Originally posted by Paul Smith
Here's the deal folks...forget about weights...if you REALLY want to make a significant break through in your swimming relative to competition stop swimming for 4-8 weeks and go to kick only workouts...as you ease back into swimming you will have the opportunity to "learn" how to integrate a new and powerful element to your stroke...something that 90% of the swimmers I see competing do not do well....
This really caught my attention. I seem to have been hearing this a lot lately: people coming back after a shoulder op, doing kick only workouts and then having their best seasons ever.
I don't doubt the authenticity of it either. I am just interested on what is actually going on. Why should this be the case?
Has anyone ever scientifically measured the amount the kick contributes to forward propulsion? I mean ratio wise, compared to the arms, what would it be? 80% arms : 20% legs?
What about the swimmers who are great kickers in workouts but can't translate it into faster swimming?
How do we actually integrate the kick into our swimming so that it becomes a new and powerful element to our stroke as Paul suggests?
Would it be fair to say that a big part of the improvement these (post op/ focus on kicking )swimmers achieve can be attributed to the strengthened core which is a result of the additional kicking. In other words more credit given to the strengthened core than increased forward propulsion.
I don't know. I just throw out these ideas for discussion.
Syd
You already apologized for talking like this about me. When I read this, I get the impression that you still have no idea what my background is, what my knowledge base is, and what my process is. This is especially astonishing to me because of the level of detail and the thoroughness of reasoning I have provided. I listened to your advice, but you are demonstrating a complete failure to listen to anything I've ever said to you. That's the biggest insult to me.
If you think I should be doing something different, you ought to stop sniping at me in conversations with other people and tell me.
Brian, sorry if you take these comments as a personal attack because they are not intended as such...you are blogging your training so you should expect for people to comment on it and if people disagree with you that is their right.
Also, your background has nothing to do with what I posted, my point is that a well coached athlete is usually going to have a better chance to improve and stay safe than a self coached one. The fact that at your age your already having the injuries you mentioned tells me you would benefit from someone who can pull the reins back a bit when needed...
As a coach and an athlete I am always looking to be "coached"....I try to be a lifetime learner if you will, however I do understand circumstances where people don't have access to coaches...or to quality coaches and train on their own. Its those people reading these blogs that I feel compelled to challenge some of the training strategies that are being blogged...and I think how you are training is high risk for most masters swimmers.
You already apologized for talking like this about me. When I read this, I get the impression that you still have no idea what my background is, what my knowledge base is, and what my process is. This is especially astonishing to me because of the level of detail and the thoroughness of reasoning I have provided. I listened to your advice, but you are demonstrating a complete failure to listen to anything I've ever said to you. That's the biggest insult to me.
If you think I should be doing something different, you ought to stop sniping at me in conversations with other people and tell me.
Brian, sorry if you take these comments as a personal attack because they are not intended as such...you are blogging your training so you should expect for people to comment on it and if people disagree with you that is their right.
Also, your background has nothing to do with what I posted, my point is that a well coached athlete is usually going to have a better chance to improve and stay safe than a self coached one. The fact that at your age your already having the injuries you mentioned tells me you would benefit from someone who can pull the reins back a bit when needed...
As a coach and an athlete I am always looking to be "coached"....I try to be a lifetime learner if you will, however I do understand circumstances where people don't have access to coaches...or to quality coaches and train on their own. Its those people reading these blogs that I feel compelled to challenge some of the training strategies that are being blogged...and I think how you are training is high risk for most masters swimmers.
