Ande....having read your blog and a few others and seeing some of the times you've posted...as well as some of the mnd boggling in season/unrested swims going on this college and USS season I thought I'd bring up the topic of swimming fast in workout and in unrested meets.
Having always been a VERY slow workout swimmer as well as a poor untapered swimmer I'm always amazed at how fast others can go in those situations. But I have noticed that those same swimmers don't necessarilly have big drops for meets they rest and shave for.
So after seeing Michael Klueh from Texas go 4:11 unrested in the 500, my evil twin go 21.8/47.7 unrested (and at altitude), hearing you went 22.0 50 free and 2:00 in the 200 back at workout the question for everyone is what do you see in your own situations?
Note; one thing that a few of us have noticed is that big old clydesadle types like me usually are the ones that drop the most from resting....little jackrabbits like JS swim fast all the time and don't seem to take as big of drops rested.
Paul I have always wondered about this subject from the time I was a swimmer, a university coach, and now a masters swimmer. I was of the type that I could go pretty fast in workout, during the season, and then drop some time at the big taper meet. I was lucky and never really ever had a bad taper... My entire college career I drop time every year. Now that I'm a masters swimmer I still train pretty fast during workout, but I don't get the big drops. This could be that I only swim 2 and 3 times a week when I'm lucky.
I coached swimmers who trained like you and some who swam fast all the time. I think the one thing I found with most of the swimmers was that each swimmer pretty much did what they believed they could do. I think each of us choose what best suits our choice of events, our body type, our mental attitude, and then adapt to the coaches (mostly general) plan for the season. Some of us prefer to swim fast all season, which in the end leaves less room for hugh drops. And some of us decide that we are the ones that are going to have the big drops and swim not so fast during the season. Your style of swimming drive coaches a little more nuts during the season, but mine can give a coach heart ache at the last meet hoping for bigger drops.
In my heart as a swimmer and as coach I think an athlete would benefit from using both types of training. Getting an athlete to believe during different cycles of their training that need to train and compete as fast you can. Then during another cycle train with the expectations of having bigger drops. I know from swimming with you from time to time that I know I would have benefited from slowing down and working at a more technical pace. I know I train too hard sometimes.
Paul I have always wondered about this subject from the time I was a swimmer, a university coach, and now a masters swimmer. I was of the type that I could go pretty fast in workout, during the season, and then drop some time at the big taper meet. I was lucky and never really ever had a bad taper... My entire college career I drop time every year. Now that I'm a masters swimmer I still train pretty fast during workout, but I don't get the big drops. This could be that I only swim 2 and 3 times a week when I'm lucky.
I coached swimmers who trained like you and some who swam fast all the time. I think the one thing I found with most of the swimmers was that each swimmer pretty much did what they believed they could do. I think each of us choose what best suits our choice of events, our body type, our mental attitude, and then adapt to the coaches (mostly general) plan for the season. Some of us prefer to swim fast all season, which in the end leaves less room for hugh drops. And some of us decide that we are the ones that are going to have the big drops and swim not so fast during the season. Your style of swimming drive coaches a little more nuts during the season, but mine can give a coach heart ache at the last meet hoping for bigger drops.
In my heart as a swimmer and as coach I think an athlete would benefit from using both types of training. Getting an athlete to believe during different cycles of their training that need to train and compete as fast you can. Then during another cycle train with the expectations of having bigger drops. I know from swimming with you from time to time that I know I would have benefited from slowing down and working at a more technical pace. I know I train too hard sometimes.
