Specific Skills | Mediterra Swim & Run

Avoid Hitting The Wall On A Long Swim/Run

by Coach Mat | 10 Jun, 2018

The question about feeding has come up with some swimmers preparing for long swim (more than 2 hours). Something like, “I start to feel suddenly quite tired after an hour or so, and I think I need some food to keep going. What should I eat and drink? This...

If You Want To Move Forward Quickly

by Coach Mat | 26 May, 2018

We most often think of water as a whole body or continuous substance. But really, from another viewpoint in physics, it is a soup of individual water molecules, or little electrical balls all jumbled, bumping and swirling together. And if you want to swim forward in...

The Tension Behind Relaxation

by Coach Mat | 28 Apr, 2018

A few days ago, on the Total Immersion blog, I published an essay on the necessary relationship between tension and relaxation in swimming. If you’ve been trying to be ‘more relaxed’ in your stroke, or trying to be ‘more powerful’ you may...

The Pleasure Of Motion

by Coach Mat | 11 Feb, 2018

I took my boys to the local skate park on a rare sunny winter day recently. They like riding their pro scooters there and practicing mild versions of the tricks they’ve seen on Youtube. I was watching them practice as well as the dozen other boys gathered there,...

Where Does Your Breath Come From?

by Coach Mat | 7 Jan, 2018

What do you do when you have done your best to solve your breathlessness problem in the pool and it is still not enough? You followed the Checklist For Easier Breathing: You’ve worked hard on your fundamental stroke skills. You’ve worked hard on the...

Relax Into Easier Breathing

by Coach Mat | 17 Dec, 2017

I was working with ‘Ray’ in a private lesson. He presented a good example of how we could use the Checklist For Easier Breathing to diagnose his breathing complaint and pinpoint the possible solutions. To review, here are the four main features of easier...