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Posture, Line, and Balance – Coach’s Notes Sept 29, 2008

The following thoughts are from Richard Quick (Auburn coach, prior Stanford coach, 6 times at the Olympics as a coach).

Richard Quick talked about posture, line, and balance.

For posture, he talked about being as streamlined as possible. This means that the body is flat. The back is flat, the gut is in, and the body is in a position to create as little drag as possible. Do the following with help of another swimmer. Push off the wall on your stomach at the surface of the water. As you glide forward there should be no water across the small of your back. If there is this means that your body is arched and not flat. This flat position is not a natural one, but one provides the least resistance through the water. Get feedback from the other swimmer and try to work on a flat position.

Line, in free, this means that the body is straight as an arrow. If you watched the Olympics from below the surface, you’ll note that the swimmers body stays in line and doesn’t move back and forth. If you draw a line from the top center of the chest to the navel, this line stays pointed down the lane at all times. In fly “line” means not going too high above and below the horizontal line. Too much dolphin motion wastes energy and creates drag.

Balance, in free head not too high, hips not to low.

Everyone has a certain potential power. The ideas of posture, line, and balance are intended to make the best use of your energy.

I'm going to give each lane a choice of sets. This is the other set

Warm Up
200 Free
200 Kick
200 Pull

Announcements

Main Set
6 x 100 Free, breath control first 3
2x100 Kick
100 Sprint Free
6 x 100 Pull, steady pace
2x100 Kick
100 Sprint Free
6 x 100 Choice (not free, could be IM)
2 x 100 Kick
100 Sprint Choice

Warm Down
200 Choice

I'm going to give each lane a choice of sets. This is the first alternative set. This practice is ladder. Below is the expert lane set.

Warm Up
200 Free
200 Kick
200 Pull

Announcements

More Warm Up
8x50 alt choice drill and choice swim by 50

Main Set
100 IM
200 Kick
300 break this up into 4 75s and each 75 is swim, stroke swim IM order no breaks during the 300
400 swim
2x300 Pull
3x200 Free
4x100 Pull

Warm Down
100 WD

I attended a coach’s workshop on September 13th with Richard Quick. He has coached multiple swimmers who have medaled at the Olympics. He talked about things that are common at all levels of swimming even though we aren’t the caliber of swimmers that he coaches.

Theme for both yesterday and today is that the past is not the present or the future. Yesterday, I talked about how you are better than you think you are. There is something you can always do to go a little faster and do a little better (if not a lot faster or better). Past records and performances are not an accurate picture of what you can do in the future or even today.

This story comes from Richard Quick. He said that people that can overcome negativism are special individuals. (I may not have everything correct, but the gist of the story is.) In 1992, Richard Quick coached a swimmer named Summer Sanders. Sanders attended the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona and entered 3 individual events and a relay. The press hyped her up as the star of swimming who had the potential of 4 golds, even though she was not top ranked for the world in any of her events. The press doesn’t always want to be confused with facts when creating these stories. In her first event of 400 IM she got a bronze. After the swim the press asked her whether she was disappointed that she did not get gold. She pointed out that she had set an American record, and that she had swum a personal best, and that she was pretty pleased with the result. In her next race, she swam 200 IM. This time she got Silver. The press again came to her and asked her what was happening to her potential of her 4 golds and whether she was disappointed to not get gold in her second event. Richard Quick wanted to give the press a piece of his mind (like are you the 2nd best reporter in the world?), but Sanders wouldn’t let him and she gave the same answer. I swam a personal best and set an American record. I’m pretty proud of that. The last individual event for Sanders was the 200 Fly. Her racing style was to go out fast, lead the field and hope that she could hold on to the lead in the end. In the 200 fly, she was third place at the 50, third place at the 100, third place at the 150. Afterwards she said that during the race she started to think, well maybe the press is right. I got a bronze, I got a silver, and I’m behind in this race. But she put this negativism out of her mind and swam hard the last 50. She won gold by 1/3 of a second. Her past of swimming a bronze, her past of swimming a silver, her past of always leading the race, her past of not being the top ranked swimmer, did not keep her from winning gold in the 200 fly.

The past is not the present nor the future. Don’t let the past constrain you. Overcome its negativism. You are better than you think.

This practice works all strokes with an emphasis of working your speed. Below is a challenge since distances go up throughout the practice.

Warm Up
100 Free
100 Back
100 Breast
100 Pull
100 Kick

Main Set
4x50 Choice drill
4x50 Fly on :50
4x25 rest :15 (alt fast and ez)
6x50 Back on :50
4x50 rest :15 (1st ez, 2nd 25 fast 25 ez, 3rd 50 fast, 4th 50 ez)
6x50 Breast on :50
4x75 rest :20 (1st 25 fast 50 ez, 2nd 50 fast 25 ez, 3rd 75 fast, 4th 75 ez
2x100 IM on 1:30
4x100 rest :30 (1st 50 fast 50 ez, 2nd 75 fast 25 ez, 3rd 100 fast, 4th 100 ez
2x100 Choice on 1:35
4x125 rest :30 sec (1st 75 fast 50 ez, 2nd 100 fast 25 ez, 3rd 125 fast, 4th 125 ez

Warm Down
200 Choice

You are better than you think you are.

I attended a coach's workshop on September 13th with Richard Quick. He has coached multiple swimmers who have medaled at the Olympics. He talked about things that are common at all levels of swimming even though we aren’t the caliber of swimmers that he coaches. He pointed out that most Olympics swimmers, the majority of Olympics swimmers, are not the best and most talented swimmers. There are exceptions like Michael Phelps, but that isn’t the rule. Swimming involves both the physical and mental. Richard Quick said that many of his most talented swimmers did not make the Olympics. They did not reach their potential.

What I want to emphasize today is that you are better than you think you are. This is easy to say, but difficult to internalize. I’ll give a famous example from running. On May 6, 1954, Roger Bannister on broke the 4 minute mile barrier at 3 minutes 59 seconds. The record of 4 minutes and 1 second had not been broken in 9 years. What is important is not that Bannister broke the record. What is important is how many people have run faster (some much faster) since that time. His record was beaten only 46 days after it was set. Did people suddenly become stronger and faster? It wasn’t that, but the belief that they weren’t that good. That belief kept many from going faster than 4 minutes. His record opened the door of the possible. Runners realized that they could be better than they thought possible.

How’s that relate to swimming? If you think you can’t do it, you are likely not to succeed. You are always capable of going faster, even if it is just a hair faster. For an example, I’ll go back to the 4x100 Free relay at this year’s Olympics. Jason Lezak swam a world record 100 split in the event. He is not the record holder for the 100 Free event. He had not swum nearly that fast before. In that last 100 he put aside what he was supposed to be able to do and went for it.

Remember, you are better than you think you are. In practice and in meets, thinking I can’t and thinking I won’t will get in your way. Focus on pusing a little more, focus on doing it the right way, focus on not giving up, focus on keeping up or staying ahead. You may find that you can.

This practice is to work distance; however, if you are a sprinter you have the choice of swimming 100s during the 200s or dropping every other swim. Below is the expert lane set.

Warm Up
200 Free
200 Kick
200 Pull

Drills
5x50 (12 kicks per stroke down, free back)
5x50 (zipper drill down, finger tip drag back)
4x50 Kick

Main Set
5x200 (Pull) (2:35/2:40)
5x150 (odds IM no free, evens free
5x100 Free descend (1:20)
5x50 Choice on Minute descend

Warm Down
200

Goals should be realistic.
It is fall and a good time to think about your goals. Goals could be as simple as getting a good workout or staying in shape. Goals should be achievable, if they are not realistic, then they are dreams or wishes.

Goal Stories from Richard Quick (Auburn coach, prior Stanford coach, 6 times at the Olympics as a coach)
Richard has had swimmers come into his office and state that their goal is to be on the Olympics, but they haven’t ever won at nationals or even come close. They have a dream. You should have dreams, but you should also have goals that can be obtained as you work towards the dream otherwise the dream is too far of a reach and you risk giving up.

Goals can and should change.
Dara Tores came to Richard in 2000 (her 4th Olympics) and asked if he thought it was possible for her to be an alternate to the Olympic team (i.e. be 6th in the trials in order to be part of the relay). She came and swam with Richard and improved. She came in again to Richard’s office and started to think about qualifying for an individual event. She continued to improve and before the Olympics came around she was thinking about what medals and how many were possible.

In this practice, we will do a little of all the strokes. Below is the expert lane set.

Warm Up
300 Free
4x50 Pull
100 Kick

Drills
4x50 Coach's choice

Main Set
3 x 200 Pull
6x50 Fly alt drill, swim
2x50 Fly Kick
6x50 Breast alt drill, swim
2x50 Breast Kick
6x50 Back alt drill, swim
2x50 Back Kick
5x100 Choice No Free
4x100 Free desc 1-4

Warm Down
200 Choice

Little things done consistently well are better than the spectacular.

For example, you always keep your head down until you touch the wall. If you lift your head before you get to the wall, your head works like a plow your hips sinks and your body slows down. Michael Phelps won the 100 M Fly by a hair. Cavic from Serbia had been favored, but lost. Coming to the wall Cavic raised his head and that may have made the difference between winning gold and silver.

Cesar Filho won Gold in the 50M Free this year. He swims for Richard Quick at Auburn. He was not expected to do so well. How did he do it? He worked on swimming like a pencil. Perfectly streamlined with no sideways motion. It’s a little thing, but made a difference.

Another example, at Michigan, Jon Urbancheck believes that you only swim fly as long as you can hold your stroke. If you start “survival fly”, he believes that you should stop. Why? Because he believes that you should consistently practice good stroke technique and not bad stroke technique. Practicing bad stroke technique will lead to bad stroke technique during a race. He believes that there are other ways to build endurance. Michael Phelps practiced 50 and 100 fly, but did not do 200 fly until he raced it. He would do repeats of 50 and 100 fly, but they would be perfect fly.

For you the results may not be as dramatic, but it is still as important. I had a friend miss qualifying for Ironman Hawaii by 17 seconds. Perhaps some small thing could have made the difference.

The main set of this practice comes from Jon Urbanchek who is the former head coach at University of Michigan and who still helps coach. Below is the expert set.

Warm Up
200 Free
200 Pull
200 Kick

Drills
4x50 drill which are coaches choice

Additional Warm up
5x50 Choice
5x50 Kick

Main Set
12x100 Pull 3rd, 6th, 9th, 12th fast (others perfect stroke) 1:15/1:20
6x100 Free alt ez hard 1:25/1:30
4x100 Free descend 1:40
2x(100 Free MAX FAST + 50 Ez) 1 min rest

Warm Down
200 Choice

This practice works IM and stroke. Below is the expert set.

Warm Up
200 Free
2x100 Choice
4x50 Kick

Drills
4x50 Coach's choice

Main Set
5x100 Pull
8x50 Kick
8x25 Fly
100 IM
4x50 back
100 IM
100 back
4x50 breast
100 IM
100 back
100 breast
4x50 Free
100 IM
100 back
100 breast
100 Free

Warm Down
200 Choice

This practice has 500s as the main set. Below is for the expert lane.

Warm Up
200 Free
200 Kick
200 Pull

Drills
5x100s
1st 12 kicks per pull
2nd catchup
3rd 50 right arm 50 free
4th 50 left arm 50 free
5th DPS

Main Set
3x500 1st one is pull
100 ez
3x200 1st one is pull
100 ez
3x100 1st one is pull
100 ez

Warm Down
200 Choice