Inspiration

Here is an inspirational quote about swimming! I have been having a hard time getting up and going to morning practice, so I definitely need motivation. Enjoy your swims <3

Butterfly Kick Video

I think that this video is a great start for a butterfly kick. There are two big things that they didn't really focus on though; the first is that there are TWO equally powerful kicks per arm stroke. It is a common misconception that the second kick should be smaller, when in reality they should equally be as big and powerful. The second is that the upbeat of the kick should be just as powerful as the downbeat.

Olympic Trials

In honor of the most recent Olympic trials for 2015, here is the men's A final 100 freestyle. A cool side note; I got to meet Matt Grevers in person at a swim camp last year. He is an amazing person who said something to me that really resonated, "I am my best coach, and I am my best role model." By this I think that he means that you should take advice from coaches and other people, but when it comes down to it, you are your best source of motivation, and there is no one who understands you better than you! Now, enjoy some of America's best swimmers.

Cool Link!

Hello everyone! I know many of you have come to see my blog through this website, but I have to mention it again. I am in a psychology class this summer, and we have lofty aspirations of achieving one million views to our class website, and I am sure we can achieve it! This website has links to a lot of great blogs with a lot of great people and content. Check it out! It is a great tool.

 http://www.onebestyou.com/

Stretching and Warm Ups

Hello,
So I mentioned yesterday that I would be putting up a post about one of the most IMPORTANT aspects of any physical activity; STRETCHING. I am as guilty as anyone for not stretching sometimes, but I am making a conscious effort to do it every time I go to practice. It is very important to have a good warm up as well. Today I will tell you about a good arm stretch and give you a detailed warm-up.
Arm stretches:

Place your right hand on you upper back, with your left hand push the right elbow down, and hold for 20 seconds. Repeat on alternative side

Find a wall, and face it. Place your arm at 90 degrees with your hand pointing upward, and twist your body until you are no longer facing the wall. IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU NEVER STRAIGHTEN YOUR EXTENDED ARM THAT YOU ARE STRETCHING, as this puts too much pressure on the shoulder.

Good warm up:

800 total:

-200 swim freestyle, stretch it really long and go slow.
-400 backwards IM, so every 25 of each 100 repeats swim, pull, kick, and swim.
-200 kick; first 100 freestyle, second 100 butterfly.
 

Flip Turn Pointers

Here is a great video for clean flip turns. I really liked what he was talking about at 01:43; going to have to start teaching the kids with this technique first.

Tomorrow I will have a post about stretching, which is crucial no matter what level you are competing at. Enjoy your evening.

Beginner Breaststroke

Today I will be posting a video of breaststroke. I think it gives some really good pointers for body position. Check it out!

Butterfly Drills for Intermediate/Advanced Swimmers

My all time favorite event is the 100 butterfly. I enjoy all events, but my hands-down favorite is the 100 fly. It is so bitter-sweet, challenging, and rewarding. My current best (as of late October last year) was a 1:05.00 in short course yards, which is definitely not where I want it to be right now. I am working very hard to achieve my ultimate goal this year of breaking a minute. This is a lofty goal, and I'm slowly but surely working my way there. Here are some drills that I find helpful and will be using throughout my training. Most I have tried, but there are a few I have not. I encourage you to implement them in any "100 stroke/drill choice" sets your coach gives you. Talk to your coach about whether these drills may be helpful to you. Always listen to their advice first. Sometimes, my coaches wouldn't let me do fly at practice that day or said that a certain drill would be too difficult. If you run into this issue, I advise you to go to a community lap swim at a local pool (along with practicing with you team) and just do a drill day. This was very helpful to me because I could do whatever drill I wanted and didn't have to worry about my coach not approving. Good luck if you try them!

Body Position Drills:
-hands at sides dolphin kicking on front
-streamlines off the wall
-butterfly skull with dolphin kick (shallow arm circles)
-hands on head with a dolphin kick
-finger tip flick (just emphasizing the flick of the stroke when your hands exit the water)
Kick Drills:
-the vertical kick (arms crossed over chest, dolphin kicking)
-underwater length shimmers (underwater dolphin kicking on your back all the way across the pool)
-side kick (you are rotated to the side, under the surface of the water, with the bottom arm extended and dolphin kicking)
Arm Drills:
-windshield wiper skull
-snow angel (exactly what it sounds like; dolphin kicking with hands gently skimming the surface with each pull)
-3 3 and 3 (three left arm, three right arm, three both)

Tips for Coaches

For all of the coaches out there, I have new respect for you. Coaching is one of the toughest jobs out there. You work hard to have someone else reap the benefits, and when you athletes cry, you cry with them. When they succeed, you rejoice with them. Not to mention that the last two meets I have coached are outside in 110 degree heat and record humidity. I am new at coaching, and have only coached three meets (keep in mind also that I am not the head coach, there are two others for this team). From the meets that I have attended, I have one key word: ORGANIZATION. My team is composed of about 50 kids, mostly under age 10, who have pretty much never swam competitively in their lives. They have no idea what heats are, how to read meet sheets, and how meet warm-ups work. Kids need structure in order to function. We need to really have more time before the meet (NOT THE DAY OF) to explain some of these crucial tid-bits with them. Another thing that I found to be helpful is staging. Many people know what this is, but I did not. For younger, more inexperienced teams, it is helpful to have them sit on a bench with lane assignments on it. I made a makeshift one out of electrical tape and bleachers. I saw a nice one that had spray painted numbers on it. Assign someone the task of benching the heats. This will make it a lot easier on you as the coach so that you can focus on scrambling around and trying to get your kids who are busy wrestling and seeing who can hold their breath the longest without passing out in the warm up lanes, rather than having to explain to them how to line up for their events. Lastly, it is important to keep the parents as organized and informed as possible. Make sure they know how to read a psych sheet. Maybe when they are dropping their kids off for practice the day before, bring an example sheet and show them how events and heats work. If you are coaching a meet anytime soon, best of luck to you. Hope you all enjoyed. If you have comments or questions feel free to ask!

Intermediate Swimmer Workout IM Sets (short-course meter pool recommended)

Hello everyone, hope you all are enjoying your week. So today I will be posting a workout that my coach and I created for intermediate swimmers. This is an IM practice. I swim in a 25 meter pool, so this workout is geared more toward short course meters. A good idea that I use is to print this out, cut it, and put it in a sandwich-sized ziploc bag and take it to the pool. Enjoy:

800 warm-up: 400 free, 400 backwards (reverse) IM with a swim, pull, kick, swim per 25

IM set 1: Go through the following set eight times in this order: free, breast, back, fly, fly, back, breast, free.

2800                          --25 kick without board on back or front with 10 seconds rest
                                  --50 swim with 30 seconds rest
                                  --75 kick without board on back or front with 20 seconds rest
                                  --100 swim with 2 minute's rest
IM set 2:
3300         --4 x 125s- 25 underwater dolphin kick/ 100 free on 45 seconds rest
3700         --4 x 100s choice swim on the 45 seconds rest
3800         --100 EASY swim
4000         --4 x 50s choice SPRINT on the 30 seconds
4300         --300 Cool Down (swim easy)

Outline for Future Posts

Hello again. Just a quick update on something: I coached my first meet this last Saturday, and for all the coaches out there I feel your pain. Coaching is more difficult than swimming. You work very hard to see your athletes succeed, and when they do not it is on you. When they do succeed, you are elated with joy for them because you know how it feels. It was rewarding yet challenging.

From now on I will be doing separate posts at least four times a week. One will be tips for coaches and my personal experiences with coaching, one will be for beginner swimmers learning initial stroke technique (similar to the videos that I posted last week), and the remaining two will be workouts that I use for intermediate and advanced swimmers. If you have any advice, comments, or questions please feel free to let me know. Thank you!

So today I will have a video up for the basics of something called the sidestroke. This stroke is good for people who swim to get exercise, and it is good if you get tired while swimming. This video just gives you a visual as to how the sidestroke is applicable. Enjoy and have a good day!

 

Hello again! Today I am going to post a video of the basics of the freestyle stroke. This video focuses on starting the stroke for beginners. I will put more advanced videos up, but this one is a good starter! Good luck if you plan on starting and have a great rest of your day.

My Intentions

Hi everyone!
I think that I should start this by introducing myself, but also telling you all why I am here.
I started swimming when I was a freshman in high school, and have been swimming for a little over three years now. I am an involved individual, to say the least, and am always running from place to place. My life seems hectic at times; trying to graduate from both high school and with an Associate's degree is a daunting endeavor. While my ACT and SAT scores may not be perfect (I pretty much suck at taking tests), my overall GPA is exceptional and I make up for it in my passion to be involved in many activities.
When I was a freshman I transferred from a small eighth grade graduating class of six students to a class of over six hundred students. I was scared and felt alone. Going to high school is a threatening transition for everyone. Society can be deceiving with its media such as "High School Musical." Reality is much less exciting, and a lot more stressful. However, it can be spectacular. You have to find what makes you special, and it's in everyone. You all have a certain "sweet spot" that makes you shine. That sounds cheesy but it is an essential part of this journey we call life. Over the coarse of these "swimming tip" sessions, I hope to share some insight with you all on how to help cope with the daily stresses you may encounter. Swimming might not be the same outlet for you as it is for me, but that is my intent; to help you find something to help you with stress and to act as an outlet for you. Thanks for reading!

First Blog

Hello.
I really don't know what I'm doing yet, but I will get there. I am sure of one thing; I will be blogging about how to help people through swimming. If this sounds interesting to you then we have something in common.
Emily K