Ever see a swimmer that has mastered a certain drill?
I have.
Ever see that same swimmer’s skills go to hell as soon as they swim with some speed or effort.
I know I have!
Skill development gets a bad rap because we often just do it slow and easy, and expect good skills to show up when swimmers go hard and fast.
When you think about it, that doesn’t make any sense, does it?
Perhaps the problem is not in the skill work, but in how it’s implemented.
After making inconsistent progress for too long, one day, I just had the swimmers start doing some of the skill work fast and hard.
And it kind of worked!
So, I kept doing it, and as I got a lot better at how I implemented it, I started to see skill changes where it really mattered- during hard, fast swimming.
‘Skill work’ does not equal ‘slow and easy’.
If you want it to show up and races, skills need to be learned at speed.
Remember those activities I talked about in my last e-mail, TRAIN them!
Swimmers can swim fast with a stroke count.
It might take some time, but they will improve.
They can learn to swim fast with a paddle on their head and execute impeccable breathing.
It might take some time, but they will improve.
Of course, these are just examples.
Most times when swimmers start to work hard, they immediately forget about their skills.
When you have them performing the right activities, THEY CAN’T!
Well-designed force them to continue to focus, even when they’re hard at work.
This might seem a little odd to you, but who says activities that drives technical change must be performed slowly?
Not me!
In fact, I encourage coaches to do as little skill work as possible at slow speed, and as much as possible with at least some effort.
Sound crazy?
You could constantly remind swimmers about maintaining their skills when they train, but that seems like a lot of work to me.
Got 30+ swimmers? Forget it!
THAT is crazy to me.
Instead, you can start to train skills, slowly increasing the speed and effort from day one.
A lot of coaches don’t think you can do that, but I give you permission:).
Of course, you need to be swimming full stroke as well, more so than what you’re doing with the skill work.
But you can constantly sprinkle in the skill work, which is going to serve as a constant reminder of how they should be moving through the water.
And these drills should be done hard and fast as well!
Once you realize that skills work can and should be done with effort and intensity, using activities that help to shape skills, it suddenly becomes possible to creating meaningful skills changes in large groups.
Coaching can become more effective and manageable, which is pretty cool stuff.
Keep it simple…
Andrew
P.S. Write any sets yet as a result of the course?
Share them!
I LOVE hearing these as the ideas are always awesome.
Coaches always come up with stuff I NEVER would have thought of.