Muscle memory: myth or mastery?
It is vital to remember that muscle memory is a two-edged sword. It can help you become very good at something but equally can train you to be absolutely terrible at something.
A Question (of life and death)
Whenever we enter the water, particularly open water we should do so with at least some rudimentary assessment of the likely dangers.
Summoning The Genie of Fluidity
If you concentrate too hard on achieving the seemingly impossible, it will remain just that; impossible
Curing the winter blues
With a single masterstroke I have devised a plan which will cheer everyone up and resolve the January Blues forever.
Are you having a Dry January? Not likely!
If you want to achieve something or improve something, you don't need to wait until a particular day to start working towards it. Just go for it!
Oi you! Why don’t you push off? I mean, properly push off?
If you’re not practising your push-offs your training is only ever targeted on 80% of the length. For one-fifth of the time you’re mentally and often physically, just drifting.
Can a frog on a bicycle help you swim better?
In order for a cue to be effective, it must be clear, achievable and measurable. If it isn’t, the effects on the stroke will be at best negligible and at worst detrimental.
The battle for the title of greatest Channel swimmer: the latest contender.
Chloë McCardel has recently broken the world record for the most number of Channel swims by a female swimmer racking up an incredible 44 crossings.
Coach Profile - Claire Sutton, Swimfinity
I love video analysis, 30minute lessons showing the progress people make is really motivating. Taking a splashy, panicky front crawl swimmer to a calm relaxed smooth swimmer is the favourite part for me.
Swimming - what really matters...
SwimMastery is all about making connections. Connections in the body when we're in the water to ensure that we are moving as one coordinated unit. But connections are equally important out of the water.
Why failing can be more important than success
There will always be DNF's for any significant endurance event and we should remember that they represent an extremely important group for everyone taking part...for any challenge there has to be a risk of failure
Ready, steady, wait. (Are you sure you're ready ?)
One ignores a proper warm-up at your peril, particularly with advancing years. It will go a long way to prevent injuries, improve performance, reduce the level of muscle tension and increase the range of motion possible
A look back at the Tokyo Olympics
The Tokyo Olympics saw its fair share of drama and determination, highs and heartaches many of which will live long in the memory.
Time to get in line
The fundamental point of efficient swimming is to displace as little of the water as possible as you move through it and past it. And the position in which you are doing that at the maximum is during Streamline.
Short and sweet
When learning a new movement pattern the average attention span is surprisingly short and it is important to stop before the processing power of the brain has been exhausted
Practice really does make perfect
The student must spend time away from the lessons practising by themselves. This is when the magic happens!
A less than perfect body can prove to be the perfect body
For larger people swimming can provide an invaluable route to maintaining (or starting) physical activity in a safe way which is not provided by other sports.
The rapid development of the Japanese Crawl
Developing a style and method that works for the human form has been a long process and it's one that's far from finished. New ideas are constantly being proposed, tested, adapted and adopted or discarded.