Muscle memory is defined as “the ability to reproduce a particular movement without conscious thought, acquired as a result of frequent repetition of that movement.” For example, a newborn baby has no muscle memory, a blank slate. The only way for a baby to learn to crawl, sit up, and walk is to do these things, [...]
One of the most common problems I encounter with swimmers is the deadly “crossover.” I call it deadly because it is one of the most destructive technique problems in swimming that effects speed. When swimming freestyle, as your hand enters the water at the apex of your stroke, it should be perfectly in line with your [...]
This weeks swim clinic will focus on body position in the water. We will be working on using the swim snorkel. What are you working on? When a swimmer first puts on the swim snorkel it may take a bit of adjustment. Pushing off the wall is a bit more challenging as it can flap [...]
Breathing during freestyle is a funny thing. When you are good at it, it's hard to articulate exactly why it works—it just does. When you're not, it's all you think about, and it makes swimming mind-numbingly difficult to boot. Consider this: within one cycle of freestyle, a swimmer is required to precisely complete upward of [...]
What a fantastic autumn weekend full of racing. Many athletes towed the line this weekend for some late season racing. Some were racing for the first time on longer courses, some competed both days, others were tuning up for world competition, and the seasoned athletes raced because that's what they love [...]
Sometimes mistakes while racing are our greatest training moments. Martha Sylvestre had one of those experiences this past weekend. Caught up in the heat of the moment led to a few wrong turns. Martha works very hard and always races her heart out. She has a great outlook on her racing and why she does it. [...]
It was a very busy weekend of racing throughout New England for the Athletes of triathlon Training with Amy. In Rhode island at the Wild Dog Sprint Triathlon, John Goodwin continues to shine with a second place finish in the 60-64 age group in a time of 1:05:58. Toby Bennett took to a podium spot in [...]
The term, "hard work" in triathlon does not always mean a PR or a podium finish. Hard work is usually accompanied by a personal journey. This weekend amongst the many athletes I [...]
Open water swimming is very important to your training and should be part of your summer program. Since this is where you are going to be racing, it makes no sense not to be swimming in the open water at least once a week. Pool workouts still need to be done to do interval work and [...]
There is a reoccurring theme I often encounter when I work with a new swimmer. It centers on breathing. First I watch for the bubbles and then we have the conversation about exhaling. Very few novice swimmers exhale and nearly all intermediate swimmers think they are exhaling correctly. Here is a fact. When swimming you never [...]
