Chapter 1: Minnow, fish… When did I start swimming? My best answer: I can’t remember ever not being able to swim. There have been brief interludes. But I’ve never stopped for long. One of my earliest aquatic memories was when…
What are the differences between the 2-beat, 4-beat and 6-beat kick patterns? It’s important to begin to think about such things! Connecting your legs and your arms will help generate power across your entire body. To start with,…
A student recently asked me about the purpose of sculling. I had just finished explaining to her how a simple scull begins with your arms extended forward. I demonstrated how she should arc her hands down and up…
Today, I reveal the biggest secret to swimming faster. Are you ready? First, you must understand this underlying paradox: The thing you are trying to slip through is the very same thing you are trying to push against.…
Sound familiar? I get that question a lot. Here are the 3 most common freestyle mistakes I see from adult-onset swimmers – and simple steps you can take to correct them. 1. Head position Problem: The old saying…
Part 1 of 2 A swimmer recently asked my opinion on what his freestyle stroke rate should be, and I did not have an immediate answer. One reason: most of my athletes don’t have an extensive swimming background,…
It took a few months, but I finally settled on my open water race schedule for this year. Now it’s time to design a training schedule. I’ll walk you through how I built mine. Many of the underlying…
We all do it. We size up the competition. We scan the field during warm-up, perhaps even at the start. At open water races, I rarely worry about super-fit or muscular competitors if there is something about their…
Here’s an easy 3-step drill progression to help you discover the proper shape of your arm in the freestyle catch.This drill works best with fins. That’s because the fins will give you the propulsion to amplify how resistance…
1. Without question, the single best piece of training equipment is the swim snorkel. In freestyle, it allows you to maintain a constant, neutral head position by eliminating the need to breathe to the side. It’s an essential…