I’m stepping onto the soap box for this one. I heard a comment not too long ago that simultaneously made me laugh out loud and lose some hope for coaching in the world. A coach said, “I don’t make an effort to work dry land or weight training because it’s impossible to imitate swimming movements on land.”
First of all, copying the exact movement is not the goal of weight training. And second, that may be the laziest comment I’ve ever heard from a coach.
The purpose of weight training is to supplement the movements by increasing strength, speed and power, developing coordination, and working metabolic conditioning. Think of any stroke, we’ll use freestyle for example. For the arms, there is a catch, pull, push and recovery phase. The legs have the front and back kicks in the dolphin and flutter kicks. And the body has the constant core control of rotation. There is a lot to work there, of course it is hard to imitate that exact movement! But again, that’s not the goal. The stroke needs to be broken down and each part worked on separately. Once each part is stronger, faster, and better, then it all comes back together.
Think of a musician that has a 4-minute song they need to learn and practice. They struggle with a section in the middle and right at the end. Now, I’m no musician but I know they don’t start from note number 1 if they need to practice the ending. They’ll pick it up at points that they need to work, before compiling it all together into one masterpiece. Swimming strokes aren’t any different.
So, back to our freestyle example. The athlete can work with bands to develop the catch, pull ups to work the pull phase, dumbbell push backs for the push phase and finish, banded flutter or dolphin kicks to work the up kicks, donkey kicks to work the back kicks, landmine rotations to work the core control and rotation. Each of these movements work specific parts of the stroke and supplement the movement in its entirety. It’s difficult to build strength without the use of extra weight, meaning simple repetitions of the in-water movement isn’t enough, which is why time in the weight room is important.
So now that we understand that weight training is important, we get to my favorite part. Yes, mimicking swimming movements on land is difficult, but that’s where creativity and innovation come into play. I love spending time in the water or weight room experimenting with different movements, drills, and techniques before having an athlete try them. I like to feel firsthand if my idea is producing the right stimulus and working what I intend it to work. I try to get creative with different tools and equipment, body orientations, weights, resistance bands, anything I can get my hands on!
For example, by using a stretch cord and a bench in the weight room I was able to break down the breaststroke kick into four different movements. Each movement helped fix the athletes’ technique, increase mobility, and build strength. Also, I’ve used a PVC pipe and a snorkel to help another athlete keep their elbows at the surface of the water while learning how to get a vertical forearm to catch more water.
A closed mind and laziness is the death of every coach, and their followers. Don’t settle for that! A coach must have intention and innovation to produce the wanted results. If you want some extra help developing your stroke, both in and out of the water, let me know and we can start Exceeding Your Potential!
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