When life gives you lemons

So our pool's heater broke.  This was no big deal for the first 4 days but has quickly become a major issue. The temperature has dropped to about 72degrees. That had turned my younger swimmers lips blue. Literally!

So what do you do when this happens? Come up with a plan thats what. So I have been developing a dryland training program to last until the heater is repaired and still keep my swimmers in shape. We have also added a meet at another facility to keep them in the water during the interim.

Happy Holidays

This is traditionally a down time in the swimming world so let me just wish everyone out there a happy holiday season full of love and good cheer!
Coach Kline

Swimming as TEAM sport

Swimming is usually seen as an individual endeavor. The reality is that most of us swim to gain individual mastery of the sport but also because we enjoy the friends we have on the team and also the team atmospere!

If we don't develop a team identity and build a cohesive team environment, our efforts to improve each swimmer individually will be diminshed. We tend to work harder when we are working as a team than as an individual. Want more proof, look at ANY swimmers individual 50 meter free time and then look at their split when they are in a relay. Why is the relay split always so much faster? Because they don't want to let their teammates down!

Some things I do to foster a team spirit in practice.

1. I celebrate each and every birthday on the team. This has led to memorable stretches where we had 6 parties in a row but it also brought attention and more swimmers to the team!
2. We do team related activities (i.e. relays, group effort exercises) EVERY practice.
3. I require the adoption of team items (swim caps and t shirts) at every meet as well as require every swimmer to cheer for whomever is swimming at any given time.
4. I invite family members to participate in regular team parties and in practices and meets to involve the family in the "swim family".
5. I have a "peer instruction" day once each week at practice. This is a time when swimmers coach each other to improve storke methodology and get to know each other.

These actions have worked to create a tremendous team spirit and team involvment by swimmers and their families. I beleive it works to improve swimmers individually as well as the team as whole.

Swim to YOUR Strengths

Swim training is a collaborative process between a swimmer and his/her coach. The coach has certain training, experience and knowledge that can be used to maximize training programs for each swimmer. The coach, however, can not swim for the swimmer. A generalized approach to technique instruction is necessary for younger swimmers up to a point. Once this point is reached, however, it is up to the swimmer and coach to work together to identify which aspects of the individual swimmers technique is their strength and to build the stroke around that while correcting weaknesses in training.

There are some general ideas to keep in mind when analyzing strokes as a swimmer:

1. Streamlining is key (you want to create as little resistance as possible as you move through the water by staying as horizontal as possible; keeping your head, neck and spine in a straight line; and keeping a low profile while breathing so you don't interrupt the stroke)
2. Keep a firm anchor on the water with your hands/arms in order to maximize how far you move with each stroke (you want to constantly keep your hands and arms in a position that moves the body forward, not up or down or side to side. Swimmers use lots of different stroke variations but all good swimmers are effecient at maximizing the amount of distance they move through the water with each stroke)
3. Keep a steady, fast kick (a steady fast kick keeps the body horizontal and thus more streamlined and provides a steady base of propulsion to help get more distance with each stroke)

Outside of these general principles, make sure your basics are sound (starts and turns) and build your stroke around your strongest aspects.

As an example, if you are a muscular teen you may work on a deep pull with little s shaped movement to maximize your upper body musculature. If you are a petite female, you may want to really focus on a streamlined position using lots of sculling (the s shaped hand/arm movements to maximize the amount of water you move through with each stroke in a more efficient manner).

Freestyle

It is always possible to improve our freestyle technique. I believe this is important because the more comfortable we are with freestyle, the more comfortable we become with our other strokes as well. Today's tip for freestyle swimming:

Important key to freestyle: you spend most of your time on your edge or side, not on your belly! Imitate a sharp knife, on the edge of the blade, not a big soup spoon. Good freestyle, both swimming and drilling, requires you to rotate or roll your body along your "long-axis" or spine. You should also try to take breaths on alternate sides to help promote this good body roll. In these descriptions, if an arm is called the "front arm" it refers to the arm pointing to where you are headed. That side or edge of your body (shoulder to hip) is generally oriented towards the bottom of the pool, like the keel of a boat. The opposite edge (shoulder to hip) is aimed more "up" towards the ceiling (or the sky if you are lucky enough to swim outdoors) like a shark fin.

The open turn (breaststroke and fly)

The details for an open turn for a belly down to a belly down stroke (like breaststroke) are:

1. Approach the wall.
2. Touch the wall with your hands.
3. Begin to pull yourself into a tuck, knees moving up towards your chest.
4. Look at your hands on the wall (you can begin to take a breath here).
5. Pull one hand underwater and away from the wall.
6. Move that elbow underwater towards the hip on the same side while still looking at the other hand left on the wall (helps prevent over twisting).
7. Twist onto your side as that underwater hand swings out (still keep your eyes on your hand on the wall to prevent over twisting) - this requires you to rotate along your spine and tip your hips towards the wall.
8. Continue to pull your knees towards your chest, aim them toward the shoulder attached to the hand moving underwater (this helps you rotate onto your side later).
9. Swing and extend the hand going underwater out and around, still underwater, to point the direction you want to go now (where you just came from).
10. As your feet approach the wall (when you pull your knees up, your feet better follow!), move the second hand off of the wall and towards your eyes, above water.
11. Plant your feet on the wall side by side, toes pointing sideways or upwards (at about 45 degrees).
12. You should be on your side and tipping away from the wall with your upper body.
13. Keeping your head turned (chin on your shoulder) and looking towards the wall (or up towards the ceiling as you follow your hand) as long as possible to help prevent over twisting, move the above water hand into the water just above your head and extend it to meet the underwater hand.
14. Lock the hands together, one on top of the other.
15. Your tipping should have brought you underwater, laying on your side, feet on the wall, hands and arms extended in a streamlined position.
16. Extend your legs and push off the wall on your side.
17. As your feet leave the wall, make sure you are rotated so your belly is more towards the bottom of the pool than the surface (this keeps you legal).
18. You've done it!

A common part of all turns is the streamline

To maximize your push off of the wall, remember to streamline.

• Extend your hands over your head, pointing the direction you want to go, placing one hand on top of the other and wrapping your upper hand's pinky and thumb around your lower hand.
• Stretch from your fingertips, through your body, down to your toes.
• Make your body a long and as skinny as possible.
• Your arms should be snug against the back of your head, biceps behind your ears, with a smooth (well, relatively smooth) surface from the back of your hands to the tips of your toes.

Maintain a streamline as long as you are moving faster than you can swim - just before you slow down, you will begin the "breakout" or transition from the streamline to swimming. Details later; for backstroke, butterfly, and freestyle, you begin to kick first, then add arms as you surface, then take a breath after completing a few strokes. Breaststroke is a pull first (full pull, with the hands finishing by your hips), then the hands recover back to a streamline, followed by a kick, then into your normal stroke as you surface.

An approach to practice...

“In order to be a fast swimmer, you have to practice swimming fast.”

Indeed, many swimmers and triathletes enjoy training endurance because it feels like a real workout (the "no pain, no gain" approach). However with consistent endurance training, it is easy to fall into a pattern of swimming longer distances at slower paces.

Engaging the Core in Freestyle

1) Have an intention to use your hands to "hold your place" in the water, rather than to push it back. Your hand will still move back; indeed to an extent it will still push water back. But that intention will cause you to engage core muscle more and arm muscle less.

2) Using the slight leverage offered by that gripping hand/arm, drive the "high side" of your body down. This taps the free energy available from gravity to assist in your intention. It also results in your swimming with your body, rather than using your arms to drag it through the water.

In freestyle, as your left hand is "patiently" establishing a grip, the right hip will be higher than the left. Rather than exert left-arm muscles to push water back, use them to stabilize your hold on the water as you drive the right hip down. Indeed think of using your right hip to drive your right hand past the gripping left. This should result in a sensation of sending energy forward rather than back.

Some Swim Strategy for strokes and Races

FREESTYLE

Distance	Pattern	Pace
25 yards	As few as possible	Sprint
50 yards	Every 6 or 8	Sprint
100 yards	2-2-4 Build 1st 50 or every 3rd (Bilateral breathing).	Spirit 3rd lap Last lap takes care of itself.
200 yards	2-2-4 or 2-2-3 or 2-2-2-3 Build 1st 100	Sprint 3rd 50 Last lap takes care of itself.

Starts	No too deep Kick and streamline Do not breathe 1st stroke
Turns	Accelerate inside the flags Snappy flip turn Streamline and kick off wall Do not breathe 1st stroke
Finishes	Accelerate inside the flags Do not breathe last 5 yards Reach and touch the wall underwater - no extra stroke
100IM	Breathe 2 down - 1 up in the fly Build your backstroke Faster pace on breaststroke - stretch & streamline Finish strong in freestyle and remember your breathing pattern Good transitional turns Do not breathe last 5 yards at the finish
200IM	Breathe 2 up, 1 down in fly Build the 1st lap and sprint 2nd lap of each stroke Remember your zones - accelerate in and out of all turns Good transitional turns - long streamlines off all walls Stick to your breathing pattern and do not breathe last 5 yards in freestyle

BREASTSTROKE

Distance	Breathing Pattern	Pace
25 yards	Every stroke	Sprint
50 yards	Every stroke	Sprint
100 yards	Every stroke	Build 1st 50 Sprint 3rd lap Last lap takes care of itself

Starts	A little deeper than freestyle 3-2-1 pulldowns Accelerate inside the flags
Turns	"Karate chop" - telephone call" Touch with 2 hands Snappy flip A little deeper than freestyle 3-2-1 pulldowns
Finishes	Accelerate inside the flags Stretch for the wall - do not take an extra stroke Always touch with 2 hands under water

BUTTERFLY

Distance	Breathing Pattern	Pace
25 yards	As few as possible	Sprint
50 yards	2 down - 1 up	Sprint
100 yards	2 up, 1 down or every other	Build 1st 50 Sprint 3rd lap Last lap takes care of itself

Starts	A little deeper than freestyle Long streamline and dolphin kick hard to surface Do no breathe the first stroke
Turns	"Karate chop" - "Telephone call" Touch with 2 hands A little deeper than freestyle Long streamline and dolphin kick hard to surface Do not breathe the first stroke Accelerate inside the flags
Finishes	Do not breathe the last five yards of your race Accelerate and charge the wall Always touch wall underwater with two hands Reach for the wall Do not take an extra stroke on your finish

BACKSTROKE

Distance	Breathing Pattern	Pace
25 yards	As few as possible	Sprint
50 yards	2 down - 1 up	Sprint
100 yards	2 up, 1 down or every other	Build 1st 50 Sprint 3rd lap Last lap takes care of itself

Starts	Hands on gutter Long streamline 2-4 dolphin kicks then flutter Strong breakout stroke - 1 arm only
Turns	Accelerate inside the flags Know your stroke count from the flags without looking for wall Snappy flip Long streamline 2-4 dolphin kicks then flutter Strong breakout stroke - I arm only
Finishes	Accelerate inside the flags Know your stroke count Last stoke-head goes back and kick Charge the wall Always touch wall under water Do not breath the last 5 yards YES, even in backstroke!

Welcome to the Sanford Dolphins Swim Team Blog!
I will use this space to post items of interest to the team and to swimming news in Sanford, NC.