Stroke Doctor Swimming

FIND ROOT CAUSES

Diagnosing stroke errors requires looking past the obvious problems our eyes first notice to the root causes responsible for them.

The most glaring mistake in this swimmer’s stroke? His giant scissor kick.

The root cause? Head lift on his breath.

Over the course of our 2-day course we adjusted his breathing skills and head position. The result? A huge reduction in leg splay that eliminates drag, lowers energy cost and improves velocity.

Don’t be distracted by first impressions. Trace the conspicuous issue back to its less-obvious root cause. This swimmer didn’t have a leg problem. He didn’t need endless laps with a kickboard. He needed to address the mistake that caused his legs to act out.

You can't do the basics too well. Consider these 5 key points of ex*****on as you drill. A properly aligned and balanced body position permits sleek streamlining and allows the limbs to engage in propulsion rather than stabilization.

Here's our full Open Water schedule for 2019 / Dania Beach, FL

Terry Laughlin was a good friend and incomparable mentor since we first met in 1997. We coached together at numerous weekend clinics, open water camps, competitive swimmer camps, coach certification courses. It’s hardly surprising he established a deep friendship with Tim Ferriss, one of today’s most popular efficiency innovators. Find time to listen to this podcast, recorded shortly before his death in 2017. You may learn a bit about swimming, and a few things about a life well lived.
https://tim.blog/2017/10/29/terry-laughlin/?fbclid=IwAR2RB2oPZYlrt-ZXn9DxLj5oddJ8HhGghalO8kZSww2VQEJINawcDS-1q7U

Terry Laughlin, The Master Who Changed My Life (#276)

So great to see a big group this early in the morning. Eight swimmers. Great job folks! 🏊‍♀️🏊‍♂️🏊‍♂️🏊‍♂️🏊‍♂️🏊‍♂️🏊‍♀️🏊‍♂️

Attention TriSwim group, Saturday morning 8am practice is canceled unfortunately, as Coach Nick is out of town. You are more than welcome to still go and swim at the pool. Have a great evening.
-Nick

Swim easier, better, faster! Total Immersion brings our world-famous teaching methods to the Chicago 'burbs May 19-20 @ Barrington HS. Perfect for triathletes, competitive swimmers, fitness enthusiasts, Cross-Fitters. Within minutes you'll see clear improvements, and after a day or two you'll have stroke mechanics built for a lifetime of fitness, competition and health! Register here: http://strokedocswim.com/index.php?page=events

Total Immersion returns to Cleveland! Give us a day or two and we'll transform your swimming for a lifetime--triathletes, masters swimmers, fitness enthusiasts. Master Coach Gary Fahey has taught over 200 TI workshops and logged over 30,000 career hours coaching swimmers. You'll learn quickly and establish new skills built to last! Register here: http://strokedocswim.com/index.php?page=events&id=39

Give us 1 day and we'll transform your swimming for life! Total Immersion is the world's most trusted leader in adult instruction, from fitness swimmers to elite athletes. We teach efficient, results-driven stroke mechanics that will have you swimming easier, better and faster in minutes! Register for our 1-day course at www.strokedocswim.com. December 10, Pine Island Pool, 3800 SW 92nd Avenue, Davie FL 33328.

Total Immersion Swimming in St Petersburg, FL Dec 15-17! Turn struggles into success with the most trusted name in adult swim instruction.
Our money back guarantee means we stand by our work, with thousands of clients finding joy and success in the water, from the local lap pool to the IronMan World Championships. These intensive technique-based classes will have you swimming demonstrably better in minutes, with none of the frustration or confusion of doing it on your own--or being badgered by the 'expert' swimming in the lane next to you!
Register at Stroke Doctor Swimming, provider of Total Immersion lessons and clinics since 1997. http://strokedocswim.com/index.php?page=events&id=93

Total Immersion Swimming in Atlanta! November 17-19 and January 19-21 @ Mercer U Campus. Turn struggles into success with the most trusted name in adult swim instruction.

Our money back guarantee means we stand by our work, with thousands of clients finding joy and success in the water, from the local lap pool to the IronMan World Championships. These intensive technique-based classes will have you swimming demonstrably better in minutes, with none of the frustration or confusion of doing it on your own--or being badgered by the 'expert' swimming in the lane next to you!

Register at Stroke Doctor Swimming, provider of Total Immersion lessons and clinics since 1997. http://strokedocswim.com/index.php?page=events&id=93

Stroke Doctor TriSwim team members:

Just a heads up, the pool will likely be closed thru the weekend until Monday for repairs and cleaning. As of now, the goal is to resume normal schedule on Monday.

Gary is safe, but is without power and has extremely limited means of communication. Hopefully phone service and wifi will be back up and running soon.

Hope you are all safe and damage-free, and that you have a great weekend.

-Nick

Give us a day or two and we'll transform you into a skilled, efficient, graceful swimmer. With four pool sessions, multiple video analysis opportunities and the best hands-on instruction available, you'll quickly (and we mean almost immediately) feel and understand the difference. With a 4:1 student to coach ratio--and coaches in the water with you--help is only an arm's length away.

Total Immersion in the Big Easy! We return to New Orleans Aoril 1-2 to make YOUR swimming easy, too! Re-tool your stroke and become a skilled, efficient swimmer ready to succeed in the pool and open water. Our methods guarantee success, so join us for 1 day or the whole weekend and walk out a smarter, better, faster swimmer! Register .strokedocswim.com, home of the Southeast's #1 Total Immersion coach.

Swim easier, better, faster! Eliminate struggles and become the skilled, efficient swimmer you never thought possible. Our methods GUARANTEE success in your triathlon, fitness swimming and competitive racing. Led by Gary Fahey, Total Immersion's top coach in the southeastern US, and assisted by 2-time Olympian Andrejs Duda, these can't-miss clinics will prove transformational. Join us for 1 day or the full weekend! Register .strokedocswim.com. March 24-26, Mercer Univ campus, Atlanta, GA.

The Pine Island Pool is closed today for Presidents Day, so no evening practice. Please share this with others you know in our group--this was a last minute decision by Parks & Recreation, as the pool is usually open on most holidays.

Transform your swimming this Sunday, Feb 12! If you're a triathlete or fitness swimmer who is struggling or frustrated, we guarantee you'll swim better, faster and with a true understanding of proper mechanics. No one solves swimming problems better, faster or more effectively than Total Immersion certified experts! Pine Island Pool, 3800 SW 92nd Ave, Davie FL 33328.

Invest in your swimming in 2017 with our Total Immersion classes January 27-29 in Atlanta: the smartest, fastest way to turn strugglers into swimmers! Taught by TI Master Coach Gary Fahey at Mercer University/Atlanta ([email protected])

My parents grew up in a time when food scarcity was the norm in America. I know little of my grandmother on my mom's side except for this: no matter how little she had, there was always a way to stretch it just a bit more for a hungry friend or neighbor. Most of us are fortunate we don't go to bed hungry or wake up wondering where our next meal will come from.

There are those among us for whom that uncertainty is the norm. Please join me January 14th to volunteer to sort food at Feeding South Florida. If you'd like to help, simply message me (Facebook, SMS, email) and I'll add you to our volunteer list.

LONG POST on interplay of TEMPO & STROKE LENGTH:

The goal in swimming is to optimize the relationship between STROKE LENGTH and STROKE RATE. At any given tempo you'd like to have the lowest stroke count 'match.' Pursuing more of one quality usually means getting less of the other, so it's about optimizing the combination rather than favoring one tactic over the other.

I read a blog post earlier today where the author cited statistics from the Rio Olympic men's 1500 meters to bolster his assertion that 'long strokes are not sustainable.' I think the writer fundamentally misunderstands the interplay of tempo and distance per stroke.

Connor Jaeger, the American who placed second, started his swim with long strokes (low 30's per 50 meters) and finished up around 39 strokes per 50. Somehow the writer saw this as proof that Jaeger's finishing strategy was the better one. Except for one pesky fact: his swimming speed was virtually consistent throughout the swim.

In his particular case, switching up this relationship during his swim did not alter his speed. From the 100 meter mark through 1400 meters his 50 splits were within 0.4 seconds (and usually less than that.) Whether he selected longer strokes at a slower rate or shorter strokes at a faster rate, it didn't appreciably change his swimming speed. He employed different strategies regarding rate and length that yielded the same results.

At the elite level we could make a case that a few tenths of a second are 'appreciable.' For the rest of us, given that the speed difference is negligible, we would want to ask "which strategy is most sustainable/is executed at the lower heart rate?" I can't speak for Connor as to which choice was more sustainable for him. It would be interesting to get his perspective. But it often turns into a "rob Peter to pay Paul" situation. Our human instincts tell us that 'moving our arms faster' makes us swim faster. In Connor's case, moving his arms faster meant swimming the same speed.

Such is the aggravation built into the stroke rate/stroke length dynamic. The pursuit of greater tempo can compromise stroke length (and mechanics) so much that swimming speed slows. Likewise the pursuit of too much stroke length: tempo can slow to the point of negative returns. In Jaeger's case, it seems whatever gains he expected from increasing tempo were canceled out by the decrease in stroke length. A wash.

Swimmers should look at their current stroke rates and stroke counts to see where the opportunity for gains lie. Someone taking 90 strokes per minute (Tempo Trainer setting of 0.67 seconds per stroke!) has essentially maxed out in the tempo department. Moving his arms faster isn't a viable option. Hitching a little better distance per stroke to that tempo (or to a slightly slower tempo) is probably the best strategy to increase speed.

Or take the converse, a low tempo/long stroke swimmer like Australian Mack Horton, the Olympic champion at 400 meters (see video.) He's maxed out in the stroke length department, a cyclist riding in the biggest gear he can handle. To swim faster he likely needs to fold in more tempo without sacrificing much by way of distance per stroke. In cycling that would mean drop down a gear to increase cadence. Just don't drop the gear so much that it cancels out the benefits of the higher cadence. Otherwise he's pulling a Connor Jaeger.

When comparing several swimmers who are holding the same tempo, the guy who travels the farthest per stroke will swim the fastest. That's the irrefutable math of velocity: Velocity=Distance x Rate. Let's assume a rate of 90 strokes per minute. If 10 swimmers are all stroking at that frequency, which one is going to win? The one with the best distance per stroke. This is what I mean when I say "the swimmer who takes the fewest strokes across the pool generally wins." That person has done the best job of optimizing distance traveled per stroke at that tempo.

If we were to look at the earlier heats of the Olympic 1500 meters, or the Florida 13-14 boys division 1500 meter finals, we'd probably find several swimmers who stroke just as fast as Gregorio Paltrinieri, who won the gold in Rio at 90 strokes per minute. What we won't find is a single one of them who can do that at 39 strokes per 50 meters. Probably more like 45-48 strokes.

Paltrinieri's superior distance per stroke is the DISTINCTIVE performance indicator, the thing he does different and better than the other swimmers. It's what allows his 90 strokes per minute to translate into sub-30 second splits. If these other guys want to catch him they have two choices: spin those arms faster (not likely), or cultivate better distance per stroke.

(Here's video of Mack Horton, whose stroke I very much like) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDrBtzefRmY

Mack Horton Underwater Freestyle - YouTube

Not too late to join us for Saturday's Core Basics clinic. Give us two hours and we'll transform your swimming!

One of our swimmers from yesterday's video clinic, a triathlete who has learned to incorporate a 2-beat kick into his stroke. It's a real energy saver that helps connect all the moving parts harmoniously.

Here's a useful read on swimming related shoulder problems, including some traditional swimmer stretches that put you at risk:http://www.chiro.org/LINKS/FULL/Identifying_and_Managing_Shoulder_Pain_in_Competitive_Swimmers.pdf

www.chiro.org

Mystified by the "catch" in freestyle? We'll break it down and provide moment-by-moment guidance. Get it right. Get it fast.