Who do you trust for help?

wearing a swim cap won't prevent ear infections drying out your ears after each practice may help but if you feel the first sign of an ear infection, treat it with something immediately. If you don't it's likely to get worse. I've used Cortisporin-TC Otic and it's worked for me. www.pdrhealth.com/.../cor1589.shtml Ande

I haven't found the internet very helpful re: swin technique. I read every periodical I can find, ask coaches,buy DVDs,and video tape all the meets I can. Experts disagree,but there is usually a consensus. Also,just because something is good for most people doesn't mean it is best for you. You have to try and see. Ultimately I think you should become the expert you trust most,but still be open minded.

I can't recall the site but it was all about swimming. Something similiar to About.com. My coach at one point actually tried to tell me bi-lateral breathing isn't important. Ande, caps are "fairly" effective as they can trap pockets of air - most guys wont wear them though. Some people are more prone than others. I've had several operations, endless infections and am in danger of losing all of my hearing by continuing to swim, but I have not had any trouble at all while wearing a cap.

Adding to the ear ache thing ... I HAVE to wear some type of ear plug or I'll get swimmer's ear ... As for who to trust, that's a tough call ... as Ande has said time and again, the best thing to do is watch the world's best and try to emulate them ... The other thing to keep in mind is that for every "rule" a coach (or whomever) tells you there is an exception. For example, some coaches will tell you not to breathe every stroke on fly, well, the way Phelps swims fly he breathes every stroke, Kaitlin Sandeno and Jason Lezak both breathe every stroke on their free ... there are some rules that don't get protested such as don't cross your arms over on backstroke ... but for the most part you need to find an efficient stroke that works for you ... What exactly was the backstroke website teaching that was an illegal turn?

I don't trust anyone completely... Keep my eyes and ears open. and find what works the best for me. When it comes to technique, I trust my coach a great deal. For the most part because he's not the one size fits all kind of a coach.

Originally posted by Conniekat8 I don't trust anyone completely... Keep my eyes and ears open. and find what works the best for me. When it comes to technique, I trust my coach a great deal. For the most part because he's not the one size fits all kind of a coach. Plus, your coach can SEE what you are doing! Often what we feel we are doing is not what we actually are doing.

I'm with Connie. I have never trusted anyone completely, including "top" doctors and professionals. And here's why: My junior year of high school, the usually mild but annoying knee pain exploded into the agony of not being able to finish a relatively enjoyable practice. I'd already been to two local sports doctors, who concluded I had Chondro Malasia(sp) which basically means arthritis under the kneecap. They recommended Cortisone shots for me, at 15, and when my mother refused, put me on Naproxin. The third doctor we tried was one of the top Sports Orthos in the country, located at Grant Hospital in Columbus Ohio. I was there for an hour, he saw me for 10 minutes, proclaimed me to have "jumper's knee" (or a girl's exagerration/growing pains) and prescribed more Naproxin, some PT and a flexible patellar band. One month later I was lifted out of the pool sobbing at a regional meet and carried across the pool deck to a waiting trainer because I had come into the wall blacking out from pain. I got into the ortho surgeon who was the team physician for Columbus Crew soccer team, and she spent two hours with me, looking at my shoe treads, and when she discovered that picking up my heels relaxed my left leg into a 45 degree curve, ordered an MRI. My very first one. 70% of my left ACL was gone. Completely gone, and as the result of it being an extended injury that no previous doctor had seen, the remaining 30% stretched into a lax band of nothing. My knee, she estimated, had been operating completely without a major ligament (THE major ligament, really) for at least two years, and as a result, all of my knee's structures shifted to take on the extra work, damaging my Posterior Lateral Capsule (a trio of small ligaments located on the outside of the left knee, within the Posterior Lateral Corner) and the actual PL Corner itself. She referred me to a surgeon at OSU, who thought the best way to cure this would be to send me to Michigan, where they would break my leg at the HIP, and rotate my femur to overcompensate my knee cap so it would shift my PCL and let it do most of the work for my missing ACL. I'm not kidding. I finally had what was left of my ACL shrunk towards the end of 2001, and am now doing the best I can, though I will never be quite back to normal. Had the first, or even second doctor caught what the 4th doctor caught, and the 5th tried to fix strangely, I would have gone on to state finals my junior year, and attended one of the three D1 schools that were actively recruiting me. I don't trust anyone but myself. If it doesn't work for me, or feel right, I don't do it. I won't risk it again, now that I'm just getting my swimming career back (slowly, but just watch me)

As far as the swimming advice goes, as others have said, I watch what the best swimmers are doing and see how it matches written and verbal explanations. I watch most of what is on TV and I study all the video files I can download. Also as others have said, I adopt what works for me. Of course if, like me, you're not timing yourself in one way or another, you can still be wrong. I find debate over techniques interesting and I usually feel confident in who I think has got it right. If I had a coach, and especially if I was young, I would give my coach the benefit of the doubt and start with trust if possible. I think the girls made important comments. You need to know when to question even your doctor. They are generally all brilliant and fallible; some much more fallible than others. Unlike most doctors, it seems, I believe each of our bodies has unexpected unique qualities. One thing we have to make a judgment on is what to "believe" from our own body and when our body may be "fooling" us (for example, if a sharp pain means there is damage or not; or if a medication or activity is helping something). Funny how the "trust" question even applies to ourselves. I wear contact lenses when I swim without concern so I wonder about warnings not to wear contacts in the pool. Ok, I have no concern because about the only time I ever wear contacts is while I am swimming. I think the correct advice should probably be: contacts are fine in the pool if you take them out when you're done, otherwise it is a big mistake.

Originally posted by gjy I find debate over techniques interesting and I usually feel confident in who I think has got it right. If I had a coach, and especially if I was young, I would give my coach the benefit of the doubt and start with trust if possible. Debates over the technique... I'm a big believer that variations in technique should depend on an individuals body style and their muscular development, and dexterity. I don't believe into a one size fits all stroke or technique. There are many paths from A to B. The best way to find one's own way is to keep an open mind and keep learning. One thing with swimming, it takes time to practice and have various changes sink in. I see many people discard something as invalid before they've gotten good at it. Some of the best changes in my stroke have been the hardest and most awkward to learn. Now that I got the hang of them, I can't believe I ever did without.

Originally posted by Allen Stark I haven't found the internet very helpful re: swin technique. I read every periodical I can find, ask coaches,buy DVDs,and video tape all the meets I can. Experts disagree,but there is usually a consensus. Also,just because something is good for most people doesn't mean it is best for you. You have to try and see. Ultimately I think you should become the expert you trust most,but still be open minded. That was very well stated! :)