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
In the beginning energy wasn't my problem - it was how it was being expended. It really was scary to see me like a windmill out of control veering in every God given direction believing I knew everything. You know, you can breath and kick when you want because there's no pattern. Ha!
Before studying coaching or anything else I knew it had to be broken down into sections and focused on technique. When I began to study coaching and physics, things became much clearer. Gone is the frustration of "I'm moving so much how come I'm not getting anywhere!"
My coach, who was/is quite good in competing in my event, worked for free (long story). Peirsol said not long ago that whether he was feeling good or bad he knew how to swim the event.
Teaching the stroke is different. To me it was more valuable having someone who literally knew what it was lilke to swim it and how to do it with all the injuries and frustrations. It probably has a lot to do with how I learn.
In the beginning energy wasn't my problem - it was how it was being expended. It really was scary to see me like a windmill out of control veering in every God given direction believing I knew everything. You know, you can breath and kick when you want because there's no pattern. Ha!
Before studying coaching or anything else I knew it had to be broken down into sections and focused on technique. When I began to study coaching and physics, things became much clearer. Gone is the frustration of "I'm moving so much how come I'm not getting anywhere!"
My coach, who was/is quite good in competing in my event, worked for free (long story). Peirsol said not long ago that whether he was feeling good or bad he knew how to swim the event.
Teaching the stroke is different. To me it was more valuable having someone who literally knew what it was lilke to swim it and how to do it with all the injuries and frustrations. It probably has a lot to do with how I learn.
