A Better High Elbow Catch
These last couple weeks I received a some inquiries about my perspective on what is known as the High Elbow Catch so I will share some of the comments I gave. Appearance Or Function? The label ‘high elbow catch’ is a descriptive term of an external appearance – and...
Improve Swimming Speed Part 3
So, in the previous essay we have seen how swimming speed and ease can be broken down into a pyramid of interdependent skill sets. In your stroke mastery and performance improvement process you need to work through this cycle several times, gradually deepening your...
Improve Swimming Speed Part 2
Let’s say you want to go a bit faster than you can now, to improve swimming speed, but your current methods are not working. When looking at the math of physics this is the equation we use in swimming to build speed: Speed = Stroke Length x Stroke Rate The...
Improve Swimming Speed Part 1
A good portion of our typical swim students, maybe half, are primarily concerned about swimming faster. The other half may not be directly interested in getting faster – they just want swimming to be easier and more enjoyable regardless of speed (so it is said)....
Education Or Entertainment?
What is the difference between getting an education from the knowledge we consume versus just getting entertained by it? First, let me define those terms: Education = I have been changed by what I learned. It has improved my experience or performance noticeably....
Focal Point: A Tool, Not A Rule
In the Total Immersion stroke-shaping and training method… …a Focal Point is a tool, not a rule. This comes as a response to a discussion one of our coach colleagues brought up regarding a student who seemed to carry his use of a Focal Point to an...
Not Right? Make It Better – Continual Improvement
When you are working on something difficult, do you keep doing it wrong? Does this leave you frustrated and ashamed? Such an emotional storm surrounding your learning process makes progress even more difficult than it needs to be. Make progress much easier by...
Swimming Past Exhaustion Point
Have you swam past your exhaustion point? Why, or why not? ** There is a difference between a difficult swimming situation that produces struggle and a difficult situation that presents challenge. Swimming as Struggle = swimming in a situation where I have lost...