Judging Stroke Advice – Part 2

by Coach Mat | 3 Jul, 2015

Continued from Part 1… #3 – Personal Physical Conditions Within the context of Universal Human Physiology we would see how much an individual is tapping into his/her potential there. This refers to the current physical condition the swimmer is in his...

Judging Stroke Advice – Part 1

by Coach Mat | 27 Jun, 2015

Recently at a camp a swimmer asked about the differences between Total Immersion Swimming and this or that other program, noting, “they seem about the same to me!” Of course, I wouldn’t totally agree with that statement, that TI and Program X or...

Love Your Goggles

by Coach Mat | 17 Jun, 2015

It may sound like a silly question but… Do you love your goggles? Let me rephrase it… Do you love being able to see clearly and comfortably when you swim? It may sound like an obvious thing, or it may sound like no big deal. But care for your goggles is...

Deep Practice Encouragement – Part 3

by Coach Mat | 6 Jun, 2015

The practice advice continues from Deep Practice Encouragement – Part 2… *** You Can’t Do It All At Once You can’t perfect everything at once, or in one season. Yet, by race day, you’ve got to have some chosen skill improvements...

Deep Practice Encouragement – Part 2

by Coach Mat | 30 May, 2015

This essay continues from Deep Practice Encouragement – Part 1… *** Now, a bit of practical advice on Deep/Deliberate Practice. The Four Deliberate Practice Principles 1. Make it a specific, clearly-defined, skill objective. “I am going to swim...

Deep Practice Encouragement – Part 1

by Coach Mat | 23 May, 2015

I recently read Joshua Foer’s book “Moonwalking With Einstein: The Art And Science Of Remembering Everything” about his journey from an ordinary forgetful guy to the finals of the US Memory Championships a year later. Along the way he learned a great...

Good Attitude

by Coach Mat | 16 May, 2015

The real test of your good attitude will not happen on a good practice day. It will be exposed and tested on a bad practice day. When you experience a ‘bad’ practice (i.e. failure to produce expected results) that is the best opportunity to examine the...

Use Your Energy Well

by Coach Mat | 2 May, 2015

There are generally two approaches to swimming faster: Generate more power. Use the power you’ve got better. They don’t need to be mutually exclusive in training, but which one makes sense as your first objective as an athlete? The wise goal – no...

Running Rehab – Part 2

by Coach Mat | 26 Apr, 2015

  In conjunction with the previous post – Running Rehab Part 1 – I will describe the places on my lower body where I have used a foam roller to work out tight and painful spots, which has released me to run pain-free again. First, the points on my...

Running Rehab – Part 1

by Coach Mat | 18 Apr, 2015

For the last 3+ months I have focused entirely on rehabilitating my legs back into running. This means I haven’t swam but a few times (usually during our training events) because I needed to give my limited time each day, each week, to the consistent running...