Coaching | Mediterra Swim & Run

Special Stamina Part 1

by Coach Mat | 26 Dec, 2015

I received a request from one of you to talk about building stamina. Stamina is defined as ability to withstand hardship, to maintain strength over a longer period of time. I might add to this by saying stamina is the ability to be stronger than the hardship facing...

Test For The Weakest System

by Coach Mat | 19 Dec, 2015

Experienced and accomplished swimmers (still practicing) tend to have well-developed swimming-specific fitness from their years of training, even after taking time off. When they begin retraining their stroke technique a challenge in that process is that they can get...

Relaxation Paradox

by Coach Mat | 12 Dec, 2015

Sometimes it seems like we have a paradox with relaxation in swimming – a dissonance between the understanding that speed requires power and power requires muscle tension, yet speed is restricted unless there is relaxation in the muscles. In Easy Strength the...

Train And Maintain The Brain

by Coach Mat | 5 Dec, 2015

Many people seem to care about what will happen to their physical quality of life as they get older. But do you wonder what will happen to your mental quality of life as you get older? I think we readily understand the importance of maintaining physical fitness. We...

Test for Progress and Weakness

by Coach Mat | 28 Nov, 2015

Here is an excerpt from the instruction in the12-week Master Class 1K course inside our Online Coaching Program. It is describing the role of the test swim and guiding the swimmer’s response to it: To test progress and reveal strengths and weak spots you need to...

Stroke-Change Skill

by Coach Mat | 21 Nov, 2015

I’ve approached questions and comments like these at least a couple times before on my blog, and let me try another… What if I am practicing the wrong thing? I don’t want to get good at something that is incorrect! Two recent blog posts address part...