Doug, So much of your philosophy resonates with me on many levels. I was a product of quantity over quality mindset of the 90s. I managed to swim through college but not without some degree of burnout and the feeling left short of my potential. Now as a father of three who swim, I feel trapped in a system which is not serving the best interests of children. My 14 and 12 yo are practicing up to 8 times per week. Almost all of it is obsessively based on their aerobic interval. Very little time is spent on technique or working other energy systems and when they do, it is counterproductive because they are not rested enough to do it properly. Even worse is my 9 yo is being encouraged follow a similar path with almost no technique focus despite serious stroke flaws. I have looked at the other clubs that are a reasonable distance to travel but they appear to follow a similar philosophy. The revolution in our sport you speak of is desperately needed. Keep fighting for the future of our kids and our sport.
Mark. For everyone who may have never considered my perspective, your response lends validity. I appreciate you sharing. I also appreciate the encouragement. However, I do want to say THIS: I do not blame coaches for the state of things. Every coach was once a beginner who had very limited sources of education other than mentors. Every single coach should know things like antagonistic muscles, lordosis, and the specific energy system utilization of every race. The information is out there, but coaches don't have it because organizations that have monopolized the education space have failed to deliver it. So, please go easy on the coaches. They are getting compensated poorly, under supported, and are overwhelmingly overburdened - for the most part. I do clinics with teams to upskill both swimmers and coaches. If there is any interest on behalf of your squad, I'd be happy to discuss. Best of luck to your kids this season!!!
The compounding loss model makes the cost of imbalance uncomfortably clear. Have you seen programs that structure for technique first without sacrificing race-readiness?
There are clubs and coaches who run technique-first models very successfully. The first thing a club needs is a technique model for each stroke. They then build their development model around instilling, reinforcing, and manipulating technique for outcomes. This started for me at STAR Aquatics in NC. I was the “curriculum facilitator” working with coaches on how to teach and reinforce skills. Together all the full time coaches would establish a) long-term developmental model b) yearly training plans c) macrocycles and d) mesocycles. We would meet every Monday to co-author the week’s practices for each group. Feel free to reach out at doug@swimpler.com if you are interested in discussing further.
Thanks, Doug. I'm curious how you handled the tension between maintaining technique under fatigue and preparing for race-like intensity. Was there a point where trade-offs became inevitable?
Great question. One of the biggest problems is that we don’t give kids enough all-out opportunities that match the race frequency (once) duration (race specific) and intensity (race specific). What we found was that when you build everything on technical endurance (the degree to which swimmers can hold great form in response to stress) and have them opportunities to rehearse the actual race, there was no trade off. In fact, we found that the swimmers were more prepared.
A more nuanced answer is required than we have space for here, but in short - yes, it's about less volume and more precision under pressure. I like how you phrased that.
If volume induces technique degradation, then that's what we should expect from the athletes in a meet under more duress. We've all seen it...kids start off a set at 14 strokes a lap, fatigue, and end up doing most of the reps at 17 strokes per lap. Another example: the longer the set, the shorter and worse the turns and walls.
Why are we ok with that? Isn't that just reinforcing degradation of skills? For what gain? To what end does that equip a swimmer to handle the stresses of the race? The same coaches who force learned degradation of skills through volume are the same ones shocked when their swimmer's skills degrade in the race.
To be fair, many coaches have figured out how to reinforce technique and build volume. But most haven't. Continuing in the effort to be fair, where is the education for coaches on how to teach and reinforce elite technique? Where is the information on how to build it into progressions from lessons to 8&U through 11-12 and into open swimming? It doesn't exist. ASCA has strokes schools, but they are antiquated AND you have to pay for them. Odd! The fact that resources are thin for coaches is a massive failure on behalf of every organization that has "coaches" in it's name.
This resonated with me, especially the idea that poor technique under fatigue isn’t just a symptom but often becomes part of the training itself. The question “Are we training technical breakdown?” really stuck with me.In some of the clubs I’ve observed, there seems to be an unspoken trade-off. Once kids reach a certain age or level, the focus shifts almost entirely to volume and intensity. Technical work is seen as basic or something they should have already mastered. You can see it when the turns start slipping or when stroke patterns soften during the final third of a main set.It makes me wonder how much of this comes down to a lack of resources and how much is the result of a mindset that treats precision as something that only needs to be built early on rather than maintained continuously
I would imagine a lot of people would like to see that. I’m purposefully walking a fine line between arguing for a new developmental model and withholding proprietary info that
I depend upon for revenue. Maybe give me a buzz and we can chat.
Doug, So much of your philosophy resonates with me on many levels. I was a product of quantity over quality mindset of the 90s. I managed to swim through college but not without some degree of burnout and the feeling left short of my potential. Now as a father of three who swim, I feel trapped in a system which is not serving the best interests of children. My 14 and 12 yo are practicing up to 8 times per week. Almost all of it is obsessively based on their aerobic interval. Very little time is spent on technique or working other energy systems and when they do, it is counterproductive because they are not rested enough to do it properly. Even worse is my 9 yo is being encouraged follow a similar path with almost no technique focus despite serious stroke flaws. I have looked at the other clubs that are a reasonable distance to travel but they appear to follow a similar philosophy. The revolution in our sport you speak of is desperately needed. Keep fighting for the future of our kids and our sport.
Mark. For everyone who may have never considered my perspective, your response lends validity. I appreciate you sharing. I also appreciate the encouragement. However, I do want to say THIS: I do not blame coaches for the state of things. Every coach was once a beginner who had very limited sources of education other than mentors. Every single coach should know things like antagonistic muscles, lordosis, and the specific energy system utilization of every race. The information is out there, but coaches don't have it because organizations that have monopolized the education space have failed to deliver it. So, please go easy on the coaches. They are getting compensated poorly, under supported, and are overwhelmingly overburdened - for the most part. I do clinics with teams to upskill both swimmers and coaches. If there is any interest on behalf of your squad, I'd be happy to discuss. Best of luck to your kids this season!!!
The compounding loss model makes the cost of imbalance uncomfortably clear. Have you seen programs that structure for technique first without sacrificing race-readiness?
There are clubs and coaches who run technique-first models very successfully. The first thing a club needs is a technique model for each stroke. They then build their development model around instilling, reinforcing, and manipulating technique for outcomes. This started for me at STAR Aquatics in NC. I was the “curriculum facilitator” working with coaches on how to teach and reinforce skills. Together all the full time coaches would establish a) long-term developmental model b) yearly training plans c) macrocycles and d) mesocycles. We would meet every Monday to co-author the week’s practices for each group. Feel free to reach out at doug@swimpler.com if you are interested in discussing further.
Thanks, Doug. I'm curious how you handled the tension between maintaining technique under fatigue and preparing for race-like intensity. Was there a point where trade-offs became inevitable?
Great question. One of the biggest problems is that we don’t give kids enough all-out opportunities that match the race frequency (once) duration (race specific) and intensity (race specific). What we found was that when you build everything on technical endurance (the degree to which swimmers can hold great form in response to stress) and have them opportunities to rehearse the actual race, there was no trade off. In fact, we found that the swimmers were more prepared.
That’s really interesting. So it’s less about volume and more about precision under pressure. Did you notice any different？
A more nuanced answer is required than we have space for here, but in short - yes, it's about less volume and more precision under pressure. I like how you phrased that.
If volume induces technique degradation, then that's what we should expect from the athletes in a meet under more duress. We've all seen it...kids start off a set at 14 strokes a lap, fatigue, and end up doing most of the reps at 17 strokes per lap. Another example: the longer the set, the shorter and worse the turns and walls.
Why are we ok with that? Isn't that just reinforcing degradation of skills? For what gain? To what end does that equip a swimmer to handle the stresses of the race? The same coaches who force learned degradation of skills through volume are the same ones shocked when their swimmer's skills degrade in the race.
To be fair, many coaches have figured out how to reinforce technique and build volume. But most haven't. Continuing in the effort to be fair, where is the education for coaches on how to teach and reinforce elite technique? Where is the information on how to build it into progressions from lessons to 8&U through 11-12 and into open swimming? It doesn't exist. ASCA has strokes schools, but they are antiquated AND you have to pay for them. Odd! The fact that resources are thin for coaches is a massive failure on behalf of every organization that has "coaches" in it's name.
This resonated with me, especially the idea that poor technique under fatigue isn’t just a symptom but often becomes part of the training itself. The question “Are we training technical breakdown?” really stuck with me.In some of the clubs I’ve observed, there seems to be an unspoken trade-off. Once kids reach a certain age or level, the focus shifts almost entirely to volume and intensity. Technical work is seen as basic or something they should have already mastered. You can see it when the turns start slipping or when stroke patterns soften during the final third of a main set.It makes me wonder how much of this comes down to a lack of resources and how much is the result of a mindset that treats precision as something that only needs to be built early on rather than maintained continuously
Great series. I am wondering what drill you did to work on her dolphin kick?
Thank you!
I would imagine a lot of people would like to see that. I’m purposefully walking a fine line between arguing for a new developmental model and withholding proprietary info that
I depend upon for revenue. Maybe give me a buzz and we can chat.