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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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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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 magical and mysterious experience: peaking and tapering swimmers.

But what is peaking and tapering?

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Swimming as a Team AND Achieving Individual Goals

How Being Part of the Team Can Help You Achieve Your Own Swimming Goals

On the surface, swimming seems like an individual sport: One swimmer, one lane. Everyone swims their own race using their own tactics and their own strategies.

But it is an individual sport wrapped inside a team environment.

You train in a team. You all dress in team gear. You work with the same coach. You all train at the same pool.

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Swimming and School: Making it Cool

You know the drill.

Alarm goes off at 5 am. You get up. You eat. You go to the pool. You swim.

You got to school all day then…

You eat. You go to the pool. You swim.
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The Mental side of the Lane: Essential Mental Skills for Swimming

Swimming fast is based on four key performance elements:

• Physical: Fitness, speed, endurance, strength, power etc
• Technical: Technique, skills, dives, starts, turns and finishes
• Tactical: Pacing, strategies, racing skills
• Mental: Relaxation, self belief, attitude, focus etc.

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High Performance Nutrition for Swim Meets, Competitions and Carnivals

Swim-Eats (Swim-Meets): A Guide for Swimmers, Coaches, Parents and Clubs

Nutrition is an important area of successful sports performance in any sport.

Swimmers need to eat nutritious foods to compete and train to the best of their ability. Coaches need to ensure that swimmers are eating well and re-hydrating to complement their training program. Parents want to help their kids achieve their goals and are keen to support them in every possible way.

Swim Clubs and swimming organisations, selling food and drink at Swim Meets need to ensure that a variety of highly nutritious healthy options that can still generate income and raise funds are available to the swimmers.

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Success is a Choice: Make it Yours

Choose to be a Champion

Somewhere in the world today, the Beijing Olympic champion in your event got out of bed.

They were given the same 24 hours you were given. They saw the same sun and same sky you saw. But for some reason, they decided to choose to use today to prepare better than anyone else in the world in their (your) event.

My question is, why wasn’t it you who made that choice?
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