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
I could be wrong, but I don't believe the top ten swimmers in my age group have achieved their success simply through drilling. Pianists don't need to worry about VO2max, lactate, etc. As for elite tennis players, they devote quite a bit of time to improving their cardiovascular fitness nowadays. Technique is important, no doubt about it; Bobby Hackett once said that he never swam a length of the pool without thinking about his technique. But I think you have to put in the yardage, some (a lot?) of it very fast.
I could be wrong, but I don't believe the top ten swimmers in my age group have achieved their success simply through drilling. Pianists don't need to worry about VO2max, lactate, etc. As for elite tennis players, they devote quite a bit of time to improving their cardiovascular fitness nowadays. Technique is important, no doubt about it; Bobby Hackett once said that he never swam a length of the pool without thinking about his technique. But I think you have to put in the yardage, some (a lot?) of it very fast.
