Tricks of the Trade

RE: Tricks of the Trade

Former Member — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 17:39:57 GMT

We taught babies for years at our swim school but I quit teaching them in 1978. It is now 3 years and up.

RE: Tricks of the Trade

Former Member — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 17:10:40 GMT

"Drownproofing" babies has been around for a long time. The problem is that the skill deteriorates rapidly. Unless the babies continue with practice, they forget everything and sink to the bottom like a referigator. One must be ever vigilant when children and water are combined.

RE: Tricks of the Trade

Former Member — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 15:58:23 GMT

Now here is the best trick of the trade I have seen, www.childdrowningprevention.com/index.html GEORGE, THIS LINK IS INCREDIBLE!!! THANK YOU FOR SHARING IT!

RE: Tricks of the Trade

Former Member — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 15:28:35 GMT

Now here is the best trick of the trade I have seen, www.childdrowningprevention.com/index.html I saw this over the summer--a 6month old who had been taught through ISR. It's the freakiest thing in the world to see a baby who can hardly hold itself up on land float in the water, and roll over to get face up in the water. They keep their eyes open the whole time and don't even blink. I also heard from the mother of the infant that the lessons themselves are just short of torture for both infant and the mother herself--watching the baby scream and cry and go crazy. The mom said that the babies (everyone that she saw) would cry the minute they got into the pool area because they could anticipate the next 20minutes. I guess in the end it is a great resource and a great thing for people who want to take that extra precaution but I don't know if I could do it to my kid.

RE: Tricks of the Trade

Former Member — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 11:40:45 GMT

Now here is the best trick of the trade I have seen, www.childdrowningprevention.com/index.html

RE: Tricks of the Trade

Allen Stark — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 10:54:52 GMT

I just thought of this tip,if someone already noted it,sorry,but it bears repeating. As you finish your breaststroke pullout shrug your shoulders to improve streamlining.

RE: Tricks of the Trade

Former Member — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 08:25:25 GMT

Be very, very nice to the timers. hahahhaha roffle

RE: Tricks of the Trade

Muppet — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 04:41:07 GMT

If you are bringing fans along, and your fans have cameras, make sure that they have the FLASH OFF at the start of your races. And yes, do thank your timers and officials!

RE: Tricks of the Trade

Former Member — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 13:17:59 GMT

.(Important safety hint,always remember to put a suit back on before you go up to the blocks and start taking off your sweats.I have heard that people have forgotten.) I saw this happen at a swim meet in Toronto. I was at a boxing match and saw it happen there also.

RE: Tricks of the Trade

Former Member — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 13:04:02 GMT

I saw this happen at a swim meet in Toronto. Men's or Women's event? Pictures? (If the latter, not the former.) Is that the reason that some cameras have a "flash"? :)

RE: Tricks of the Trade

Muppet — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 11:23:05 GMT

Important safety hint,always remember to put a suit back on before you go up to the blocks and start taking off your sweats.I have heard that people have forgotten.) Yes, it IS illegal to NOT wear something. Though I am sure you won't get dq'd if your suit falls off on the dive.

RE: Tricks of the Trade

Allen Stark — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 02:19:06 GMT

Get out of your wet swimsuit as soon as you finish your cooldown. You want to stay warm and loose between events,not cold and wet.(Important safety hint,always remember to put a suit back on before you go up to the blocks and start taking off your sweats.I have heard that people have forgotten.)

RE: Tricks of the Trade

Former Member — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 15:24:05 GMT

For men who have had trouble undoing a tightly bound wet knot in their briefs' waistcords and as Ranted (elsewhere) by Ande: Originally Posted by ande forums.usms.org/.../viewpost.gif having to untie a tight wet knot in my swim suit Also posted on the Rants thread. First thing I do with any swimsuit I get is join the two loose ends of the cord with a square knot (see attachment or see images.google.com/imgres ) thus creating a long continuous loop. This link is animated and shows how to tie the square (or reef) knot: www.animatedknots.com/.../in...matedknots.com The idea is to have a long continuous loop with no loose ends. Then tie the cord as you would a shoelace, pulling tight, (even though it's without loose ends, it's still do-able). Try it, it's easy to do. Then whenever you want to untie the knot, just pull on any part of the cord, it will always become unknotted, never getting stuck. Attached Thumbnailsforums.usms.org/attachment.php also www.animatedknots.com/.../in...matedknots.com

RE: Tricks of the Trade

Muppet — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 11:51:47 GMT

It is always helpful to have a spare cap, pair of goggles and backup swimsuit. You never know when the cap may rip, the google strap/nosepiece will die or your swimsuit will spring a leak. Also, for frequent swimmers, it is also helpful to have a good stock of cheapo practice suits. Even the suits made to have extended pool life get stretched out, lose some of their strength and develop leaks. I've already gone through two this year - and that is with a very light fall.

RE: Tricks of the Trade

Former Member — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 13:53:18 GMT

Thats good, the old method was to hold a slice of white bread in your mouth while chopping onions. The bread would get wet in the pool.

RE: Tricks of the Trade

Former Member — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 13:46:07 GMT

A completely different "trick of the trade." Does chopping onions make you teary-eyed? Keep a pair of swim goggles nearby and wear them when chopping onions. It works great! Anna Lea

RE: Tricks of the Trade

rtodd — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 07:47:17 GMT

If meets are in the morning, get up way early. Especially if you train in the afternoon or evening. In a strange pool practice a few *** stroke pull outs and take notice of the pool depth. I train in a shallow pool and when I was at a meet I went too deep gauging off the bottom.

RE: Tricks of the Trade

Muppet — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 04:15:35 GMT

One trick that seems to work; try to downplay the previous events. Instead of "dwelling" on success, (or failure), focus on what still has to be done. When you think about the mundane routine, like what lunch you'll pack, what time you have to wake up, how many hours are left in the night; think of how tired you'll be if you don't "let go" of the past. Hitting nail on head here, especially regarding the percieved "failure" portion of this. Whats done is done, you can't go back in time (yet) and rerace, but what you can do is get fired up and rock your next race. Ask the blue muppet about our first day of 2007 SCY Nats. We both had a pretty blah outing in our first events. For my part, this was the first time I was ever disappointed about a Nationals swim. However, I think it served as partial inspiration as we came out and TOTALLY ROCKED our 2Frees that set a tone for having a great rest of the meet. :smooch: It was a great lesson for both of us on meet mentality - not one you want to learn at Nationals, but I guess you gotta learn somewhere.

RE: Tricks of the Trade

Former Member — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 17:11:30 GMT

Haven't lost any forum grudge races yet. :lmao: With over 3500+ posts you must be a very good swimmer. I'm obviously not in the same league, with only 160+ posts. Happy swimming,

RE: Tricks of the Trade

Former Member — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 16:28:59 GMT

You win? cool.. Do you have USMS records? Criminy. Is this the new requirement to post now? :frustrated: Where's the noodler forum? Drats! They threw me off for not having a national noodler record. :laugh2:

RE: Tricks of the Trade

Former Member — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 16:22:01 GMT

Okay. This is old school and possibly totally wrong now, but I like to do this. Clap hard right before hopping on the blocks. Improves your reaction to the beeper. Good for fast starts. :applaud::applaud::applaud::applaud:

RE: Tricks of the Trade

Former Member — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 16:13:39 GMT

Breaststroke and Fly:always touch with both hands every turn in practice. So true. However, I don't do this on fly. On some fly sets, I'll do flip turns in practice. Totally illegal of course, but I swear it's really increased my lung function/ capacity.

RE: Tricks of the Trade

Former Member — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 14:38:37 GMT

We had the guys who meditated before a race. I always broke their deep thoughts by clowning.

RE: Tricks of the Trade

Former Member — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 12:28:29 GMT

There is not much you can do race day if you are not ready to race before race day. Be ready to swim when you are ready, you win. Be fit to swim fast.

RE: Tricks of the Trade

Muppet — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 12:17:03 GMT

In a LCM pool look for ‘landmarks’ on the bottom of the pool about ¾ way down the length (when you are wondering when the hell is the end coming and might be tempted to look up). For a 50m it is important that you don’t even think about the end until you see your mark (e.g. the drain at the deep end). Looking for the end too soon just slows you down and checking for the lane’s ‘T’ on the bottom can be difficult in a deep pool, especially when bulkheads are involved. Ian, great tip! I have a meet every summer in a metal tank that has no markings on the bottom other than the black lines for the lanes and a big red line across at 15m at the starting end. It is difficult to find a landmark in the pool itself... the red line is great for everything at the starting end, but for the turn end, I look for lifeguard chairs and light poles on the sides.