by Coach Mat | 21 Jul, 2018
I have been looking back at my notes from studying one of the books from The Pose Method of Running, by Nicholas Romanov, and ran across this quote on relaxation that had caught my attention previously. It adds another dimension to my thoughts shared in a previous...
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...
by Coach Mat | 11 Jun, 2017
After a swimmer has invested the time to thoroughly work through fundamental swimming skills, often the swimmer encounters some obstacles to improvement that are better addressed by training he needs to do outside the pool. Some major areas for improvement that emerge...
by Coach Mat | 10 Dec, 2016
In addendum to the previous post on What Is Relaxation? I recall another experience I had in running where a specific “Relax!” instruction worked. You certainly know about the global athletics company Nike. It started in Eugene Oregon, my home state, and...
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...
by Coach Mat | 12 Dec, 2015
Sometimes it seems like we have a paradox with relaxation in swimming – a dissonance between the understanding that speed requires power and power requires muscle tension, yet speed is restricted unless there is relaxation in the muscles. In Easy Strength the...
