This last weekend I was home for my cousins wedding, so I put on a coaches clinic for coaches in the central valley. Low attendance, but that didn't matter; it was fun and I think everyone enjoyed it.
It is the 3rd coaches clinic that I had ever done, and it was the first time I didn't have notes. Not on purpose though, I left them in my printer in Simi Valley (3 and half hour drive away). Ok, so I showed up really early and took some quick notes. I think I covered most, but I did forget something, and it wasn't big, but it is something that I think some have misinterpreted from what I have said before. Here is my clarification of my old philosophy that really allowed to become better, and continues to somewhat serve me now.
"Coach like you know everything; Study like you know nothing." This is how I began coaching. So, I grew up in a swimming family, but really I didn't no much about swimming at all. I knew more about basketball than I did swimming. You can't create confidence in your swimmers that they can be really fast if you don't show confidence though. So I would show up and coach, and I talked like I knew everything there was to know. I would then go home and continue to study to make myself better. Now I don't have to act like I know what I am talking about because I know a lot, but I continue to study. I think that once I decide I can't make myself better is when I am no longer a good coach.
I have heard others say my philosophy in different words, "Fake it, until you make it." This is not the same though. This implies that you fake knowing everything, and sooner or later you become a good coach. There is no implementation of the most important aspect, "Study like you know nothing." This it truly the part of my early philosophy that helped me become better. Was there some faking it in the beginning? Yes. But I felt like I was a good coach because I was willing to spend the time to study, and learn about the sport of swimming.
The philosophy also implies that you study with an open mind that what you thought was true was possibly not true, and what you might have deemed wrong, may not be wrong after all. This is how I have evolved to be the coach I am.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Blog by request: Butterfly
Yes, I guess I am now doing blogs by request.
I have changed the way I coach butterfly and it has worked out really well. I watched my Head Coach teach Butterfly, and also watch Steve Haufler, and a few others. I took my way of coaching and have now put it together in a way that has seemed to work.
First of all what level of swimmer do you have? This will determine what approach you will begin with in coaching butterfly. I'll start with the beginners.
I actually don't use the word butterfly with these swimmers. I try to teach to things first. The first being "The Worm" This is a hands by the side method and moving like a work through the water (any depth works). This introduces the undulation motion, don't even apply to butterfly yet. Try to get them to lead with their shoulders and not lead with the head by moving their chin.
Next you'll teach body dolphins. This is when the swimmer is in superman position and they concentrate on pressing the chest. Begin with 3 body dolphins from a floating position. That is it! don't tell them how far they need to go because the distance doesn't matter it is the idea of pressing the chest and not the head and shoulders.
Now you can teach butterfly with no kick. Superman position, and then they'll move their hands downward to create a diamond with their arms under then chin, they then press the diamond to the belly button (keep elbows away from the body pointing outward), and then slice the pinkies first to the surface of the water creating a angel or arrow shape. The arms will rise up in this position by lifting the shoulders and then they swing the arms forward into a superman position. Only three strokes and stop. You are teaching the motion of the hands not how to create propulsion, so don't emphasize the distance that they go. (Short cut terminology: Superman, Diamond, Angel, Swing).
Once they get this motion then add a body dolphin at every superman position, and still no kick.
You'll teach butterfly kick on the side. This is so you can emphasize that they need to kick with equal power to both sides. On stomach this can be hard to feel as part of the kick typically comes out of the water.
Older swimmers, I have do a slicing scull where they do thumbs to belly button then pinkies to surface keeping the elbows out away from the body and palms towards the feet. This is to get the idea of the slice, which is the biggest change in the butterfly that I now teach.
Like breaststroke, I like young kids to develop the different parts of the stroke cycle first, and then learn to put them together, as these strokes are very timing specific, and can create bad habits when put together without the skills in place first. Then again, you can develop mixing in with butterfly swims, as I tend to get older swimmers who haven't developed the parts first, and my group is past developing the parts, and I am putting the parts together. It does work doing both at the same time, but it isn't as easy to put together and can be time consuming as well.
I have changed the way I coach butterfly and it has worked out really well. I watched my Head Coach teach Butterfly, and also watch Steve Haufler, and a few others. I took my way of coaching and have now put it together in a way that has seemed to work.
First of all what level of swimmer do you have? This will determine what approach you will begin with in coaching butterfly. I'll start with the beginners.
I actually don't use the word butterfly with these swimmers. I try to teach to things first. The first being "The Worm" This is a hands by the side method and moving like a work through the water (any depth works). This introduces the undulation motion, don't even apply to butterfly yet. Try to get them to lead with their shoulders and not lead with the head by moving their chin.
Next you'll teach body dolphins. This is when the swimmer is in superman position and they concentrate on pressing the chest. Begin with 3 body dolphins from a floating position. That is it! don't tell them how far they need to go because the distance doesn't matter it is the idea of pressing the chest and not the head and shoulders.
Now you can teach butterfly with no kick. Superman position, and then they'll move their hands downward to create a diamond with their arms under then chin, they then press the diamond to the belly button (keep elbows away from the body pointing outward), and then slice the pinkies first to the surface of the water creating a angel or arrow shape. The arms will rise up in this position by lifting the shoulders and then they swing the arms forward into a superman position. Only three strokes and stop. You are teaching the motion of the hands not how to create propulsion, so don't emphasize the distance that they go. (Short cut terminology: Superman, Diamond, Angel, Swing).
Once they get this motion then add a body dolphin at every superman position, and still no kick.
You'll teach butterfly kick on the side. This is so you can emphasize that they need to kick with equal power to both sides. On stomach this can be hard to feel as part of the kick typically comes out of the water.
Older swimmers, I have do a slicing scull where they do thumbs to belly button then pinkies to surface keeping the elbows out away from the body and palms towards the feet. This is to get the idea of the slice, which is the biggest change in the butterfly that I now teach.
Like breaststroke, I like young kids to develop the different parts of the stroke cycle first, and then learn to put them together, as these strokes are very timing specific, and can create bad habits when put together without the skills in place first. Then again, you can develop mixing in with butterfly swims, as I tend to get older swimmers who haven't developed the parts first, and my group is past developing the parts, and I am putting the parts together. It does work doing both at the same time, but it isn't as easy to put together and can be time consuming as well.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
The Survivor Set #2
The format of this survivor set is similar to the survivor set I did before, this time though it was in the form of 12 x 200 freestyle. The Intervals began on the 3:25, and then the interval got faster by 5 seconds on each 200 Free, and the final one is a 200 Free for time with the target being to go under 2:30.
It is a survivor set because once you miss one, you changed to 150's and I record when you were eliminated. Two of my swimmers at practice made it to the 200 Free for time, but both swimmers missed the goal of being under 2:30. The went 2:32 and 2:34.
Some of the swimmers really enjoy this kind of challenge where they are being tested to push after yardage, and like to see where they end up in comparison to the group. Once kids missed the common question was, who is still doing the 200's? They wanted to make sure that someone that they believed to be slower than them, didn't out last them. Then there are a group of kids who don't really care, and most of them were out before we even got to the 3:00 interval. Two swimmers actually stopped mid 200 on the 2nd one. Well, these two actually didn't even do the set then.
The group is very diverse in speed, skill, and desire. Really though, isn't most groups. This set really demonstrated who were in what level of the group. The two that made it to the timed swim are actually two that are almost ready for move up, and this set really showed, as out of 21 swimmers at that particular practice, they were the only two that made it that far. No one else even made it to the 2:35.
It is a survivor set because once you miss one, you changed to 150's and I record when you were eliminated. Two of my swimmers at practice made it to the 200 Free for time, but both swimmers missed the goal of being under 2:30. The went 2:32 and 2:34.
Some of the swimmers really enjoy this kind of challenge where they are being tested to push after yardage, and like to see where they end up in comparison to the group. Once kids missed the common question was, who is still doing the 200's? They wanted to make sure that someone that they believed to be slower than them, didn't out last them. Then there are a group of kids who don't really care, and most of them were out before we even got to the 3:00 interval. Two swimmers actually stopped mid 200 on the 2nd one. Well, these two actually didn't even do the set then.
The group is very diverse in speed, skill, and desire. Really though, isn't most groups. This set really demonstrated who were in what level of the group. The two that made it to the timed swim are actually two that are almost ready for move up, and this set really showed, as out of 21 swimmers at that particular practice, they were the only two that made it that far. No one else even made it to the 2:35.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Working on the Dig
So from season to season I emphasize different things. I hope to have swimmers for 2 - 3 years in this group of development. So with 2 seasons a year, I can get an emphasis in and get back to it on a later season. I always try to hit everything throughout a season, but to keep some variety, I emphasize 1 - 3 things throughout a whole season.
My first season at CSSC I did some focus on the EVF (Early Vertical Forearm). Some picked it up and others got close to grasping it. I cover every season, but again it was an emphasis that first season. I realized that my group was struggling with this aspect of the strokes, and decided that it was time to re-focus on this part of the strokes.
I did a dig drill. It is similar to breaststroke, but it takes out the out press and even de-emphasizes the press downward. It is when the swimmer slides the hands to superman (position 11 for those who are fans of Steve Haufler) and they drive their fingertips first like they were going to wrap a barrel. Pretend that you are digging with both hands. Then they would pull their arms towards the body and then sweep the arms inward and recover like breaststroke.
I asked the swimmers to take their time and look at their arms as they wrap the barrel and dig with the fingertips. Once the position is made with finger tips under the elbows, elbow pointed up, and body is in a "Y" position with the hips and elbows, then they pull back and their body forward. In front after the recovery they slowly position their hands back to superman, and repeat.
We then did some breaststroke to feel that position and the pull, and then we tried to create a barrel wrap on freestyle as well.
If you have been reading my blog you know that I want to also to be doing more swimming, and I did do some long swims as well as broken 200's with a descending interval broken up with 300 frees perfect stroke. So I did get some aerobic and some race work in before getting to this stroke work part of the workout. Plus yesterday they swam with the Senior 2 group since I was at League Championship Prelims with my high school team. A little push with a rest/stroke work was perfect for today after a day of intense fast swims.
My first season at CSSC I did some focus on the EVF (Early Vertical Forearm). Some picked it up and others got close to grasping it. I cover every season, but again it was an emphasis that first season. I realized that my group was struggling with this aspect of the strokes, and decided that it was time to re-focus on this part of the strokes.
I did a dig drill. It is similar to breaststroke, but it takes out the out press and even de-emphasizes the press downward. It is when the swimmer slides the hands to superman (position 11 for those who are fans of Steve Haufler) and they drive their fingertips first like they were going to wrap a barrel. Pretend that you are digging with both hands. Then they would pull their arms towards the body and then sweep the arms inward and recover like breaststroke.
I asked the swimmers to take their time and look at their arms as they wrap the barrel and dig with the fingertips. Once the position is made with finger tips under the elbows, elbow pointed up, and body is in a "Y" position with the hips and elbows, then they pull back and their body forward. In front after the recovery they slowly position their hands back to superman, and repeat.
We then did some breaststroke to feel that position and the pull, and then we tried to create a barrel wrap on freestyle as well.
If you have been reading my blog you know that I want to also to be doing more swimming, and I did do some long swims as well as broken 200's with a descending interval broken up with 300 frees perfect stroke. So I did get some aerobic and some race work in before getting to this stroke work part of the workout. Plus yesterday they swam with the Senior 2 group since I was at League Championship Prelims with my high school team. A little push with a rest/stroke work was perfect for today after a day of intense fast swims.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)