The Magic of Repetition
Some People Avoid It
Repetitive Things Can Be Unbearable
Putting together a bearable swim stroke is complicated
It is a colossal mistake to practice everything new at same time
Instructing my reader to practice the stroke in pieces might seem redundantly obvious
If I didn't see swimmers looking so helpless and confused all the time
I wouldn't be so intentional about including the pieces so many times
It was in my experience playing lots of high level golf
That I learned about dissecting aspects of the swing
To automate each aspect to a point of non-thought
In golf we learn how important it is
To see ourselves on screen
After having been filmed
There are so many things that happen in athletics that are beyond our awareness
If you don't see yourself doing certain things, you'd simply not believe they happen
Practicing to the point of muscle memory is key - what's key is reaching non-thought
Effective coaching is about effectively committing things to muscle memory
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Why would I include this picture of Andre Agassi? I have my reasons
Martial arts training is like that - a simple kick or punch is like that
You might think a punch or a swimming arm swing is no big deal
Seeing it done by others makes it seem like no big deal
Unless you know what you're looking at
Small motions are surrounded by big ideas - all things embed within big context
In my first three months of technical swim - I had one idea that was crystal-clear
My first vision was one simple idea - 'keep pulling through the entire arm swing'
It's harder than it sounds - Andre's dad made him hit a million strokes per year
Our concept is about what is happening - with each hand while under surface
It sounds like no big deal but doing it correctly each time is a very large deal
One of my coaches at my gym and I got talking about it
They were all competitive swimmers before coaching
So that was something they had mastered long since
What she said to me was so brilliant!
"At the bottom of arm swing"
"Do a little flick with your hand"
"As it comes out of the water"
Easier said than done - we forget when we get tired
What that flick taught me is so simple yet complicated
It says the last six inches of each arm's pulling power
Is as important as the first six - bottom is same as top
The first six are somehow easier to think about
It would help to see yourself on film to realize this
There are simply times we fly away mentally
Only the best swimmers know & do the flick
We can learn a lot about a swimmer
By watching their hands enter the water
Is it deliberate? Is it sloppy? Does it make a sound?
It seems some of the best swimmers
Place their hands into the water quietly
Some of the others make a louder slapping sound
The best swimmers have precision
To that moment of hand entry
And perfect tempo
The novice swimmer just lands it somewhere out there
It's true for the entry and it's just as true for the exit too
That was my meditation for three months - proper exit
The differences go on and on - the novice pulls in such a way
That it doesn't hurt on day one - but it definitely does hurt later
To the point of painful injury when multiplied into a weekly practice
Your arm swing is the main "range of motion" for the swimming activity
Your arms keep going around and around and around
The better you get, the more efficient the motion
As efficiency improves
There is less wasted motion
More of your motion converts to forward thrust
That forward thrust is expressed in your swimmer glide
The average speed of your glide is a product of the motion
The faster you swim - the more efficiently your body glides
Which means that you can go further with less effort
See all the parts and how they fit together?
All this is why we train with gear
If you learn to swim with gear
It is difficult to train without it
The gear spoils us so much
But it helps us in critical ways too
The point of the gear is to build up the body
That takes years so don't be in a hurry
The results are so worthwhile
If you are find yourself being in a hurry
Let your rush be expressed as a desire
To have and operate an injury-free body
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Actual picture of me doing a little flick as my hand reaches bottom of arm swing and exits the water
I've very intentionally stayed away from the idea of creating a comprehensive stroke
During this entry alone have I described the important matter of hand entry & exit
My two examples support the context that swim is surprisingly very complicated
The two examples further depict that you'd benefit from seeing yourself on film
You wouldn't be a swim master if you didn't master hand entry and exit
I wish I could assemble words that could add up to muscle memory
The thought alone is preposterous - repetition is required
Putting together the enabled swim stroke is many separate parts
Having a body capable of doing it is the hard part of a triathlon