Leap Day Leaping

In honor of Leap Day, I figured it seems fitting to talk about leaping today. But before I get into that...why in the world to we have an extra day every four years? Well the earth actually takes 365 days 5 hours 49 minutes and 16 seconds. So someone decided to round that to 365 days and 6 hours giving us an extra 1/4 day each year. Instead of confusing everyone with an extra 57.4 seconds each day, we just wait until all of that "extra time" adds up giving us another day.  Did you know that on years divisible by 100 (i.e. 1900) the leap year does not occur? But if the year is divisible by 400 then the leap year does occur (i.e. 2000).

Enough history, let's talk swimming.

Why is leaping important in swimming? It plays a major role in two things. Starts would be the obvious scenario in which a swimmer performs a "leaping" motion, but the same motion can directly be applied to turns/push-offs.

Diving:
Diving off the starting blocks definitely requires a leap.  Generally, the further you jump off of the blocks, the better your start will be. However, this is only true to a certain extent. Check out the scenarios below:

The drawing is very rough but you get the point. The black thing is a starting block, the blue is the water, the brown spider-looking thing is the swimmer.  In this first scenario, the swimmer (let's call them Regan) falls into the water.  She dives head first but her angle of entry into the water takes her straight down to the bottom.  Once Regan realizes that she is too deep, she has the task of swimming all the way back to the surface before she can really begin her race.  All of this is the result of Regan not leaping.

In the second scenario, the swimmer (let's call them Maddie) leaps really far.  This gets Maddie out away from the wall and keeps her from going too deep, but the entry into the water is so shallow that it is almost a belly-flop. The first reason you don't want to do this is because a belly-flop will hurt! Then second reason is that your body hits at such a flat angle that your legs enter at a different spot than your head. This may not seem like to big of a deal but it is kind of like putting on the brakes when you hit the water and in a race you can't afford that.

The final scenario has the swimmer (let's call them Mitchell) leaps up and out off the block. Notice that the first movement isn't down and out, but a slightly upward movement along with the outward. Mitchell jumps far off of the block, but not too far like Maddie. This allows him to get out a ways before entering the water, but his entire body can still enter the water through the same small space allowing maximum speed forward and minimal time spent "putting on the brakes".  Mitchell doesn't go too deep in the water, but it is deep enough that he can use his underwater kicking to get him quickly to the surface.

I threw out a term in there that I want to explain.  When I talk about "entering the water through the same hole" it means that the entire body (fingertips, arms, head, shoulders, torso, hips, legs, and feet) is entering the water as if it was going through a hula hoop.  This creates less splash and maximum forward velocity.

Push-offs:

When you push off the wall after a turn, it is the same exact motion as jumping straight up into the air from the ground.  The harder you can push off (or in this case "leap") the further you will get on your push off and your performances will get substantially better.  Working on your push-off power outside of the water is simple.  You can do any number of jumping exercises.  Box jumps are a very good replication of the movement required to push off of the wall.  Performing any of the jumping exercises while in a streamline position definitely increases the likeness of the push-off movement.  

Since starts and push-offs are all about power and explosiveness, it helps to build up strength in the quadriceps, hamstrings, and calves.  The explosiveness can be achieved by performing exercises at maximum effort. Jumping as high as possible on every jump and trying to use every single muscle in your legs will help to work on that explosiveness,

Leaping is very important in two primary aspects of swimming.  Starts and turns are easy places to save time in races without having to put in thousands and thousands of yards.  When it comes down to it, the more explosive you are off of the blocks and walls the better your starts and turns will be.

On a side note: swimming is very important to many people in the Boone community and is equally important  to millions of people around the world. Swimming is a lifelong sport and provides a sense of camaraderie that you will not find in any other sport.  Currently, the Boone school district is trying to come up with ways to save money on their new renovation project and one of their options is shutting down the pool for good.  This would more than likely eliminate the swimming program at Boone High School and would leave many kids wondering what they could have done.  We never want to leave kids wondering what could have been. As coaches, parents, swimmers, and friends are job is to give athletes a chance to evolve their talents and grow in the sport.  Hopefully this decision by the school board does not leave Boone without a swimming program.

What's the Catch?

Catch (kach) - verb/noun
   -v. - intercept and hold something
  -n. - the act of catching something

Always great when the word is used in its own definition, huh? These are some common definitions of the word  "catch", however when it comes to swimming the catch is something completely different. The catch is the part of your stroke at the beginning of the pull, one of the first movements after your hand enters the water.  Every stroke has a catch and it is equally important in all of them.

Why is the catch important? The catch sets up your pull and will help to determine the amount of water that is pulled with that stroke.  More water pulled = further propulsion forward = fewer strokes = more efficient stroke = faster swimming.

Freestyle

Freestyle catch

The catch in freestyle is made after the complete underwater extension of the arm.  You may have been taught to swim freestyle with a high elbow recovery.  Well high elbows are also a necessity when you are pulling the water. A good freestyle catch is set up with a high elbow.  When you're swimming, think about reaching over an imaginary barrel in front of you. In the picture to the right, you can see she has a high elbow and her arm is bent like she is reaching over a barrel. This will set up your arm to pull water effectively.  When you pull the water, you want to pull with as much surface area of your arm as possible.  This means the pull should utilize everything from pretty much your elbow to your fingertips. This will enable you to pull more water leading to a more efficient stroke.

Backstroke

Backstroke catch

The backstroke is almost the opposite of the freestyle catch in that in backstroke you want to have a low elbow in the water as seen in the picture here. This sets up the backstroke pull so that you can pull with as much surface area as possible. The fingers are pointed to the side of the lane, but slightly towards the surface of the water. The hand movement in the water is very shallow. This is so all of the water you pull is moving you forwards instead of up, and it also better utilizes the major muscle groups of the shoulder and arm.

Breaststroke

Breaststroke catch

In breaststroke, the catch is initiated after the arms are fully extended. At the full extension of the arms, the hands should be slightly apart. The initial movement of the arms is a lateral movement of the hands out to the side (as shown in the picture to the right). This movement doesn't do a whole lot in terms of moving you forward in the water.  This is the arm position that the catch begins. The wrists bend and the finger tips point towards the bottom of the pool and the elbows bend to about 90 degrees. This will set up the rest of the breaststroke pull. Remember: the goal is to move forward, not up.

Butterfly catch

Butterfly
The butterfly catch is very similar to the breaststroke catch. It is started with arms fully extended and the hands facing out.  First, the arms move laterally outward before sweeping back in toward the center of the body for the final pull.  At the end of the butterfly catch, the elbows should be in toward your ribs.







Every stroke's catch is extremely important.  It helps set up your arms to pull as much water as possible, making your stroke more efficient. This is an easy thing you can practice with every stroke in the pool. Soon your body will commit it to memory and it will become habit.

No matter how much I swim...I don't get faster.

This is a more common excuse than "my dog ate my homework." Many swimmers (typically beginners more so than experienced swimmers) constantly wonder how they can swim 10,000 to 40,000 yards a week and not get any faster.

First off, let me say that gaining endurance in your swim ability and going from barely being able to make it across the pool to swimming a 500, to swimming a 1000, to swimming a mile, and so on is an outstanding accomplishment. I know many people that entered the sport of triathlon without the slightest swim ability and now they can swim a mile without stopping. Watching these swimmers' progress is amazing because it is easy to track. It is very easy to tell the difference from when they first start and can't put their face in the water to when they swim their first mile.

But once you have the distance down, it is time to worry about speed. Like anything, to get better/faster you have to practice above and beyond what you would do in a competition.  This is how your body gets adapted to swimming fast. So to swim fast you have to...well...swim fast! What you do in practice directly correlates to how you will swim in a competition.

Here is a real-life example:
   I have a high school 500 swimmer who was consistently swimming around 5:05-5:15 in meets with a PR of 5:05.70. He really wanted to get under that 5:00 mark. This would pretty much guarantee him a spot in the state meet. So the two weeks leading up to districts, we started doing intervals in practice that would give him some experience swimming at this speed. One of the sets I had him do were 10 x 50yds on a 35 second interval. During this set he had to hold 30 seconds or better for each 50. Another set I had him do was 5 x 100yds on a 1:05 interval. During this set he had to hold 1:00 per 100yds. Doing these sets not only gave him some experience swimming at this pace, but also gave him a huge boost of confidence that he could go under 5:00. At the district meet he went 4:55.82 (and chased a guy down in the final 50 yards to be district champion).

Once you start over-exerting yourself in your practice sets, faster times in meets will come. Also, once you get that goal you have been after you will have a lot more confidence leading to more time drops in the future.  This 500 swimmer's confidence was definitely boosted as this week he swam a 500 in 5:14 in the middle of practice. That is a time he would have accepted in a meet earlier in the season.

Here are some sets I would highly recommend for getting faster:
    Broken 200s (4 x 50 w/ 10" rest after each) - subtract 30" from your final time for your adjusted 200 time
    4 x (75, 50, 25) - rest 20" after the 75, rest 10" after the 50. As the swim get shorter, increase your speed
    4 x 100 descend - this means to increase your speed each 100. Each 100 should be 2-4 seconds faster than the previous one

There are many, many sets you can do to increase your speed in the pool. Just remember to push yourself. If you want to get faster, your practices should NEVER feel like a walk in the park!

Why Swim?

Solitude (sol-i-tood) - noun
    1. The state of being or living alone
    2. Remoteness from habitations
    3. A lonely, unfrequented place

Back and forth in a 25 yard pool, staring at a black line, not able to hear anyone else, not able to talk, having to restrict your breathing...sounds like a blast huh?  These are a few of the many hangups people have about swimming.  So why do people swim? Why do they love the sport so much?

There are many reason why people dedicate much of their lives to counting tiles on the bottom of the pool. For me, swimming provides the alone time that is much needed in anyone's day. When I swim, I can think of whatever I want.  I can sing that annoying song that is stuck in my head (that I only know the chorus of) over and over again. I can daydream and no one can snap me out of it.  It provides solitude. When you swim, it is just you. You against the clock. No one can break your concentration. No one can slow you down.  Coming from one of the greatest high school swim coaches the state of Iowa has ever seen, Judd Anderson, "There is no defense in swimming."  No one can get in your way of achieving your goals besides you. Every time you get in that pool the only opponent you can control is the clock. You cannot control how fast the people around you swim. Just yourself.  That is why swimming is one of the most interesting sports on the planet.

I'll tell you right now, sometimes swimming gets extremely boring. Repeat 1-mile swims, 1 hour swims, 100x100. All of these can and will get repetitive and boring. I guarantee it. But the results are outstanding.  Once you can get over staring at a black line, swimming will do more for you than get you in shape. It will open doors and make way for new opportunities.

Welcome!

So I have started this blog to put my thoughts as a swim coach into one spot. Whether you are an elite swimmer, triathlete, age grouper, or just getting started, hopefully you can find some sort of useful tips, tricks, or advice to help you in the pool.