by Coach Mat | 6 Oct, 2018 | Competitive/Performance Training, Fitness Training, Kaizen (Continual Improvement), Martial Arts, Mastery Process, Physiology, Swimming Physics, Technique Theory, Training Theory
Let me give you a short answer to the question in the title of this post: Yes, there is a technical ideal we are aiming for, for every standard-equipped human swimmer. And, yet we recognize that there is so much variety in bodies that some compromise is often...
by Coach Mat | 2 Sep, 2018 | Butterfly, Competitive/Performance Training, How To Train?, Lessons From Elites, Mastery Process, Plateau (No Progress), Speed, Speed and Pace, Strength Training, Student Stories, Too Slow, Training Theory
Even if you do not practice the butterfly stroke, you may appreciate this approach to solving the not-getting-any-faster problem… Coach Jamee and I have been working with a mother and three kids (10, 12 and 16) on a swim team who came to us to work on freestyle...
by Coach Mat | 7 Jul, 2018 | Competitive/Performance Training, Design Principles, How To Train?, Kaizen (Continual Improvement), Practice Series, Speed, Speed and Pace, SPL, Stroke Length (SL), Strength, Strength Training, Weight-lifting
The universal speed equation is… Speed = Stroke Length x Stroke Rate If you want to go faster in the water you need to make stroke length (SL) longer without losing more than a calculated amount of stroke rate, or you need to make stroke rate (SR) higher without...
by Coach Mat | 26 May, 2018 | Competitive/Performance Training, Energy Management, Speed, Speed and Pace, Streamline Skills, Swimming Physics, Triathlon Swimming
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...
by Coach Mat | 12 May, 2018 | Burn Out, Competitive/Performance Training, Motivating Swimmers, Motivation, Pain, Pleasure Swimming, Training Psychology
Do you know what’s more important than being faster? Feeling wonderful when you move. This is not really a personal preference thing. This is about universal physiology and psychology. Think about it. If you want an athletic movement art that you will want to...
by Coach Mat | 25 Feb, 2018 | Competitive/Performance Training, Design Principles, How To Train?, Martial Arts, Metabolic Training, Muscle Training, Neurological Training, Plateau (No Progress), Running, Speed and Pace, SPL, Stroke Length (SL), Tempo, Stroke Rate (SR), Training Theory, Triathlon Swimming
A member of our online training site, the Mediterra Swim Dojo, has been noticing that after a certain distance in a training set, his stroke quality deteriorates which results in his stroke count (strokes per length of the pool) going up uncontrollably. He asked a...
