Swimming Breaststroke – the best stroke

We have all been there – sitting behind a breaststroker, trying to overtake them, trying to get around their wide kicks and slow speed. Frustrating!!!

However, to get good at breaststroke – you have to swim breaststroke! That is to say, if you want to swim fast breaststroke in competition you have to train to swim fast breaststroke.

Many swimmers wonder why their breaststroke does not improve. Often the reason is simple…they don’t swim it enough in training.

How often do you do a full session of breaststroke? That’s breaststroke warm up, breaststroke kick, breaststroke pull, breaststroke drills, breaststroke main set, breaststroke starts / turns / finishes.

Many breaststrokers find themselves doing a few breaststroke drills in warm up, a few 50’s of breaststroke kick and then freestyle or medley main sets. Now often this is because of crowded lanes and the need to get the work done – particularly during main sets – but there is an old saying, “train the way you want to race”.

Allocate two to three sessions per week of nothing but breaststroke.  Breaststroke specific sessions, and especially timed breaststroke main sets. Then, watch how much you improve!

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The Ten Myths of Swimming

The dictionary says:

myth  (noun)

• 1. 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
• 2. such stories collectively; mythology
• 3. any fictitious story, or unscientific account, theory, belief, etc.
• 4. 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 ten myths of swimming.

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The Top Ten Technique Tips for Every swimmer

1. Effective propulsive movements are 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.

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Welcome to THE Swimming Site.

Hi – Welcome to THE Swimming Site.

We say THE Swimming Site because we have one simple aim – to be THE number one Swimming site in the world.

The Swimming Site will be the SOSS – Swimming One Stop Shop – for everything you ever wanted to know about swimming including:

• Swimming Coaching tips
• Swimming Injury minimisation and management
• Swimming and Competing - swim meets, pacing, motivation, performance skills.
• Swimming Technique and skills tips
• Swimming Training program ideas and information – training sets, training tips, peaking, tapering.
• Swimming Science – testing, analysis.
• Swimming Testing

THE Swimming Site – make it YOUR Swimming Site.

Training for Butterfly: Seven Special Secrets and Sets

This is the first in a series of four articles of special training sets designed to improve your swimming strokes.

1. BK – SK – FK – SK (Kick Drill)

The trick to great fly kick is to learn to kick with strong, flowing, even power and rhythm in both directions.

Try this drill:
Push off in with your arms by your side. Kick six kicks on your back, rotate to your left side and kick six kicks on your side, then rotate over to your tummy and kick six kicks on your front and rotate over again to your right side for another six kicks.

The aim is to keep a strong, even, flowing kicking movement throughout the drill particularly the first and last kicks after and before you rotate to a new position.

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Speed Development In Swimmers

Total Condition Training

Introduction

Competitive swimming is all about swimming fast, and speed, in conjunction with technique, forms the most precious element of a swimmer’s make-up. Coaches are, after all, dedicated to one task: preparing swimmers to swim their event as fast as possible.

While some swimmers possess a greater degree of natural speed than others, it is clear that a well planned training program should improve swimming speed and competitive performance of all swimmers.

This article examines three approaches to the development of speed in all swimmers and outlines their coaching and scientific rationale. We then introduce the concept of total condition training, which has the aim of maximising both speed and endurance. Several features of this model are discussed in detail and relevant suggestions on developing speed in swimmers are presented.

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Time Management for Swimming Success

Don’t Plan to Fail by Failing to Plan

Swimming successfully is as much about time management as it is about training hard. Fitting in training, schoolwork, rest and recovery and having some time to yourself is a difficult juggling act even for the most committed and dedicated athlete.

One of the toughest things to do when managing your week is to schedule time to do nothing. For most athletes doing nothing is just as demanding as doing the hard training in the pool and gym.
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The Top Ten Technique Tips for Every Swimmer

1. Effective propulsive movements are 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. Read the rest of this entry »

Testing the Waters: Swimming Tests Part Two

In part one of this article we discussed the basic principles of testing and looked at an example of a test records sheet.

In part two we look at three great swimming tests designed to help you measure your improvement in Speed, Speed-Endurance, and Endurance.

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Testing the Waters: Swimming Tests Part One

Most swimmers want to know the answer to four basic questions:

1. Am I getting fitter?
2. Am I getting faster?
3. Is my technique improving?
4. Will I be able to race well at my next competition?

The best way to answer all these questions is, of course, by “racing”!

Competition results and meet performances give you valuable information on how your program is going and how much you are improving.

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