SPL, Stroke Length (SL) | Mediterra Swim & Run

Slide And Glide Example

by Coach Mat | 10 Jun, 2013

A recent comment I received on my post Long Live ‘Slide-And-Glide’ (drill) asked for a video example of this. I think Shinji’s 9-stroke video gets the idea across. Notice how there is no pause in the stroke. One arm is always moving, and moving...

Tune-Up Quick Guide

by Coach Mat | 12 Mar, 2013

Here is a more simplified guide on how a Tune-Up could be constructed: Distance/Duration: It could be from 10 minutes to 15 minutes for an already well-tuned swimmer, to the entire practice for an out-of-tune swimmer. I am very reluctant to lay out actual distance or...

Out Of Tune

by Coach Mat | 5 Mar, 2013

Without a sufficient tune-up you might run into the problem I had today in practice. The following story will show you both my mistakes and my reasoning on how to correct it next time. When I arrived the pool was (finally) a pleasant cool temperature rather than the...

Little Details Big Difference

by Coach Mat | 27 Feb, 2013

Little details can make a big difference. I am back in the pool for a couple weeks while waiting for the sea to calm down. However, this particular pool is rarely consistent in temperature. So arriving yesterday I found it 30 C (87 F) – uncomfortably (and...

Training Pace Perception

by Coach Mat | 7 Jan, 2013

It may or may not be surprising to you to learn that holding consistent Pace is one of the most important skills for any swimmer desiring to race or accomplish a particular distance goal for the best possible outcome. This applies to 50 meters sprints to 1500 meters,...

Private Virtual Competition

by Coach Mat | 29 Dec, 2012

This is how a virtual competition (with Sun Yang or any swimmer in the world you choose!) might work: Pace is a simple calculation of Stroke Length (SL) x Tempo. We will use SL because it is a universal measurement – it doesn’t matter what length pool you...