Force Potential of the Early Vertical Forearm Force potential is the ideal combination of mass and acceleration in the pool. In swimming, the amount of force directly correlates with power, as power also considers time. Power is essential for success since power influences swimming speed (D’Acquisto 2003). Specifically, the arms play a significant role, as arm strength seems to directly …
Concurrent Endurance and Resistance Exercise
Concurrent Endurance and Resistance Exercise Background: Combining aerobic and resistance training is common in swimming. This combination is termed concurrent training. Sometimes this type of training is used in dry-land, but it often occurs as swimmers swim prior to weight training. Concurrent training is believed to improve strength, but the combination of endurance and strength training causes diminished increases in …
Reaction Time in Sprinters
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 …
Overtraining Inhibits Muscle Growth
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 …
Bill Sweetenham’s Faster Swimming Tips
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. …
Hyperoxic Recovery in Elite Swimmers
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 …
Coaching Yourself After Losing A Race
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, …
Swimming Kick Board Bobbers
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 …
How to Provide Swimming Feedback
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. …
A Swimmer’s Guide to Pain: Part I
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 …