Head Position in Swimming

Dr. GJohn Mullen Blog, Competition, Dr. John Mullen, Training 2 Comments

Take home points1) Raised freestyle head position is one of the most common stroke flaws in freestyle2) Corrective strategies must be individualized to each swimmer3) Avenues for change include biomechanical, cognitive, and environmental Raised freestyle head position in freestyle is one of the most common stroke flaws in the pool at all levels of the sport. In the literature this …

External vs. Internal Focus for Optimal Skill Acquisition in Swimmers.

External vs. Internal Focus for Optimal Skill Acquisition in Swimmers.

Dr. GJohn Mullen Blog, Competition, Latest&Greatest, Training Leave a Comment

We all have various cues to communicate with athletes.  Everyone’s cues vary with style, audience, and available tools such as video.  Clarity is our goal with athlete communications.  “Feel” does not always equate to “real”, which is why video is so powerful.  Regardless of whether you use video or not, what matters most is how the athlete internalizes cues.  As …