Posts Tagged ‘Swimming Science’
Five New Ideas that will Change Swimming Forever.
They say that “success is a moving target”.
This is so true in swimming where new ideas, information and innovations are constantly being thrown up to challenge, inspire and stimulate the thinking of swimmers and coaches.
Recently a wave of exciting and challenging new scientific research has come forward which has sparked some new ideas and forced the swimming world to sit up and take notice.
Here are five new ideas that will change our swimming world…………..forever! Read more
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August 1, 2011 | 2 Comments
Tags: Competitive Swimming, Elite swimming, High Performance Swimming, Mental Skills and Attitudes, Swim, Swim Meets, Swimmers, Swimming, Swimming Coaching, Swimming Science, Swimming Technique, Swimming Training Tips
The Ten Myths of Swimming.
The dictionary says:
myth (noun)
- a traditional story of unknown authorship, ostensibly with a historical basis, but serving usually to explain some phenomenon of nature, the origin of man, or the customs, institutions, religious rites, etc. of a people: myths usually involve the exploits of gods and heroes
- such stories collectively; mythology
- any fictitious story, or unscientific account, theory, belief, etc.
- any imaginary person or thing spoken of as though existing
There’s the Yeti.
There’s the Sasquatch.
There’s the shopping cart with four good wheels.
There’s the low fat, great tasting chocolate cake.
And there’s these….the ten myths of swimming. Read more
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August 1, 2011 | 2 Comments
Tags: Coaching, Competitive Swimming, Elite swimming, High Performance Swimming, Mental Skills and Attitudes, success, Swim, Swimming, Swimming Coaching, Swimming Competition Tips, Swimming Science, Swimming Technique, Swimming Training Tips
Swim Up to Swim Down: Some new ideas on Swim Downs to enhance your Swim Meet Success
In the old days it was simple.
You raced. You did your best.
You spoke with the coach about your race, you swapped ideas about dives and turns, you listened to feedback, discussed splits and stroke technique etc etc.
You drank a little water or sports drink.
You jumped (or maybe slumped) into the swim down pool, did a few laps at a speed your grandma would consider too slow and climbed out three minutes later ready to go for your next race (or so you thought).
That, as they say was then and this is now – and now, more than ever, swim down is a critical element of every swimming competition. Read more
July 8, 2011 | 2 Comments
Tags: Coaching, Competitive Swimming, Elite swimming, High Performance Swimming, Mental Skills and Attitudes, Swim, Swim Meets, Swimmers, Swimming, Swimming Coaching, Swimming Competition Tips, Swimming Racing Tips, Swimming Science, winning
Swim Shop – Now Open
The Swim Coaching Brain has Opened a Swim Shop.
In response to the overwhelming demand for more information on swimming topics, we have put together a series of swimming books for you to download and enjoy.
The first book in the series: Longer and Stronger: Stretching and Strengthening for Young Swimmers is available now!
More books will be added regularly.
Make sure you bookmark the Shop page and visit it regularly to check out some of our great new swimming products.
June 24, 2011 | Comments Off
Tags: Coaching, Competitive Swimming, Mental Skills and Attitudes, success, successful, Swim, Swim Meets, Swimmers, Swimming, Swimming and Parenting, Swimming Clubs and Swimming Associations, Swimming Coaching, Swimming Competition Tips, Swimming Racing Tips, Swimming Science, Swimming Technique, Swimming Training Tips, Training, winning
The P.A.C.E. System of Managing Swimming Training Intensity.
How to simply, practically, reliably and accurately manage training intensity in swimming.
Now add in these complications:
- 67 kids aged 8 – 13 years all in the water at the same time;
- Only one coach on deck;
- No heart rate monitors (i.e. so any heart rate monitoring is done manually);
- No sports science support.
The challenge just got a little more difficult…..or has it?
Introducing the PACE system – P.A.C.E. Read more
June 15, 2011 | Comments Off
Tags: Coaching, Competitive Swimming, Swimmers, Swimming, Swimming Coaching, Swimming Science, Swimming Technique, Swimming Training Tips, Training
The Engagement Factor – the essential element in designing training sets and swimming workouts.
In my last post, I introduced the P.A.C.E. system – a simple, easy to use, practical way of managing training intensity in young age group swimmers.
| P.A.C.E. System Level | Description | Feels like | Used for |
|---|---|---|---|
| P or PACE 1 | Practice and Preparation Pace | Easy, relaxed. | Recovery, drills and skills. |
| A or PACE 2 | Air-robic Pace. | Easy to moderate. | Endurance development. |
| C or PACE 3 | Competition Specific Pace | Hard. | Race specific practices with race specific speeds, skills, techniques and breathing. |
| E or PACE 4 | Electric Pace | Fast - explosive. | Speed development. |
Now, let’s build on the P.A.C.E. system by introducing the Engagement Factor: the first training prescription system which incorporates a mental skills focus in swimming workout design.
Everyone talks about the importance of the mental side of swimming and how important it is for swimmers to train both their bodies and minds in training and preparation.
Talking about it is one thing.
The next step for coaches is to make mental skills and the integration of the mind into every session and the way to achieve this is to incorporate mental skills in the workout design itself.
Introducing the Engagement Factor.

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April 11, 2011 | 4 Comments
Tags: Mental Skills and Attitudes, Swim, Swimmers, Swimming, Swimming Coaching, Swimming Competition Tips, Swimming Racing Tips, Swimming Science, Swimming Technique, Swimming Training Tips, Training
Peaking and Tapering Strategies–Getting it right the first time.
There’s Harry Potter.
There’s Star Wars.
There’s Disneyland.
And there’s one other magic and mystery experience……………Peaking and Tapering swimmers.
But what is peaking and tapering?
- PEAK – Preparing Each Athlete’s Kapacity (capacity) to perform at their best.
- TAPER – Training Activities that Provide Excellence after Rest.
Peaking is about training swimmers to swim at their best.
Tapering is ensuring that the swimmer’s can produce their best on a specific day following a period of rest, recovery and regeneration.
Let’s try to unlock the magic and mystery of coaching swimmers to perform at their best……when it matters most. Read more
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February 15, 2011 | 6 Comments
Tags: Swim, Swimming, Swimming Coaching, Swimming Science, Swimming Technique, Swimming Training Tips
Speed development workouts – five of the best speed workout sets to have you burning up the lanes!

- winner from Crestock Images
Gennadi Touretski– coach of legendary Russian speedster Alex Popov once said, “speed is the most precious thing in swimming – in the end it is what we are all about – it is what we are all trying to achieve”.
There are no gold medals or world records for the person who can swim the slowest or swim with the best technique or with the strongest kick or who has the best heart rate. There are no gold medals for the swimmer who wears the most expensive swim suit (at least not any more!).
There are no gold medals for the person who can lift the most weights or who has the best hairdo – winning is all about speed. Read more
May 4, 2010 | 3 Comments
Tags: Mental Skills and Attitudes, Swim, Swimmers, Swimming, Swimming Coaching, Swimming Competition Tips, Swimming Racing Tips, Swimming Science, Swimming Technique, Swimming Training Tips, Training
Energy Systems: 1-2-3 – let’s take a new look at an old (but still hot) topic.
OK, OK – another article about energy systems and training zones in swimming.
No – this is not just another energy systems article – this one is different…. Read more
February 19, 2010 | 6 Comments
Tags: Swim, Swimmers, Swimming, Swimming Coaching, Swimming Science, Swimming Technique, Swimming Training Tips








