The old discussion format left dangling an interesting topic suggested by Paul Smith in the rather excellent Distance vs Sprint thread started by Jim Thornton. The topic being that of the mental side of training/competition.
My own selfish interest in this area would be on the mental preparation for 50yds/m competition. Obviously there is not much time to do a great amount of thinking during this event (one of the benefits of 50's) but you need to go into the race with some limited number of important thoughts to concentrate on while swimming. Kind of like 'swing thoughts' in golf (my cross over training sport). As in golf, muscle memory will play a large part in not having to think about everything involved.
I wonder if Paul or any others would care to share what those few key race thoughts might be, from the start, swim and turn through to the finish? And would there be any mental aspects to training for a 50 that might be different from distance training?
Parents
Former Member
Jill,
You asked about middle-distance freestyle pacing. I have found that can depend on your strengths and weaknesses, (surprisingly enough) rather like the 200 IM.
Let me give you a couple of examples. My friend, Priscilla Kawakami, is a classic distance swimmer. She's been tested at Olympic Training Center; she has all the physiological characteristics. If you look at her splits from say a 1500 free, you will see practically no variation in her 100 splits. Her phrase is "a metronome." (And I hope she doesn't kill me for using her as an example.)
On the other hand, I am more of a mid-distance swimmer. I have burst speed, but not enought to have a serious 50 or 100. So for me the challenge is to manage when to use that. At least in the 200, I have come to accept that my 2nd 100 will be 5-8 seconds slower than the first. In swims where I have set PR's, and felt like I went out the first 100 easy, and came back in the second with a lot of strength, I still had that 5-8 second difference in the splits.
I have aspired to be a distance swimmer, and to have metronome splits like Priscilla. But, the fact is that is not the way I am built. How does that apply to you? You will have to experiment a bit, and determine what kind of swimmer you are. By all means, ask people how they swim their races. Try out their pacing strategies. While you are doing that, however, be aware that some strategies may not work as well for you.
One skill I have found that benefits me is to be able to feel the difference between a 100 or a 200 or a 400, etc. pace. Some obvious differences can be things like a 6-beat vs. a 2-beat kick (or breathing pattern if you vary that by distance). It can also involve subtler senses, like how long I "strech" my leading arm forward before initiating the pull, or how vigorously I "snap" my hip roll. Particularly during a pre-meet warm-up, I like to do what I call a "pace" 100. That is I swim the first 25 at what feels like an easy or 1500 pace, the second at what feels like an 800, the third at a 400 pace, and the last at a 200. There are two benefits to this. The first is to set in my mind what pace I want to use for the race I am swimming, which helps prevent errors in the first part of the race. The second is to have the ability to swim at different speeds, and be aware of them. This is a good tool to have if you are in a close race of 200-1500 meters.
Matt
Jill,
You asked about middle-distance freestyle pacing. I have found that can depend on your strengths and weaknesses, (surprisingly enough) rather like the 200 IM.
Let me give you a couple of examples. My friend, Priscilla Kawakami, is a classic distance swimmer. She's been tested at Olympic Training Center; she has all the physiological characteristics. If you look at her splits from say a 1500 free, you will see practically no variation in her 100 splits. Her phrase is "a metronome." (And I hope she doesn't kill me for using her as an example.)
On the other hand, I am more of a mid-distance swimmer. I have burst speed, but not enought to have a serious 50 or 100. So for me the challenge is to manage when to use that. At least in the 200, I have come to accept that my 2nd 100 will be 5-8 seconds slower than the first. In swims where I have set PR's, and felt like I went out the first 100 easy, and came back in the second with a lot of strength, I still had that 5-8 second difference in the splits.
I have aspired to be a distance swimmer, and to have metronome splits like Priscilla. But, the fact is that is not the way I am built. How does that apply to you? You will have to experiment a bit, and determine what kind of swimmer you are. By all means, ask people how they swim their races. Try out their pacing strategies. While you are doing that, however, be aware that some strategies may not work as well for you.
One skill I have found that benefits me is to be able to feel the difference between a 100 or a 200 or a 400, etc. pace. Some obvious differences can be things like a 6-beat vs. a 2-beat kick (or breathing pattern if you vary that by distance). It can also involve subtler senses, like how long I "strech" my leading arm forward before initiating the pull, or how vigorously I "snap" my hip roll. Particularly during a pre-meet warm-up, I like to do what I call a "pace" 100. That is I swim the first 25 at what feels like an easy or 1500 pace, the second at what feels like an 800, the third at a 400 pace, and the last at a 200. There are two benefits to this. The first is to set in my mind what pace I want to use for the race I am swimming, which helps prevent errors in the first part of the race. The second is to have the ability to swim at different speeds, and be aware of them. This is a good tool to have if you are in a close race of 200-1500 meters.
Matt
