Practice Design | Mediterra Swim & Run

Love Your Weakest Member

by Coach Mat | 4 Feb, 2017

In the last post I shared some transcribed parts of Rich Roll’s podcast that covered one coach’s way of establishing healthy and injury-free athletes. There was one point in that discussion that may have drifted by too fast – it is so subtle but so...

Can You Practice When Injured?

by Coach Mat | 21 Jan, 2017

This title will likely attract attention because injury seems to accompany serious swimmers who persist in the sport long enough. The questions are common: should I practice when injured and if so, how? Injured By Swimming The first scenario to address is when...

Practice Involves Feedback

by Coach Mat | 25 Dec, 2016

Along with the previous article in this series describing the role of focal points (mental representations), we are getting to the heart of the practice with the feedback loop. If you have ever learned to play an instrument (or tried to) or just listened to music...

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...

What Is Relaxation?

by Coach Mat | 3 Dec, 2016

A couple weeks ago I participated in a Chi Running workshop led by Master Coach Alice Diffely in Portland, Oregon USA. To prepare for the workshop I was reviewing some chapters in the Chi Running book to refresh my memory of the principles, drills and focal points. I...

Focus On Small, Specific Pieces

by Coach Mat | 20 Nov, 2016

We are continuing from Part 1 and Part 2 and Part 3 in this discussion of the features of Ericsson’s Deliberate Practice concept. We will look at the importance of focusing training upon small, specific pieces of skill. I am referring to Chapter 4 “The...