Posts Tagged ‘stroke efficiency’

Improvement-Minded Swimming
by Terry Laughlin

Posted on March 19th, 2010

Your potential in most things (but particularly swimming) is almost certainly far greater than you imagine it to be. If you strive for continuous improvement, you WILL improve continuously.

Reduce speed a little. Save a lot.
by Terry Laughlin

Posted on March 10th, 2010

Small reductions in speed – in swimming as well as driving – can lead to LARGE savings in energy. In a triathlon that could pay off handsomely in cycling and running.

Inside Look at Total Immersion Teacher Training
by Terry Laughlin

Posted on March 5th, 2010

A day-by-day chronicle of how a TI Teaching Professional is trained, by Suzanne Atkinson a cycling and triathlon coach from Pittsburgh.

Exact Pace Awareness – without using a pace clock
by Terry Laughlin

Posted on February 16th, 2010

Consistent pacing is a core competency of successful distance swimming. I improve my awareness of pace by training with Stroke Count and a Tempo Trainer, rather than a pace clock.

Can Swimmers learn anything from Olympic Speedskaters?
by Terry Laughlin

Posted on February 12th, 2010

Speedskaters use virtually uniform technique to master the challenge of “delivering force to the ice.” Swimmers, who face massively greater challenges in “delivering force to the water” are far less uniform and far more idiosyncratic in their technique. Why has the community of swimmers not achieved more agreement on the most efficient way to swim?

Use Feedback to Train Effectively
by Terry Laughlin

Posted on February 11th, 2010

Today’s practice sample shows the value of getting the right kind of feedback from practice sets. Data that lets you know if you’re improving — and how and why.

Speed “Happens” . . . while Focused on Efficiency
by Terry Laughlin

Posted on February 10th, 2010

I hadn’t planned on a “quality” set today, but one sort of snuck up on me as the beep on my Tempo Trainer got faster . . . while I tried to keep my stroke unhurried and long.

Slower Strokes produce Faster Times. How so?
by Terry Laughlin

Posted on February 8th, 2010

A slower stroke can produce faster times . . . IF you use the extra time in each stroke to propel more effectively – i.e. travel farther, and perhaps even faster.

An “Effortful” Practice Example: To swim the Channel FASTER.
by Terry Laughlin

Posted on February 6th, 2010

Most of my practices are designed to imprint efficiency – to help me cross the English Channel more easily. This one was designed to improve pace-holding capacity – to help me cross the Channel faster . . . without sacrificing efficiency.

An “Effortless Endurance” Practice
by Terry Laughlin

Posted on February 3rd, 2010

This practice demonstrates how a well-tuned brain performs its function better as you add repetitions and distance – a situation in which the body tends to fatigue.