It is easy to access all of Rushell's body of work.In some articles(I am not patient enough to look up where) he pretty clearly comes out anti-drill,in fact anti-anything that is not producing proper neuromuscular repetition.He is an iconoclast who seems to like to shake things up.I admire that about him,but take all his pronouncements with copious amounts of salt.He does make a lot more sense to me than the mega-yardage advocates.
The thing I like about Rushall's method is that it's based on empirical data. Most coaching is based overwhelmingly on anecdotal evidence ("Bowman is using this for Phelps so it must be good"). The problem is this is taken to the extreme by Rushall. Rushall could have come to these conclusions about training swimmers without ever having personally watched a swimming race or a training session, and that's a little extreme, IMO. The advantage coaches on the deck have is that they are watching swimmers constantly and can see what makes swimmers swim faster. The downside to this is the previously mentioned tendency to believe anecdotal evidence. There definitely needs to be a balance.
Halleluiah (I missed this site...)
I'm sad to hear that he's *that* disconnected. Being anti-drill makes him rather irrelevant to our sport, other than like Allen mentions, his anti-volume approach which is important to the world of swimming. I don't think swimmers swim too much, but that some do too much of irrelevant stuff.
I think all talented swimmers in a squad should receive private coaching, video assisted. That's an example.
As for drill, my main problem in regards to drilling is that drilling is not often performed at high rate, or high velocity.
But you have to swim to understand how important drilling is. If you swim, don't drill, and feel good anyway? That's perfectly correct for me. But a lot of swimmers report feeling better in their main set, when it's properly prepared with meaningful drilling work, to optimize sensations.
And for those who think world might be better if we did apply Rushall's theories, if they really involved cutting morning session even for Distance swimmers, cutting down volume to around 15k for sprint, 25k for distance, there theories can just not be applied in a good team, as you'd first need to get to the top (Head coach). Then well, it's a heck of a bet. You have kids that could really make it you know. Then you're going to explain them that you are following Rushall therefore they will swim minimal volume, no morning... Hey, it better work, other wise you could get replaced before the end of your contract.
It is easy to access all of Rushell's body of work.In some articles(I am not patient enough to look up where) he pretty clearly comes out anti-drill,in fact anti-anything that is not producing proper neuromuscular repetition.He is an iconoclast who seems to like to shake things up.I admire that about him,but take all his pronouncements with copious amounts of salt.He does make a lot more sense to me than the mega-yardage advocates.
The thing I like about Rushall's method is that it's based on empirical data. Most coaching is based overwhelmingly on anecdotal evidence ("Bowman is using this for Phelps so it must be good"). The problem is this is taken to the extreme by Rushall. Rushall could have come to these conclusions about training swimmers without ever having personally watched a swimming race or a training session, and that's a little extreme, IMO. The advantage coaches on the deck have is that they are watching swimmers constantly and can see what makes swimmers swim faster. The downside to this is the previously mentioned tendency to believe anecdotal evidence. There definitely needs to be a balance.
Halleluiah (I missed this site...)
I'm sad to hear that he's *that* disconnected. Being anti-drill makes him rather irrelevant to our sport, other than like Allen mentions, his anti-volume approach which is important to the world of swimming. I don't think swimmers swim too much, but that some do too much of irrelevant stuff.
I think all talented swimmers in a squad should receive private coaching, video assisted. That's an example.
As for drill, my main problem in regards to drilling is that drilling is not often performed at high rate, or high velocity.
But you have to swim to understand how important drilling is. If you swim, don't drill, and feel good anyway? That's perfectly correct for me. But a lot of swimmers report feeling better in their main set, when it's properly prepared with meaningful drilling work, to optimize sensations.
And for those who think world might be better if we did apply Rushall's theories, if they really involved cutting morning session even for Distance swimmers, cutting down volume to around 15k for sprint, 25k for distance, there theories can just not be applied in a good team, as you'd first need to get to the top (Head coach). Then well, it's a heck of a bet. You have kids that could really make it you know. Then you're going to explain them that you are following Rushall therefore they will swim minimal volume, no morning... Hey, it better work, other wise you could get replaced before the end of your contract.
