I'm absolutely amazed at the amount of misinformation on swimming, especially on the internet. One website I saw instructing the specifics of the backstroke advocated a completely illegal turn.
A bodybuilder site said that depleting your stores of Glycogen by starving your body of it actually helped the body move faster. I'm not buying that. You can't swim without it.
Other sites like USA Swimming, have a lot of kids with a lot of questions who for some reason don't ask their coaches or parents. Lots of ear infection questions - which are fairly preventable by wearing a swim cap.
Early on in my learning I suffered a severe injury by practicing a drill recommended by one of the so-called experts in swimming technique, who shall remain nameless. That's led me to pay closer attention to sports medicine specialists and surgeons who swim.
Everybody's body is different and has specific limitations. For example, the Neer Test for your shoulders. The entire approach to pitch, catch, pull, etc... is highly individual. I trust top athletic coaches and top swimmers and doctors.
One site on backstroke listed something very technical which actually made sense and works wonders but after running a search a dozen ways through Google I found no one knew of it or spoke of it other than that 1 site!
Who do you trust? What are your thoughts on this?
Parents
Former Member
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?
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?
