Psychological | Mediterra Swim & Run

Silent Swimming

by Coach Mat | 4 Apr, 2015

The first objective I have in swim practice is to bring my body and my mind into the water. The next objective is to bring my mind into my body. The third objective is to bring all my internal systems online and into a unified, cooperative state for higher...

Quality Rest Time At The Wall

by Coach Mat | 22 Feb, 2015

In our private workshop with the MaratonIST Triathlon Club of Istanbul this weekend I used one of our practice sets to show how we turn even those passive rest moments (= being still) at the wall into valuable training opportunity. Those moments are not just about...

Improve Swimming Speed Part 3

by Coach Mat | 8 Feb, 2015

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

by Coach Mat | 31 Jan, 2015

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

by Coach Mat | 24 Jan, 2015

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)....

Not Right? Make It Better – Continual Improvement

by Coach Mat | 28 Dec, 2014

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...