Swimming: Hammer-Free Tools for Speed

If you hammer it on the bike or run, in general you'll go faster. But, the hammer sinks in the pool, unless it's propelled with top-notch technique.

Elite Training Bible coach Jim Vance spoke to 40 Madison, Wis.-area athletes and coaches on the 3 top technical aspects of swimming. Jessica Laufenberg hosted the clinic at her Verona studio SBR Coaching and Training Center. Jerry Landmark from Pinnacle Health & Fitness also helped organize and promote the session.

Throughout the session Coach Vance outlined three concepts from physics that impact our pool experiences. They include:

1- Length: We want to feel higher up on the water like we're moving on top of the water. Length gives us less drag, more lift and more speed, helping us maintain speed longer, says Vance.

2- Pressure: The goal of pressure is to gather water to displace yourself past, says Vance. The longer you are in the water, the more water you can hold.

3- Direction: You want to gather water and scoop it back to you, says Vance. The main direction of the force shouldn't be downward. Instead, gather and scoop the water back to you. Too many athletes swim deep, instead you want to be up on top of the water.

He encouraged athletes to slow down their strokerates and to nail their technique. A lot of you are driving a car with two flat tires, fix the tires first and then go fast, he said.

Coach Vance's favorite tools & techniques include:
- Swim snorkel: my hubby loves using the snorkel.

- Tennis balls: in place of the "fists" drill, swim with tennis balls in your hands. More in this active.com article.
- Swim golf: swim 50. Count the number of strokes it took + time and then try to lower that combined number by either swimming faster or with less strokes or both.

- The rollover drill (video below). I tried this exercise this week and loved it! Vance says you'll know if you have pressure and an anchor point or not because you'll feel yourself vault and semi-fly on top of the water when done correctly.

More with Coach Vance

Coach Vance's Memo & Jerry Maguire's Mission Statement
Finding Length - Swimming with Coach Vance
Active.com 3 Drills for OWS

Follow Coach Vance's blog at http://coachvance.blogspot.com/
Facebook

photo credit: Photo by me. My son's toy hammer is cute and may actually float in water.

Finding Length - Swimming with Coach Vance

Like a game of Marco Polo, I went looking for length in my afternoon swim at our local High School pool. Occasionally I found it, most of the time I kept wandering and wondering, "Length, length where are you?"

Fresh from last week's session on swimming with Elite Training Bible Coach Jim Vance, I was armed with images of length, and how length should feel, so I jumped in my lane ready to apply it. Coach Vance spoke to 40 area athletes and several coaches on the 3 top technical aspects of swimming. Jessica Laufenberg hosted the clinic at her Verona studio SBR Coaching and Training Center. Jerry Landmark from Pinnacle Health & Fitness also helped organize and promote the session.

"Just throwing an arm out in front of your body is not length when it comes to swimming," said Coach Vance. "You need to be active in terms of gaining length."

Oh oh, that meant the "recovery" part of my swim stroke wasn't meant for rest... Isn't that the glide phase? Instead I need to lengthen out, grab a bigger hold on the water and then displace myself past that water. Using a long tall posture in the water I needed to reach forward as much as possible and extend my body, gaining length.

My 5'10" body should assume the properties of a speedboat: long, lean and fast. Active length could give me less drag and more speed.

When actively reaching:

- My core should naturally engage.

- I should feel tension up my side to my armpit.

- I'll gain momentum, lift and length, all good things!

I'm content to keep looking for that length and more in the pool. Learning and playing is a lifelong adventure!

Find more from Coach Vance at:
Active.com 3 Drills for OWS
Follow his blog at http://coachvance.blogspot.com/

Facebook

photos: top- My Dad and I. I don't have a swim background, and I failed my last childhood swimming lesson, but I've always loved the water. Now as a triathlon coach I love learning new concepts & teaching methods for the swim, bike & run!

left bottom- Jerry Landmark, me, Coach Vance & Jessica Laufenberg prior to Coach Vance's session at SBR.

Coach Vance's Memo & Jerry Maguire's Mission Statement

Earlier this summer I read a blog post from elite Training Bible Coach Jim Vance. In it he described how he left teaching to go pro as a triathlete & why he now wanted to focus on coaching.

"I saw so many things the sport needed, which I had a desire to chase and make happen. I came to realize triathlon didn't need another pro-triathlete. What triathlon needed was leadership. Leadership in coaching, teaching, journalism, development, and growing the sport," he wrote.

In a touchy-feely Jerry Maguire "It was only a mission statement'-moment, I
read his post & thought "Definitely! This is what I too hope to do as a writer and as a coach." I commented on his blog writing it'd be cool to catch a regional event in the future if he's ever in Wisconsin...

Coach Vance responded, writing that he'd be in Madison for Ironman Wisconsin this year and asked if I'd like to help him setup a talk or clinic.

I reached out to area coaches & athletes and thanks to Jerry Landmark, USAT Level 1 Coach at Pinnacle Health Club & Jessica Laufenberg, MA,CSCS Exercise Physiologist, USAT Level 1 Coach and owner of SBR Coaching & Training Center, LLC in Verona, Coach Vance is holding two events this week in the Madison, Wis. area.

This Thursday Sept. 10 (also my birthday) Coach Vance will discuss key principles to speed in the water. On Friday he'll provide a fee-based underwater swim analysis. Details about Thursday's free (& dry) session & Friday's swim analysis at
http://coachvance.blogspot.com/2009/09/clinics-in-madison-wisconsin-during.html .

I'm excited to meet Coach Vance as well as Jerry & Jessica! I plan on posting tips from the session later on.

Like Jerry Maguire's new company, I believe triathlon is real, fun & inspiring. If you haven't yet said "yes" to triathlon, I hope you'll "come with me" and give it a shot.