These days everyone you meet is either an expert or knows someone who is…all sports are flooded with theories and opinions and it can be hard to know what is right. My advice is…Question everything and put it all to the test. People tend to be like sheep and follow the status quo. What is regarded as fact carved in stone one day is often viewed as old hat the next by the same people who testified those facts from the mountain top the day before
As a child I always had a love for science, including science fiction which I think is more commonly presented in so called theories and arguments than hard core scientific fact. One of my favourite comical lines is “fiction can be fun but I think you’ll find the reference section more enlightening". My advice is base your reference section around what is relevant to your own body and experiences
In swimming you can ask a dozen world class coaches to give you their preferred model for each of the competition strokes and you’ll get a wide variety of answers, particularly in breaststroke. Keep in mind that while there maybe four strokes in competitive swimming, every swimmer is unique and using a singular model for any of these strokes would not suit every individual’s body
Most learn to swim teaches and coaches are fixated on teaching a particular style mainly due to what they were taught when training to become an instructor. Ideally you will improve the most when you find someone who has an open mind to adapt what they know around the individual – "you"
The goal for everyone is to get across the pool as fast as possible. Factors that influence this are your biomechanics, physiology, psychology, training regime, nutrition, adequate rest and coaching influences. All of these factors are dynamic – they are changeable and the one thing we can concentrate on in around 1 hour is the biomechanics of your stroke
The stop watch and the video camera are great tools to provide you with scientific evidence. We start by taking a look at your current stroke models in warm up and at race pace. After that we can break down elements of your stroke and help you find key areas to concentrate on at your training sessions. Remember efficient swimming takes practice and a single video session will be for nothing unless you apply yourself to performing a quality stroke in training and racing
You need to understand that it may be beneficial to have different stroke models and tempos depending of distances you race. Your strokes may alter due to improvements in your skill to catch water at a certain angle, kick with a particular beat or how you feel the water due to depth of the pool or type of water you are swimming in at a carnival – there are many variables to consider
Video is taken above and below the water level from the FRONT – SIDE – REAR to provide feedback to the athlete and coach
Specializing in stroke analysis for competitive swimmers, tri-athletes and masters swimmers