Absent technique improvement, I am wondering if each swimmer has a ceiling that can never really be broken once a minimal amount of training has occurred. This is my theory based on my own swimming experience over the last year.
No matter how fast I flail my arms the result in the 50 free always seems to be the same - 28.5, 29.2, 28.7. Seems like a random result +- 0.5 seconds. :frustrated:
Can someone with those kinds of results ever eventually go 26 something just by training harder, doing more and more sprints, etc.. I would hope to hear that is a possibility even though I know I have some fundamental flaws.
I believe that humans are fundamentally very lazy (at least I am), and our bodies will adapt without conscious input to make our repetitive tasks easier. So your streamline will get tighter, your flips quicker, your pushes stronger, and your stroke more efficient simply because your body is tired of being asked to do 28 second 50 yard flails inefficiently. Your fundamental flaws will either disappear or will be adapted in some fashion into your stroke in a way that makes it easier for you to swim a 28. And yes, if you keep at it, one day you will swim a 26 because the unconscious changes will have made you a better swimmer. I believe you can accelerate the process by consciously working on technique, but improvement is inevitable.
I completely disagree with this. If you continue to do something wrong over and over and over your body may adapt to it but certainly you won't see any improvement. It's not like driving a lot on a flat tire makes it magically repair itself. Proper training, proper technique, drilling and conscious effort leads to improvement, not the continued repetition of mistakes.
Unconscious inevitable improvement is an oxymoron. I've seen the same people do the same stroke with the same flaws for years and years and their times get slower and slower and slower.
I believe that humans are fundamentally very lazy (at least I am), and our bodies will adapt without conscious input to make our repetitive tasks easier. So your streamline will get tighter, your flips quicker, your pushes stronger, and your stroke more efficient simply because your body is tired of being asked to do 28 second 50 yard flails inefficiently. Your fundamental flaws will either disappear or will be adapted in some fashion into your stroke in a way that makes it easier for you to swim a 28. And yes, if you keep at it, one day you will swim a 26 because the unconscious changes will have made you a better swimmer. I believe you can accelerate the process by consciously working on technique, but improvement is inevitable.
I completely disagree with this. If you continue to do something wrong over and over and over your body may adapt to it but certainly you won't see any improvement. It's not like driving a lot on a flat tire makes it magically repair itself. Proper training, proper technique, drilling and conscious effort leads to improvement, not the continued repetition of mistakes.
Unconscious inevitable improvement is an oxymoron. I've seen the same people do the same stroke with the same flaws for years and years and their times get slower and slower and slower.
