No Progress | Mediterra Swim & Run

Why Do Sprint Work?

by Coach Mat | 14 May, 2017

A 46 year old swimmer from Azerbaijan has been working with me for some months through the Mediterra Swim Dojo, our online training site, to prepare for 10 km swimming this summer. Within the last year or so he’s gone from essentially a non-swimmer to a...

Get The Work Done Well

by Coach Mat | 30 Apr, 2017

There is a difference between getting the work done, and getting the work done well. It’s one thing to feel like you barely survived the 1500 meter swim. It’s another thing to do it feeling strong enough at the end to continue with the rest of your...

Your Abilities Expand

by Coach Mat | 7 Jan, 2017

It is easy for us to agree that expertise takes time. We see examples of this fact in biographies of masters admired in every field. But do you believe you too can become an expert of swimming? You can. At your age. Over time, with Deliberate Practice, not only will...

Expertise Takes Time

by Coach Mat | 1 Jan, 2017

As I near the end of this discussion of Anders Ericsson’s principles of Deliberate Practice which he laid out in his recent book Peak, I will give you the punch line right at the beginning: You get masterful swimming in return according to your investment of...

Form Better Mental Representations

by Coach Mat | 17 Dec, 2016

Anders Ericsson declares that “the main purpose of deliberate practice is to develop effective mental representations.” (page 75). It would therefore be very important that we figure out what mental representations are in the context of our deliberate swim...

Full Attention Required

by Coach Mat | 26 Nov, 2016

We are continuing our series on the application of Deliberate Practice in our way of training: Part 1 – The Definition Of Deliberate Practice Part 2 – Follow A Proven Effective Path Part 3 – Difficult And Enjoyable Practice Part 4 – Focus On...