by Coach Mat | 24 Oct, 2020
I have a saying: “Power is important, but (in water) shape is more important than power.” I use it to persuade a student to be patient with our process of developing the frame of the body and the streamline shape before we focus directly on the propulsive...
by Coach Mat | 1 Feb, 2020
Just the other day one of my swimmers was describing his weekly training plan in order to get my input on it. His goal is to build up his capabilities over the next few months in order to prepare for his first Alcatraz Triathlon with a 1.5 mile swim (2.4 km), and a...
by Coach Mat | 14 Dec, 2019
This is continuing from How To ‘Lift Weights’ In The Water – Part 1… The Primary Form Of Strength At this point in the essay, the main lesson for everyone is that stroke length is the foundation to speed and the better you are at achieving a...
by Coach Mat | 7 Dec, 2019
If you want to swim farther and/or swim faster, you have to be both more skilled, and stronger. Some people focus on just one or the other. But you can develop both of those together if you require both in how you go about your training. I trust you are already sold...
by Coach Mat | 8 Jun, 2019
When you are working on improving your stroke length (stroke count) or stroke rate (tempo) there are neural tricks you can perform to get your body to make a fairly quick improvement in a single practice. But, in many cases, those improvements hold up for only a few...
by Coach Mat | 5 Jun, 2019
To clarify, let me add on this story of how these Optimal Stroke Count charts came about… First a note: this is not intended to be an precisely chronological story. It is simply a recollection of the main events that shaped the formation of these charts, weaving...
