Swim Coaching Brain » Swimmers

The Top Ten Technique Tips for Every Swimmer

Wayne Goldsmith — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 22:56:55 +0000

: swimmer in swimming pool from Crestock Stock Photography

1. Effective propulsive movements in swimming go from SLOW to FAST.

In swimming, effective propulsive movements are SLOW to FAST.

In Fly, you reach long, feel the water, catch then accelerate through the stroke to recovery. Same in back. Same in breast (arms and legs). Same in free.

It starts with an effective feel on entry and a strong catch then…..throughout the stroke it is acceleration that makes all the difference.

2. The relationship between HIPS and HEAD is critical.

There is a critical relationship between the HIPS and the HEAD in swimming. Simply, when the head is up, the hips go down and if the hips are down three important things happen:

Hips down means you kick down – instead of back;
Hips down means your body is in an inefficient position;
Hips down means that your body is not streamlined.

Be aware of this relationship and keep your head and hips in the right positions.

3. SOFT HANDS and feel!

If someone gave you a rose and said, “feel this – it is so soft” – what would you do with your hands? Cup them tightly? Clench them into a fist? Force your fingers wide apart with lots of tension? Or……..would you relax your fingers and hands and wrist and gently feel the rose?

You can’t feel anything with tight, tense hands. To improve your feel of the water, relax and think soft hands.

4. Think tall – think long – think strong.

There is no doubt that objects that are long, tall, thin and streamlined move better through water than things that aren’t!

Streamline off every turn.
Streamline on entry at each dive and start.
Streamlining off walls is important but………….think tall and think long all the time!

Believe it or not, an awareness of being tall and long in the water is important. For example in breaststroke recovery, think tall and long as you stretch and reach forward – reach long…..then kick strong.

It is the combination of long and strong that produces the most efficient swimming movements.

This “tall” thinking and awareness really helps your body move and flow through the water.

5. The faster you want to go, the more relaxed you have to be.

Watch a little kid running. Now tell him to run as fast as he can…..what happens? He clenches his fists. He gets red in the face. He holds his breath. And he lasts about twenty yards!!

The faster you want to go, the more relaxed you have to be.

Speed is about relaxation – not grunting – not fist clenching – not tightening up – not breath holding – relaxation.

If you want to go fast, focus on staying calm, relaxed and moving easily.

6. The POWER Circle – POWER ON – POWER OFF.

Swimming has two primary phases – the “propulsive” phase and the “recovery” phase. For many swimmers, the recovery phase is actually an extension of the propulsive phase in that they don’t actually recover. The recovery phase is a time to relax and allow muscles to switch off in preparation for the next propulsive pull. Learning to do this can make a big difference to a swimmer’s ability to maintain a strong powerful stroke throughout a race.

Think POWER CIRCLE – POWER ON / POWER OFF. When the hands and arms are under the water and pulling it is power ON. As the hands leave the water to recover, it is power OFF.

The ability to turn the power off and relax during recovery is an important skill for all swimmers to develop.

7. Finishes – Head forward / Hips high / full kick / full stroke.

Good finishes in all strokes have four common elements: HEAD – HIPS – KICK – STROKE

Head – leaning forward towards the wall – as opposed to turning and looking at the opposition or the results;
Hips – high and in a strong position – to keep the body in a streamlined position and moving towards the wall;
Kick – still working and driving the body forward at the wall. In fly finishing with a strong down kick and in breast finishing with the feet accelerating all the way to a toes touch position;
Stroke – finishing in a long, strong, tall position at the end of recovery so that the body is streamlined and capable of reaching and stretching towards the finish.

Every finish in training is a race finish and should include these four elements.

8. Starts – Key words = focused thinking.

There are many distractions at the start of a race – noise, crowd, media, other swimmers, etc etc.

The world is not going to shut down for you – you need to “shut” the world down.

To do this, try the simple “key word” technique.

Find a word that means “start” to you – something like:

Power
Explode
Drive
Strong
Relax

Take a long, deep breath – and if you can, take 5 seconds to inhale fully. Then on the exhale, say your key word quietly to yourself, taking 5 seconds to exhale fully. Repeat this for about a minute, continuing to breath deeply and slowly (about 5-6 breaths per minute), focusing on the key word every exhale.

This does three things:

It gives you confidence and control over the pre race environment;
The slow deep breathing keeps you relaxed;
The focus word allows you to eliminate external distractions and focus on a good start.

9. Turns – tight.

Turns are an important part of swimming and invariably great swimmers are great turners.

Turns need to be tight.

Heels up close to the buttocks;
Legs tucked up and under the body;
Arms in close and held near the centre of the body.

Being tight keeps the body in an efficient minimum resistance position but it also allows the swimmer to adopt the “coiled spring” position.

Muscles can contract with greater power after being stretched and put under tension. By pulling the limbs in close to centre of the body, the large, powerful muscles of the legs, shoulders and back are placed on stretch.

Then coming out of the turn, the body can open up with power and explosiveness and use this elastic energy to drive off the wall and get back into fast swimming!

10. Consistency is the key.

The key to it all is to take the first nine tips and practice them consistently – every session – every day – every week.

Consistency provides opportunity – opportunity provides the talented swimmer with the chance to achieve anything.

We are creatures of habit. What we do repeatedly and what becomes habit, is what we do instinctively in times of fatigue and pressure, i.e. racing. If you practice doing things consistently well in training and doing things well becomes your “habit” under the pressure and pain of racing you will always come out on top.

Wayne Goldsmith

Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Super Starts: How to get faster sooner and leave your competitors languishing in the slow lane.

Wayne Goldsmith — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 22:56:54 +0000

Speed. Speed. Speed. And more speed.

It’s what swimming is all about.

There are no gold medals for the person who can swim the most number of 100s or the slowest 400 or even for the swimmer who has the highest heart rate.

Winning in swimming is about one thing and one thing alone….speed. You swim faster than your competitors…you win. Simple as that.

So if swimming is all about speed, what is speed all about?

Here are four really important things for every swimmer who wants to swim faster to think about:

In sprint swimming, most of the time it is the person who gets to their top speed in the shortest time who wins the race;
Getting to top speed in the shortest time means having a brilliant first 15 metres;
Having a brilliant first 15 metres means having an outstanding dive and underwater kick;
And having an outstanding dive and underwater kick means having a Super Start!!!!!

So….that means if you want to win more sprint races, you need to have a SUPER START and a brilliant first fifteen metres!

The First Fifteen is the critical Fifteen!

For a sprinter, where every fraction of a second can mean the difference between success and failure, what happens in the first fifteen metres often determines the outcome of the entire race.

Want to know how to develop a FFFFF – Fantastically Fabulously Fast First Fifteen?

There are five starting “zones”: five places where you physically and mentally ensure that your first 15 metres are so fast it looks like you are the Space Shuttle wearing a swim-suit!

Let’s work through the Five Starting Zones – The S.T.A.R.T. Zones:

STARTING ZONE 1 “SELF”: In the stands;
STARTING ZONE 2 “TAKE CONTROL”: In the marshaling area;
STARTING ZONE 3 “ATTENTION”: Behind the blocks;
STARTING ZONE 4 “READY”: On the blocks;
STARTING ZONE 5 “TAKE-OFF”: The first 15!

STARTING ZONE 1: In the stands;

Your Super Start really starts in the stands…well before you ever think about getting wet.

This is the “Self” zone – the moment when you put yourself and your needs first.

The “self” zone begins and ends with one question, “What do I need to do right now to make sure I am ready to race?”

For some swimmers that means stretching. For others that means jumping up and down. For some swimmers this “self” zone means putting a towel over their heads and having some quiet time with their own thoughts and emotions.

Whatever “self” means to you, Zone 1 is all about switching your brain on to the business of fast swimming.

Think about the Space Shuttle.

The computers are all on line and ready to go long before the engines begin to fire up to blast off into orbit.

Zone 1 is where you switch your “computer” on, get it on line and begin the countdown towards take off!

STARTING ZONE 2: In the marshaling area “TAKE CONTROL”;

Once you get called to the marshaling area, it is all about you taking control.

Taking control of yourself, taking control of the marshaling area, and taking control of your competitors….Starting Zone 2 is about taking control and making the race your own.

Taking control in Starting Zone 2 comes from the two Big-Bs of pre-race management:

Breathing: Breathe slowly, deeply and with purpose. As a guide aim for 5 breathes per minute. That’s four seconds to breathe in, four seconds to fully breathe out and allow yourself four restful seconds of relaxation before breathing in again;
Body language: Moving into and around the marshaling area with confidence, calm and control: head up, shoulders back and using strong, slow, deliberate movements….make it look like you own the marshaling area;

This is what real “psyching-out” is all about. You don’t have to say anything. You don’t have to put anyone else down.

Through controlled breathing and strong body language in the marshaling area you can “blow the minds” of most of your competitors and you will have defeated many of them mentally without the need to even get in the water and race.

STARTING ZONE 3: Behind the blocks “ATTENTION”;

Behind the blocks in Starting Zone 3, the focus now shifts to “attention” – that is, paying attention to the things that matter, paying no attention to the things that don’t and…..knowing the difference!

The key here is to understand the difference between Thoughts, Words and Actions.

Most swimmers will wait until their thoughts become actions, e.g. uncontrollable nervousness, before they do anything about them.

In the Attention Zone (Starting Zone 3), the aim is to recognise your thoughts but only pay attention to the ones that can help you swim fast: letting all the others just flow through your mind without taking hold.

For example:

THOUGHT: “I am feeling really nervous”.

RESPONSE IN STARTING ZONE 3: “I note I am feeling nervous” – but that’s where it ends. You “hear” the thought, you recognise the thought, you note the thought but just as soon as you notice it, you allow it to drift off without paying it any real attention.

This ability to pay attention to thoughts without judgement and without allowing them to become words or actions is the cornerstone of real
mental strength and emotional control for every swimmer.

STARTING ZONE 4: On the blocks “READY”;

Starting Zone 4 is the “ready zone”: on the blocks and ready to go. The three keys to success in the “ready zone” are P.R.E:

Position (i.e. body position, head position, feet position, hand position): Being in the best possible starting position (which you would have practiced over and over and over in training of course);
Relaxation: (continuing the controlled breathing you started in Zone 2 and the thoughts management technique you started in Zone 3);
Energy: Feeling connected to all the energy in your body.

Starting Zone is the connection zone: the zone where your mind and your body are connected together as one: a unified swimming owerhouse about to unleash everything you’ve got with power and precision.

STARTING ZONE 5 “TAKE OFF”: The first 15!

Bang! The gun has gone and the race is on!

The most important parts of Starting Zone 5 are the “three kicks”:

The first kick: Is the kick you do under the water after your dive. In fly, back and free that means fast, strong, powerful, explosive kicks to maintain the speed from your dive. In breast that means completing the underwater pull and kicks with flow, power and rhythm;
The second kick: Is kicking your body deliberately and with purpose towards the surface.
The third kick: And the most important kick of all is the kick you do to kick yourself into your first stroke on the surface: the breakout!

Speed over the first fifteen metres comes down to a simple equation:

How speed can I generate as I leave the blocks PLUS How much speed can I maintain under the water before I start stroking?

Or:

FAST FIFTEEN = Maximise Speed off the blocks AND Minimise Speed lost underwater.

If you got it right in Starting Zones 1-4, then Starting Zone 5 will take care itself!

After that, you’re on your own…but, if you have worked your way through the Five Starting Zones, and have got to your top speed faster than anyone else in the pool you have given yourself every possible opportunity for a great race, a fast time and a winning performance.

Summary:

In sprint swimming, the first 15 metres often determines the outcome of the entire race: the swimmer who gets to their top speed first most of the time will win!
The start is not just what happens on the blocks. The start begins in the marshaling area, continues to the zone behind the blocks, on to the blocks and over the first fifteen metres in the water;
Start the way you want to finish: if you want to finish first…start fast and go, go, go.

Wayne Goldsmith

How to Put Together a Great Championship Program – 50 ideas for a Positively, Powerfully, Perfect Program – Part One.

Wayne Goldsmith — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 03:14:44 +0000

: Swimming Pool from Crestock Stock Image

Club championships programs are not easy to put together – after all, you are usually racing the same people you see day after day after day after day after day……. (you get the idea).

Many clubs lament that their Club Championships are not well supported and are generally disappointing in terms of attendance and commitment from swimmers and families. Well guess what??? It’s your – (as in the organisers of the event) – fault!

If people don’t want to buy the “product” you are selling, sell something else! If people do not attend your Club Champs – don’t blame the people – don’t blame other sports – don’t blame the economic crisis – change what you are selling!

If you want a really great Club Championship program, the trick is to combine the four Ps:

Performance – Club championships are- after all-about racing.
Parents – Get them involved and get them wet! This is the one chance all year to have some family fun.
Practice – Club Championships are not the end of the story….for many swimmers Club Championships are the beginning of the competitive season and it’s a great opportunity for practicing skills, strokes, technique, dives, starts, turns, finishes, warm ups, cool downs, stretches, race day diet, mental skills and other racing skills.
Party – have a really fun day with the families, friends and other fantastic people who make swimming the wonderful sport it is!

And, here are four really dumb things to avoid unless you want to have a really rotten Club Championship program – the four Cs:

Coaches – as in leaving them out of the planning of Club Championships. Big mistake. Coaches must be an integral part of the Championship program committee so that the program reflects what they are trying to achieve with their overall planning and periodisation strategy;
Change – as in “don’t change”. Some Club Championship committees just keep rolling over the same program year after year then wonder why people stop coming! Make it different, interesting, innovative and enjoyable by throwing in some new ideas every year;
Catering – as in offer junk food. Big challenge for all Clubs is to raise money for things like equipment, coaching fees, competitive travel etc. But try not to do it by taking the easy options like providing junk food at Club Championships which might be great for profits but sends the wrong messages to swimmers and parents;
Competition – as in don’t make it one! The greatest challenge in creating a great Club Championship program is balancing fun with fast racing. It is important that Club Championships are really enjoyable but make sure they also provide the right environment for real competition and challenge swimmers to produce their best. Don’t award frivolous prizes just for attending the Club Championships – it devalues the hard work and effort of swimmers who really want to achieve something.

Here are the first 15 of 50 ideas to help you create a Positively, Powerfully, Perfect program:

Radical relays – boys vs. girls, older swimmers vs. younger swimmers, dads vs. mums, coaches vs. swimmers………..millions of relay ideas.
Make sure your CLUB championship program mirrors the program of the next level meet, e.g. If the next level meet is your State Championships, try to make your Club Championship program the same – i.e. same events, in the same order – so that your Club Championships are preparing your team to be successful at the next level.
Have parents’ races!
Have parents and kids relays!
50s of each event.
100s of each event.
200s of each event.
Fin races. i.e. race fly, back and free with fins on.
What about throwing in some Kicking races?
Invite qualified, experienced State or National level race starters, judges and officials to make sure the quality and standard of your meet is the best it can be. And ask them for a written report so you can fine tune skills and techniques before your swimmers race at high level meets.
Change your Club Championships program and format EVERY year. Nothing turns off swimmers and families more than having to sit through the same races, in the same order for the same prizes year after year.
Make everyone welcome. Parents and families who are new to the Club and who are attending their first ever Club Championships should be made to feel like old friends and part of the swimming club “family”.
More is less………don’t be tempted to make the day longer just because you can! Families are busier now than ever and if you want them to keep coming back, make Club Championships enjoyable and short! Leave them wanting more.
Make awards relevant for age groups. Another big mistake Clubs make is to award the same medals, ribbons and certificates to 6 years olds as they do to 16 year olds. This is a guaranteed way to push your teenage swimmers towards other sports! How about DVDs as prizes? Or gift vouchers for cool clothing stores? Or Nintendo Games? Or gift vouchers for the I-Store (if you don’t know what this is, you are in real trouble). Or gym memberships? Or training equipment?
Combined events scores, e.g. add together each swimmer’s times for their 50s in each stroke and compare it to their 200 IM time. Whoever gets the 200 IM time closest to the 4 x 50s wins a prize, e.g. 50 fly time plus 50 back time plus 50 breast time plus 50 free time added together compared to 200 IM time.

See Part Two and Part three of this Post.

Wayne Goldsmith and Helen Morris

Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Twenty Tips for a Tip Top Taper!

Wayne Goldsmith — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 03:14:42 +0000

: Ladder in the sky from Crestock Stock Images

Tapering is fun, it’s fantastic and above all its about feeling fast fast fast.

It is the time when you feel light, loose and long in the water as your body regenerates and recharges after weeks of hard work.

And above all tapering is one thing – one simple thing that everyone already has in their possession but it is one thing most people use very often….common sense.

Think about it this way.

Imagine you were telling someone – someone who knew nothing about swimming, “I have been training for months and months for a big Meet coming up in two weeks”.

And then you told them, “And for the next two weeks I am going to change lots of things, get little or no rest, stress out a lot and worry about things that may not even happen, eat strange foods that I have never eaten before, buy some different swimsuits to wear on the day without trialling them and I will not spend anytime practicing exactly what I want to do at the Meet”.

They would probably tell you, “Well good luck with all that and here’s the number of a good psychiatrist!”

So how do you have a tip top taper?

Here’s twenty tips to turn tapering into triumph:

Try it before you use it! It is really tempting to buy a new suit or a new pair of goggles or some new sporting supplements to give you a special something extra for the big Meet. But time and time again, swimmers who have worked hard and trained hard for a Meet blow it all by reaching for a miracle over the counter super swimming supplement. Find out what works for you and keep doing it;
Don’t add anything new. Another taper trap is to add more work in the belief that if some training is good, then more will work even better. Taper is the time for the four Rs – Rest, Regenerate, Recover and Race - not the four Ms – More – More – More – More;
Work fast, work smart. Tip three is an important one. Taper is the time for speed: training fast to race fast. Once you start tapering the golden rules are: Decrease training volume but maintain training frequency and training intensity or if you like train fast, train often but train less;
No sleep-ins. Lots of swimmers (and their parents) fall for this one. Swimmers will often try to scam a few mornings off during taper by telling their coach they need the rest to swim at their best. Some swimmers – you know who you are – will even get their parents to push the coach for some morning sleep ins. Again the golden rules are….train fast, train often, train less;
New suit – old suit. It feels great to race in a nice new, fast suit but a new suit only works if you have done all you can do in training to make it go fast. A slow driver in a Ferrari is still a slow driver;
It’s all mental. Racing is 90% mental. So practice “mental tapering” as well as physical tapering. During your taper take time to relax, to do things you enjoy, get plenty of sleep, read a book, watch some TV and taper your mind as well as your body;
Dives and starts. During taper – more than any other time – every dive is a race dive – every start is a race start…..every dive is a race dive – every start is a race start……..;
Turns. And you guessed it…every turn is a race turn;
Underwater practice. To go fast above the water, practice going fast under the water. Practice the three big kicks of underwater speed at every opportunity during taper: Kicking fast under water in streamline, kicking fast to the surface and kicking explosively to the surface for the breakout stroke;
Easy speed. A feature of a great taper is easy speed – being able to move fast with little effort. ”Easy-speed” comes as your body recovers and regenerates as the training load decreases. Enjoy this feeling – it is what all the training is about;
Practice several warm ups. Practice your ideal pre race warm up several times during the taper. Be very comfortable with it – know it backwards and try to rehearse it in conditions which are as close as possible to actual race conditions. And practice a few “what-if” warm ups. “What if we get to the practice pool late and I only get five minutes to warm up” or “What if for some reason I can’t do a pool warm up and have to warm up on dry land?”: plans and back-up plans and back-up plans for back-up plans;
Practice several swim downs. And again….”what if they change the race schedule at the last minute and I don’t get a chance to do a full swim down?”. Don’t make the mistake of practicing for a perfect day – be prepared to deal with whatever can (and will) go wrong;
Fast Fuel. Eat “fast” foods – no, not the kind you usually eat. Plenty of fresh fruit, salads, vegetables and quality, nutritious, healthy food. You can’t put low performance fuel in a high performance machine and hope it will race fast;
Swimming bag check list. Make a check list of everything you will need on race day – goggles, cap, suit and back up suit, food, drink, something to read, two towels….write it down, tick it off as you pack your bag and leave nothing to chance;
Spares of everything. Ever had a pair goggles break on race day? Ever lost a suit? Your swim bag should be like Noah’s Arc…everything in two by two;
Don’t do anything dumb…Taper is not the time to take up bungee jumping, sky-diving or professional stunt work;
Relax. Take it easy. You’ve worked hard. You deserve to relax;
Recover. Help your body to help you by committing to a daily recovery schedule. Eat good foods. Drink plenty of water. Do some light stretching and most importantly……….;
Sleep. Sleep is the most under-rated but most important recovery tool at your disposal. And..an extra hour of sleep each night means an extra night’s sleep each week. If you have a three week taper, then by going to bed an hour earlier each night, you get three extra nights sleep to recover and be ready to race like you have never raced before;
Practise everything that can be practised. Perfect practice = perfect performance. As the Meet gets closer, make every aspect of your practice as perfect as the performance you want on race day.

It’s all mental – it really is.

Believe. Believe. Believe. It all starts with what you believe. Think fast, train hard, taper smart, race brilliantly!

The performance equation…..looks something like this:

A great training season plus a consistently professional attitude in and out of the pool plus a well designed and executed taper = Success.

It all adds up!

Wayne Goldsmith

Republished by Blog Post Promoter

The Swimming Coach Score Card – a must for all coaches (and swimmers and parents).

Wayne Goldsmith — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 03:14:40 +0000

: Man with several telephones from Crestock Stock Images

Coaches – ever wanted to know how you rate as a coach?

Swimmers – ever wanted to know how your coach rates as a coach?

Swimming Parents – ever wanted to know how your kid’s coach rates as a coach?

Then look no further than….the Swimming Coach Score Card.

This score card is a little different. Instead of being awarded points, you lose points for poor coaching standards and mediocre coaching behaviours.

Are you ready?

OK – your starting score is 100 CCs – that is 100 coaching credits.

Take off 5 CCs if you have been late to training in the past month;
Take off 10 CCs if you coach from one end of the pool all the time and another 5 CCs if you ever sit down during workouts;
Take off 5 CCS if you have not given each swimmer in your team one on one quality coaching in the past week;
Take off 20 CCs if you have used a mobile phone during workouts while on deck in the past year (except in emergencies);
Take off 5 CCs if you allow swimmers to breathe inside the flags in free and fly;
Take off 5 CCs if you allow swimmers to finish poorly on the wall at the end of fly and breast;
Take off 10 CCs if you talk to parents, swim club committee, non swimming swimmers and pool staff during workouts;
Take off 20 CCs if you don’t take time to write down the work the swimmers actually completed during the session, i.e. as opposed to what was scheduled to be done;
Take off 10 CCs if you made up the workout on deck as the swimmers walked in to the pool;
Take off 5 CCs if you didn’t give each swimmer in your team at least five quality instructions and / or pieces of feedback during your most recent session;
Take off 100 CCs if you still throw kickboards, fins or pull buoys at swimmers to get their attention;
Take off 20 CCs if you don’t give each swimmer one on one feedback after each race they swim at Meets;
Take off 10 CCs if you don’t wear team gear to training and / or competitions;
Take off 5 CCs if you don’t attend Club Nights;
Take off 15 CCs if you don’t know the first name of each of your swimmers within 2 sessions of them starting training with you;
Take off 50 CCs if you don’t have an individualised plan for each swimmer in your team for the next two seasons;
Take off 10 CCs if you have never scheduled time to meet with the parents of each of the swimmers in your team (i.e. away from the pool deck and outside of training times);
Take off 30 CCs if you have not completed at least 50 hours of professional development, learning and personal improvement in the past year;
Take off 5 CCs if you don’t ask swimmers “how did that feel” (and really listen to their views) after they try new skills;
Take off 30 CCs if you don’t have an outstanding dryland program which engages the total commitment of every swimmer in your team;
Take off 10 CCs if you don’t include mental skills development activities in every session;
Take off 5 CCs if you didn’t smile at least ten times during the team’s last workout;
Take off 50 CCs if you smoke and or / drink alcohol in front of the swim team (i.e. junior swimmers);
Take off 20 CCs if you don’t regularly practice “performance under pressure” – i.e. making training more challenging and more demanding than any competition could be;
Take off 20 CCs if you don’t encourage and embrace recovery during and after every workout.

So, how did you do?

Swimming Coaches Scorecard key:

90-100 CCs: Wow – Amazing. Please stop reading this blog and my articles. Start writing your own – I want to learn from you O Coaching Master.

80-89 CCs: Outstanding work. Do they call you SUPER COACH? If not, they should!

70-79 CCs: Great stuff. Some things to work on but generally you coach like a basketball – plenty of bounce and well rounded.

60-69 CCs: Not bad. Keep working on the little things….the funny thing is that when it comes to poor coaching and the little things…there are no little things.

50-59 CCs: Danger – danger – warning – warning. You need to improve and fast.

40-49 CCs: How did you find this site? Were you looking for help to save your job? Or were you looking for Coaches Anonymous?

30-39 CCs: Have you thought about taking up football coaching? It’s still challenging coaching but at least there is no danger of people drowning.

20-29 CCs: Have you thought about another career? Something not too brain taxing where your unique skills will be appreciated - maybe an Economist at Wall Street? A Government Advisor on the Environment?

10-19 CCs: I think I need to type slower so you can read this….S.T.O.P. C.O.A.C.H.I.N.G!!!!

1-9 CCs: The only job for you I can think of for you is something that requires no skill, no brain power and no effort…Congratulations Congressman!

Zero (or less) CCs: Please return your coaching card to your national swimming authority. Do not go anywhere near water…ever. Stop bathing. Stop shaving. Ask for help when drinking a glass of water. The further you keep away from water the better for all of us.

Wayne Goldsmith

Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Mental Skills Training in Swimming – a new approach.

Wayne Goldsmith — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 03:14:37 +0000

: colored brain from Crestock Stock Photography

What is your experience with sports psychology and mental skills training?

Is it meeting a psychologist or mental skills professional at an office and talking quietly about attitudes, anxieties and ambitions?

Or is it having a mental skills professional come to the training centre and do a “motivation” lecture or a mental skills training session on relaxation, focusing, visualisation / imagery and attitude?

Time to take mental skills training out of the office, away from the training room and into the pool.

How?

The Fourth Variable - Engagement:

In a recent post on my www.sportscoachingbrain.com site I talked about the fourth aspect of designing and developing training programs: Engagement.

In the article I suggested that in traditional programs, coaches write workouts in terms of the “big three” physiology variables: Volume of training (how much to do), Intensity of training (how hard to work) and Frequency of training (how often to do it).

However, this is old thinking…because it assumes that training adaptations are all about physical training and exercise physiology. Coaches and athletes know that there is another key determinant of training adaption…engagement - (how engaged the athlete’s mind is in the training activity).

The central argument is this. No matter how well designed the set and workout might be, it is the athlete’s approach and attitude to completing the workout that largely determines the outcome.

A brilliantly designed training set, sculptured perfectly in terms of heart rate, speed, volume and lactate levels, will not be performed optimally unless the swimmers have engaged in the set and are committed to performing the set to their full potential.

Competitive Swimming is not just swimming fast.

Remember that competitive swimming is not just about swimming fast – anyone can learn to swim fast.

Competitive Swimming is….swimming fast, with great technique and skills, under pain, pressure and fatigue.

If competitive swimming was only about swimming fast – then we would just train the body.

But…competitive swimming is about maintaining speed and technical excellence when the body is enduring pain, pressure and fatigue and it is the swimmers who can best integrated mind and body to work together in harmony in these conditions who prevail.

And it all starts with training set design and workout planning.

How can you integrate “engagement” with the physiology “big three” – volume, intensity, frequency?

Example:

Old way (physiology model):

Training set is 16 x100 metres (volume) on 2:00 minutes holding a speed of PB plus 10 seconds (intensity).

Enhanced Mind – Body way:

Training set is 16 x 100 metres (volume) on 2:00 minutes holding a speed of PB plus 10 seconds (intensity). Key mental skills learning (engagement) – At signs of fatigue, work with swimmers on relaxation under pressure and on breathing techniques to learn how to manage pain under fatigue and pressure conditions.

Find Opportunities to Enhance Mind-Body integration:

In every workout, there are opportunities to teach lessons which can make an incredible impact on the swimmer’s mental abilities for competition.

At times of pain, pressure and fatigue during workouts, opportunities emerge to teach swimmers life lessons and mental skills that can not be replicated in an office or classroom.

This is the key: we all want swimmers to master the mental skills necessary to compete successfully in the pool.

So it makes sense to shift our mental skills training focus into the pool.

If Gold Medals for 100 freestyle were handed out for winning a race around an office, let’s do our mental skills training in high buildings…..but it is all about mental skills mastery in the pool.

Optimal performance in any field of endeavour comes from the integration of the mind and the body working in harmony.

Next time you are writing a training program or training set add in engagement - the critical fourth dimension in training - and teach mental skills at every opportunity.

Wayne Goldsmith

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Physiology based Training Set Design in Swimming: There must be Another Way.

Wayne Goldsmith — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 03:14:36 +0000

Walk on deck at any pool in the world on a typical Monday afternoon.

There it is – the old whiteboard over there at the end of the pool.

And what’s written up on the whiteboard?

Today’s training program!

“10 x 100 on 1:45 at 75%” or
“20 x 50 on 1:00 holding PB plus 5 seconds” or
“12 x 200 IM on 3:30 holding 2:50 or something similar.

You would think that swimming training, preparation and performance was all about the body wouldn’t you?

The Big Six.

The “Big Six” in swimming preparation and performance are:

Physical abilities;
Personality characteristics;
Playing (tactical) skills;
Performance abilities;
Pedigree (i.e. genetic makeup);
Preparation ((i.e. environment, family, culture).

Look at a set like 10 x 100 on 1:45 at 75% and evaluate it against the “Big Six”.

Does it measure up physically? Sure. It’s all there – volume, intensity, rest interval – all the usual suspects are represented but….

Does it measure up in terms of the swimmer’s personality and mental skills?
How does it fare as far as the development of swimming skills and stroke technique go?
What about the potential for this training set to impact on the swimmer’s ability to race well under pressure? To start? To turn? To finish? And to do it all at race speeds and race conditions?
How much does this set optimise the unique, individual qualities of each swimmer in the team?
How well does this set tap into the swimmer’s preparation environment, family structure and cultural background?

It’s hit and miss.

The fact is this.

The way most swimming workouts are currently written is a hit and miss approach. “Let’s give enough kids, enough work and some of them might swim fast”.

Those days are over.

Client Focused Swimming.

The world has changed. People – and for people read “parents and swimmers” are demanding three things from every service they pay for:

Individualisation -unique, tailored services for each individual;
Efficiency – they want more for less;
Quality- the Internet has ensured that everyone is an expert so they demand higher standards from the professionals they engage (pay) to provide services.

So, in other words, if your workout design does not provide the optimal preparation environment and opportunity for each individual in your team to achieve their performance goals in the shortest possible time, you will go out of business.

The Future.

Ask yourself this next time you are on deck;“Is this workout (and the consistent quality of my coaching), the best it can be? Does it provide the opportunity for each individual in the team to achieve their individual peak performance and realise their full potential?”

If not, chances are, you, your workout - and your overall workout philosophy need to change.

Engage the heart, inspire the soul, excite the mind, capture the imagination and unleash the genius inside every individual swimmer in your team and the blood, bones, tendons, ligaments, muscle and nerves will all come along for the ride.

Or, continue to rely on the “meaningless miles, countless kilometres and years of yardage” coaching philosophy: the “body first” philosophy to swimming coaching: the mass mediocrity approach to coaching large teams of young swimmers and start looking for a new career.

It’s your choice!

Wayne Goldsmith

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Complementary Carnivals: Why Swim Meets Fail.

Wayne Goldsmith — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 03:14:35 +0000

: Track & stands from Crestock Free Stock Photos

Ever wondered why the Grandstands and bleachers at your Club Swimming Carnivals and Swim Meets are empty?

Ever wanted to know how to get lots of people to come along to your Swim Meets?

Ever wanted to know how to get the support of Coaches so that they actively support your Swim Meet and send large numbers of their swimmers along to race?

Then design and deliver Complementary Carnivals!

The simple answer to all these question is this: Design your Swim Meet program to reflect the needs of the swimmers and coaches you are hoping to attract: Complementary Carnivals (i.e. as in the dictitionary definition - acting as or providing a complement – something that completes the whole.

Too many Clubs, Regional Associations, State Swimming Associations and even National Swimming Associations conduct swim meets which are designed around the four Cs:

Cash – using Swim Meets as Cash-cows and designing a program to deliver the maximum possible financial return rather than the best result for swimmers and coaches;
Convenience – making the Swim Meet fit into the schedule of the Administration rather than the optimal fit into the training and competition cycles of swimmers and coaches;
Continuity – repeating the same program over and over again, year after year;
Committee – doing what the “committee” or Board think is what’s best for swimmers and coaches rather than consulting with them, collaborating with them and asking them what they really need from a Swim Meet.

Too many times we hear these three comments:

From Coaches: “I am not going to send my team to that Swim Meet because it does not work in with our training or competition goals”;

From Swimmers: “I am not going to that Swim Meet. The events are always the same, it’s boring and I get sick of going there every year to do the same stuff” and then…………….

From Swim Meet Organisers: “Why aren’t swimmers and coaches supporting my Swim Meet?”.

Well, duh!

The secret to success in Swim Meet organisation is to design and deliver a program which provides swimmers and coaches with the opportunity they need to enhance their training and competition goals.

There are two ways of doing this.

At Club and Regional level, design and deliver Swim Meet programs which complement the training and competition goals of the swimmers and coaches;
At State and National level, design and deliver Swim Meet programs which reflect the competition schedules and competition formats of the next level meet, i.e. State Level Swim Meets should replicate and simulate the competition conditions swimmers will face at National Level Swim Meets and National Level Swim Meets should replicate and simulate the competition conditions swimmers will face at their targeted International Level Swim Meet.

Swim Meet organisers have to think in reverse to make this happen.

Instead of thinking “let’s put together a program which generates the most possible revenue for our Club or Region or State” , they need to think, “what is it that our swimmers and coaches need from a Swim Meet that can best help them improve and realise their performance goals?”.

At Club level this concept is critical. If the Club’s coach is working hard on developing the swimmers’ endurance, improving their aerobic capacity and building the team’s stamina in training, then it makes sense to help the coach and the swimmers by delivering a Club Night racing program which is based around endurance, aerobic capacity and stamina!

This should be a no-brainer: the Club competition program should reflect and support the Club’s training program. Again…well, duh!

This is not a hard concept to understand folks – so why do so many Swim Meet organisers get it so wrong?

All over the world, Swim Meet organisers are coming together to discuss and plan their next competition program: format, structure, order of events, timing etc etc.

The smart ones have consulted the swimmers and coaches they represent and have designed a Swim Meet program which delivers something of real value and relevance.

The not-so-smart ones have just rolled out the same program they have used since 1961, thrown in 200 extra events to try and milk every possible cent out of swimming parents and created the whole Meet to suit their own timing, own needs and their own agendas.

Smart or Not-So-Smart………..which one are you?

Wayne Goldsmith

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The Last Race

Wayne Goldsmith — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 03:14:33 +0000

For every swimmer there will be one last race.

One time when you hit the wall, look up at the score board, see “Jones, P 1:03.07” for the last time. Or “Lane 6 56.83”. Or “Lane 3 – 2:45.71”

And in that one moment, how do you want to remember your swimming career?

And in that one moment, how do you want to be remembered as a swimmer?

And in that one moment and throughout the next 50, 60, 70 years…..what will you remember about swimming?

What will all those early mornings, long sessions, tough gym workouts and competitions mean?

It would be easy to measure a swimming career in terms of medals, cups, trophies, ribbons, records, titles, championships and podium finishes: to measure your swimming career in terms of your competition performances.

But that will reduce a career of wonderful experiences and life changing events to a few dollars worth of plastic, metal and cotton.

What has swimming really meant to you?

The world has changed.

Everything is fast, instant, immediate and entertaining.

Swimming on the other hand stayed true to old fashion values like hard work, commitment, dedication, being selfless and working with others, being part of a team.

Swimming taught you lessons – not just about fly and back and turns and starts but about the things that really matter.

It taught you to set goals and work hard to achieve them.

It taught you that when things got tough, you got tougher.

It taught you that hard work and a positive attitude could overcome any obstacle.

It taught you to be humble – how to deal with losing.

It taught you to be humble – even in victory.

It taught you about honesty – about the importance of giving all you had to give and letting people see what you were capable of.

It taught you to deal with pain and discomfort.

It taught you about discipline, about time management, about being organised.

It taught you about nutrition, about health, about fitness, about taking care of yourself.

It taught you to stand up and face challenges – to be assertive – to never be intimidated by anything or anyone.

It taught you about confidence and believing in yourself and in believing anything is possible.

Swimming was the best teacher you ever had.

So what if you didn’t win the State final.

So what if you didn’t break the World record.

So what if you didn’t get that Olympic gold.

You became so much more than a flashy piece of metal – you became something far greater.

You became a person who achieved amazing things. A person who could push themselves through barriers other people see as insurmountable. A person who could overcome adversity and meet any challenge life threw at them. A person who gave everything they had to chase a dream and even if they came up short, got up and had another go at achieving it….and another….and another.

You became an outstanding student: staying up late to study for an exam was nothing compared to driving yourself up and down a lane 20 hours a week.

You became a great parent: having a child and losing some sleep was insignificant compared to travelling over night to a meet, racing all day, driving home and then getting up for training at 4 am the next day.

You become a wonderful partner: dealing with the differences between you and your partner was a small issue after working so close to a team of people pushing themselves to their limits day after day after day.

Don’t measure yourself or measure your career by gold or silver or bronze. Don’t measure it by ribbons or medals or titles.

Measure it by the only things that really matter – how much you enjoyed doing something you loved with people you loved being with. Or how many fun times you had with mom and dad on the way to training or on long, sleepy drives home from meets. Or by the jokes between repeats that went on and on and on and had you laughing under water most of the session. Or by the friends you had when you were ten who would still do anything for you 20 years later.

Or by the lessons you teach to your children: passing on the swimming experience and life lessons to the next generation and helping them be all they can be.

So when it is your last race, whether you grab the gold medal at the Olympic Games and retire on top or if it is swimming 3:35 for 100 free as a 92 year old in the State Masters championships, take a moment or two to smile, think about what you have achieved and feel very, very satisfied.

You did it.

Wayne Goldsmith (written for and inspired by Helen Morris)

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Message to Swimming – you still don’t get it!

Wayne Goldsmith — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 03:14:32 +0000

: Old wall from Crestock Creative Images

Six years ago I wrote an article called “Changing Times” about the Sport of Swimming and the challenges it faced all over the world.

You can find the full article at numerous sites (or just email me for a copy).

In short, I challenged the swimming community to work together, to strive to create new, exciting, interesting training and competition environments, to put away petty political and personality conflicts and work together in the best interest of kids, athletes, families, coaches, Clubs and the sport.

Now, Six years later…..Most of You still don’t get it do you!

A few weeks ago I was at a famous Aquatics complex in a major capital city. As usual, I was drawn to watch the swimming programs in the pool – the coaches, the athletes, technique, skills, performance levels, attitudes….I am passionate about swimming and want to see the sport succeed.

This is what I saw.

A young coach working with about 50 junior squad swimmers, aged 10-14 in very crowded lanes.

He stood at one end of the pool for the whole hour of the training session, most of the time with his leg up on the starting block in Lane one. He yelled workout instructions to the whole group and did not provide any swimmer with individualised feedback. All swimmers – all ages – all levels of ability did the same workout.

Skills and drills were performed poorly and received with little feedback. The feedback that was given was general feedback to the whole group.

The following week, I was at a similarly famous Aquatics complex in another capital city in another country. Again, I spent time observing a junior swim squad in training. Again I saw the same lack of engagement, lack of creativity, lack of passion and lack of quality coaching I had seen previously.

The next week I went to a local swim meet – again out of interest and love of the sport. Guess what?

Swimming is still offering 65 heats of the 7 and under 50 backstroke, still providing little or no interesting competition opportunities for swimmers over 15 years of age, still awarding those stupid colored ribbons to all swimmers from 5 years of age to 25, still being over zealous with breaststroke rules, still doing little or nothing to engage parents, still offering mostly junk food at the shop…………………..I thought I was in a time warp and it was 1973 all over again.

Put yourself in the position of being a swimmer in one of those squads.You have a choice. You can train for football, outside, with your friends, emulating your heroes and enjoying the team environment. You can stay at home and spend time on your computer engaging with your friends and the web. You can play other sports, play music, just enjoy lazing about with family and friends or…

“I can be pushed and driven up and down a pool with no engagement from my coach, receiving no feedback, learning nothing and being bumped and bruised in crowded lanes”.

Put yourself in the position of being a parent of a swimmer in one of those squads. You are paying money for your child to receive professional coaching. You have had to change your work, social and family schedule to be there. And what do you see?

“My child is receiving no quality, individualised instruction, is gaining no learning and receiving no feedback, is swimming mindless lap after mindless lap, bumping into other kids, the end of the pool and the lane ropes and I am paying for the privilege”.

Or what about the parent going to the Meet?

“I sit there for two days to see my kid swim four events, either in stinking heat or inside breathing in chlorine gas, giving up my precious weekend time and paying through the nose to get in to the facility, buy food and for race fees”.

And then the kid drops out of the sport in their mid teens and we all scream “What’s wrong with kids today?” – rubbish: the reason kids drop out of swimming is totally the responsibility of the people who coach, administer and organise swimming training and competitions. Kids and families will stay in swimming if it is engaging, enjoyable, exciting, educational and embraces excellence in all things.

We are offering mass mediocrity, outdated competition formats and inferior coaching quality and expecting people to continue to accept it. Well, have a good look at your registrations, Meets and bottom lines……..people are not accepting it.

The sport of swimming – like many other Olympic sports – is at the crossroads. The very existence of competitive swimming hangs in the balance like no other time in its history.

Now, more than ever we must provide quality, engaging, interesting, enjoyable and challenging training and competition experiences or swimmers and parents will no longer support the sport.

Why would a talented young swimmer, with so many choices available in sport, in social activities, in study programs, in social media and in life, waste time ploughing up and down a black line in a boring, repetitive, monotonous, poorly coached program?

Why would a parent with limited time and limited money pay for a child to be part of a sport which offers mediocre coaching and dull, boring, tedious competitions which typically offer the same events, on the same day, in the same order year after year after year?

If you consider just these coaching and competition issues – without even thinking about the child abuse allegations which are all too common around the world, the swim suit debacle and how that made the sport a laughing stock and concerns over the long term dangers of swimming in heavily chlorinated water and we are in crisis.

To all my friends and foes in swimming around the world – wake up! This is now a matter of great urgency.

Improve coaching standards - do not accept mediocre coaching anytime / anywhere from anyone;
Provide more engaging, interesting and enjoyable training environments;
Create new, interesting, stimulating and enjoyable competition formats;
Stop trying to force all kids into pathways designed to make them Olympic champions - give each individual what they need to realise their potential at all levels of achievement;
Put “fun” before “fast”;
Embrace parents into swimming programs as partners in swimming performance and stop treating them as lepers who pay fees;
And most importantly, stop this “we are different”, “those things will not work in swimming” and “that’s not the way we do it in swimming” thinking that is killing the sport around the world.

C’mon – we can do this!

Wayne Goldsmith

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