Archive for 2011

Take the Escalator, Not the Stairs

Remember when you were a kid, how much you loved riding the escalator at the mall? Taking the stairs was so boring, not to mention very tiring. The same thing is true in swimming – the fun thing to do, which is also the fast thing to do, is to ride the escalator to the surface, rather than stair stepping our way up.

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Leonardo DiCaprio Backstroke?

Kicking is a critically important aspect of successful backstroke.  However it is often overlooked when it comes to teaching technique.  Competitive swimmers need solid, clear teaching in this area so that they can avoid developing a “Leonardo DiCaprio Backstroke.”  You see, backstroke kick should be small, fast, and aggressive, like the prop on the back of a speed boat, as opposed to being large and slow, like the prop on the back of the Titanic.  A large, slow kick is ...

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“Phelps” Your Walls…

“Races are won and lost on the walls.”  How many times have we heard this statement, and how many times have we seen it happen in actual competition?  More times than I can count for sure.  One of the greatest demonstrations of this swimming axiom is the infamous Phelps vs. Van Den Hoogenband 200m Freestyle race from the 2007 World Championships that took place in Melbourne, Australia.  Watch carefully as Phelps systematically destroys Van Den Hoogenband on each wall, especially ...

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Avoiding Fred Flintstone…

Often when racing Freestyle, swimmers will bury their head deep below the surface of the water, thereby creating a significant amount of unnecessary resistance, commonly known as “drag” in swimming parlance.  We need to fight this natural tendency to “bare down” when we are putting extra effort into our races, and instead maintain a neutral head position in order to achieve maximum efficiency while racing.

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Follow Your Head

It has been said that the head is the most important thing in every stroke.  The head can be rightly be compared to a steering wheel in a car.  Just as a car follows the direction that the steering wheel turns, so too does the body follow the direction that the head turns.  Perhaps you’ve seen swimmers, commonly referred to as “head shifters,” who let their heads wobble around while swimming down the pool.  If you watch these swimmers closely, ...

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Shallow Breaststroke

Breaststroke is the key to a GREAT IM, but it’s also the trickiest stroke to master.  Here is a great video of Kosuke Kitajima – watch how he keeps his entire body close to the surface (i.e. “shallow breaststroke”) throughout the stroke and how patient he is when he glides in the “i” position.

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