January 17, 2006 -- While there is little doubt that triathletes are some of the hardest-working athletes in the sporting world, there is a time in the season to make the conscious mental commitment to work on your freestyle technique by backing off the yardage and focusing on drill work to target any shortcomings with your stroke.
For many triathletes, the swim is the most challenging of the three disciplines. Even experienced swimmers must focus on technique throughout the year to maintain their proficiency in the water. And for all athletes, a commitment to working on technique every week will not only make your swimming experience more enjoyable but will also make you more efficient in the water.
This week I want to discuss a few of the basic principles that are behind my training and coaching philosophy when it comes to swimming.
1) The right mentality. You need to set aside at least one swim session a week to focus on technique. This means you come to practice prepared to focus mentally on your swim stroke and you remain conscious of what you are doing and commit to learning a particular drill or skill. For these sessions, you must let go of the have-to-get-a-work-out-in mentality.
2) Deliberate practice. Repetition is the key to learning any kind of new skill. This applies directly to learning physical skills and movements in a cyclical and repetitive sport such as freestyle swimming. An average swimmer takes 20 strokes per 25. That is 80 strokes of freestyle per 100, and when the dust settles at the end of a 4000-meter session, that will be 3200 strokes. If you are swimming three or four times per week and just head down to the pool to thrash about, you are reinforcing a poor stroke in a big way. As soon as you touch the water, think about swimming with a good stroke. This also applies to drills. Many swimmers do not execute drills properly. Take your time, and be aware of what you are doing.
3) Patience. It takes at least four to six weeks to learn a skill and perfect it. Whether it is working on your head position, eliminating a catch-up stroke or trying not to drop your elbow, it will take time to learn a new skill so it becomes second nature and totally ingrained and automatic.
4) Awareness A large part of learning new skills depends on the athlete’s level of kinaesthetic awareness. Have a friend or your coach tape you swimming, then review the footage after a few lengths and continue swimming. This can be repeated throughout the swim session and is a great way to learn a swim skill and receive immediate feedback. Another fun drill that will help improve your spatial awareness is swimming with your eyes shut.
5) Warm up Get in a warm-up on the pool deck to prepare your nervous system and muscles. Take the time to do a few dynamic stretches, which should include arm and leg swings as well as stretch-cord work and some core activation. Taking five to 10 minutes to do a proper pre-swim routine will set you up for a quality swim session.
While there are many drills and different philosophies on freestyle swimming, we sometimes have to remember to return to the basics to break through a plateau or push our fitness to new levels.
If you have a triathlon-training question for Coach Cliff, please e-mail Triathlete Magazine Interactive.
Cliff English is Triathlon Canada’s 2004 elite coach of the year. Coach Cliff works with 2004 Canadian Olympic triathlete and 2005 Ralphs California Half Ironman and Wildflower long-course winner Samantha McGlone; Kelly Guest, the 2005 Tri-California series winner; and Melanie McQuaid, the 2005 Xterra world champion. For more information on Cliff and his coaching programs, please visit Competitive Edge Training and Endurance Specialists.