Swim Coaching Bible, Volume II, The by Dick Hannula & Nort Thornton

Swim Coaching Bible, Volume II, The by Dick Hannula & Nort Thornton

Author:Dick Hannula & Nort Thornton [Hannula, Dick & Thornton, Nort]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780736094085
Amazon: 0736094083
Publisher: Human Kinetics
Published: 2012-04-09T05:00:00+00:00


Trends and Techniques in Breaststroke

187

High-Tech Swimsuits

high-tech swimsuits are no longer legal, at least for now. actually, the new rules,

which al ow knee-length suits, are written in such a way that swimsuit companies

may stil be able to produce suits that can provide some assistance. the amount

of money that can be made from these suits will likely determine which direction

the sport of swimming will head.

elimination of resistance and drag. To swim downhill, one must press the head and

chest down; this is the most buoyant part of the body because of the lungs. When

laying facedown on the surface of the water, the body is balanced somewhere near

the navel. If a swimmer relaxes body tension, the chest floats up and the lower body

sinks. At this point the swimmer is swimming vertically, which creates the most drag

and resistance possible. The top swimmers develop enough tension in the core to

keep the chest slightly lower than the hips in a tight streamline. A swimmer must

not think that they need to try to swim higher in the water. Any energy devoted to

staying higher in the water is energy that is taken away from forward propulsion.

Speed can best be achieved by maintaining a straight line.

manufacturing Velocity

In the water, a swimmer must manufacture velocity. One can achieve faster swimming

the same way automobile companies achieve better gas mileage by designing better

aerodynamically designed cars, through

1. biochemistry (the operation of muscles and expenditure and resupply of energy)

and

2. biomechanics (the physical forces that govern propulsion and the generation

and conservation of momentum).

Most swimmers and coaches devote the bulk of their time and attention to con-

ditioning (biochemistry) and very little time to technique (biomechanics). Most are

concerned only with producing horsepower. However, shaping and positioning the

body to reduce frontal resistance (eliminating or reducing the resistance of the water

to the body’s passage through) it is most important because it creates or improves

the properties of the stroke that produce force.

If a swimmer can be a good eliminator and just an average force producer, he or

she can be a very successful competitive swimmer. The eliminating skills depend far

less on pure talent than do the abilities that produce force. A swimmer can swim a

great deal faster by staying out of their own way as they move through the water.

(Boats, cars, planes, and swimmers are all designed for the same purpose.)

For breaststroke, a short-axis stroke, the body must align like a teeter totter (front

to back) in relation to the center of gravity and flotation. A swimmer must surf the

water currents with body shaping and positioning, not with hand and foot patterns.

188

Nort Thornton

increasing stroke Tempo

Stroke tempo is determined by body length, hand and foot speed, and the timing of

the stroke. Stroke tempo consists of

1. distance per stroke cycle and

2. cycle rates per minute.

An athlete is usually limited by neuromuscular training rather than by conditioning.

Programs that train at higher yardage create breaststroke cycling rates of around 40

to 45 cycles per minute. Swimmers in these programs will be successful at 300- to

400-yard or longer breaststroke races, but if a swimmer wants to swim a 100 yards,

they need to be able to cycle at 57 to 61 cycles per minute.



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