Coach Andrew introduces the topic of sprint training and its importance in swimming, discussing key principles and essential skills for speed development.

Introduction to Sprint Training

Exploring crucial swimming skills, including stroke rate, stroke length, and strategies to enhance propulsion while reducing resistance.

Swimming Skills and Propulsion

Introduction of various drills to help swimmers improve their speed, technique, and body alignment in water.

Drills for Speed Improvement

Key strategies for developing effective underwater kicking techniques, including resistance training methods to enhance performance.

Underwater Kicking and Resistance Training

Essential skills for effective starts, executing tight turns, and smooth breakouts, along with maintaining rhythm for effective finishes.

Foundational Skills for Sprinting

Objectives for developing speed and skill execution, focusing on training strategies for both 50m and 100m distances.

Sprint Training Goals and Speed Training

Methods for developing speed while managing fatigue, understanding the balance between performance gains and training demands.

Training Under Fatigue and Cost vs. Benefit

Explains the necessity of strength, mobility, endurance, and recovery in sprint training for swimmers.

Supporting Elements of Sprint Training

Stresses the importance of planning and outlining key components for designing effective swimming workouts.

Effective Training Planning

Details the process of warming up for high-intensity workouts and discusses the importance of recovery techniques after intense sessions.

Preparing to Swim Fast and Recovery Post-Workout

Explains how to organize weekly workouts for optimal recovery and variation, along with managing training throughout the year.

Weekly and Yearly Training Structure

Stresses the need to focus on skills before adding speed and fatigue in training, encouraging coaches to keep learning.

Skill Development and Continuous Improvement

# Sprint Training Insights with Coach Andrew Schaff

Welcome to our latest newsletter! We're excited to share insights from Coach Andrew Schaff, a highly regarded speaker and expert in swimming coaching, particularly in sprint training. In this edition, we’ll dive deeper into the key principles of speed development for swimmers, especially focusing on the 50-meter and 100-meter events.

## Introduction to Sprint Training

Coach Andrew emphasizes that coaching is fundamentally about problem-solving. There isn't a one-size-fits-all solution; instead, understanding overarching concepts can significantly ease the coaching process. This session aims to equip you with essential strategies and tools to help swimmers excel in sprints.

### Key Principles of Speed Development

1. **Skill Equals Speed**: 
   - The more skilled a swimmer is, the faster they will swim. Elite sprinters demonstrate exceptional skill execution, even amidst the chaos of competition.

2. **Practice Going Fast**: 
   - To improve sprint times, swimmers must practice at high speeds. While slower training can have its place, it shouldn't dominate the practice schedule.

3. **Stay Focused on Goals**: 
   - Developing speed can be challenging, with incremental improvements. It's crucial to maintain focus on skill and speed development rather than getting sidetracked by other training elements.

### Skills of Speed

Faster swimmers are better swimmers. Here’s a breakdown of the essential skills needed for speed:

- **Surface Swimming**: Swimmers must be proficient on the surface, utilizing effective stroke techniques.
- **Underwater Skills**: Mastery of underwater kicking and starts is vital for sprint success.
- **Turns and Finishes**: Strong turns and finishes can be the difference between winning and losing, often decided by mere hundredths of a second.

### Key Concepts for Speed Development

- **Stroke Rate vs. Stroke Length**: 
   - Speed is a balance between taking faster strokes and achieving longer strokes. As swimmers progress, increasing stroke length becomes a critical factor in their improvement.

- **Propulsion vs. Resistance**: 
   - Success in sprinting relies on maximizing propulsion (moving water backward) while minimizing resistance (drag). A streamlined body position is essential for reducing drag.

### Supporting Elements of Sprint Training

While skill and speed form the foundation of sprint training, other critical components must be addressed:

1. **Strength and Mobility**: 
   - Swimmers need adequate strength and flexibility to execute skills effectively. For instance, if a swimmer lacks the arm or back flexibility necessary to achieve a streamlined position, they won't be able to perform optimally.

2. **Basic Endurance**: 
   - Basic fitness helps swimmers recover during training and maintain performance across sets. Swimmers should incorporate endurance work that minimizes fatigue while allowing them to practice speed effectively.

3. **Land Training**: 
   - Strength training is often more effective on land. Swimmers should focus on developing strength without excessive fatigue to maximize their time spent practicing swimming skills.

### Strategies for Improvement

#### 1. **Length at Speed**
   - Encourage swimmers to manipulate stroke count and rate to foster longer strokes while maintaining speed. Examples include:
     - 10 x 25s aiming for fewer strokes than usual while sprinting.
     - 4 x 25s focusing on reducing stroke count with consistent speed.

#### 2. **Resisted Swimming**
   - Incorporate resistance training (e.g., parachutes, swim cords) to enhance propulsion and awareness. This added challenge helps swimmers develop strength and technique.

#### 3. **Drills**
   - Utilize targeted drills to help swimmers feel key skills. Effective drills should provide clear feedback and powerful sensations. Examples include:
     - **Backstroke Drills**: Focus on using the whole arm to create propulsion.
     - **Breaststroke Drills**: Emphasize the importance of alignment and effective kicking.

#### 4. **Different Hand Postures**
   - Experiment with various hand positions (e.g., closed fists, paddles) to enhance sensitivity and awareness of water movement, promoting better propulsion.

#### 5. **Improving Underwater Kicking**
   - Focus on creating stability, propulsion, and alignment during underwater kicking. Key strategies include:
     - **Stability Drills**: Have swimmers hold onto the wall while performing dolphin kicks to maintain upper body stability.
     - **Propulsion Techniques**: Encourage swimmers to kick on their back to generate bubbles and maintain them, or to perform vertical kicks while moving backward.
     - **Alignment Practices**: Instruct swimmers to kick underwater with their arms across their hands to feel their streamline.

### Conclusion

Coach Andrew’s insights provide a comprehensive framework for developing speed in swimmers. By focusing on skill, practicing at speed, and employing targeted strategies, coaches can significantly enhance their swimmers' sprint performance. Remember, the journey to speed is simple in concept but requires dedication and focus in execution.

We hope you found this newsletter informative and inspiring. Stay tuned for more insights in our upcoming editions!

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Feel free to reach out with any questions or for further resources on sprint training techniques!

"Unlock Sprint Success: Speed Training Tips from Coach Andrew Schaff"

- Coach Andrew Schaff discusses sprint training for swimmers, focusing on 50m and 100m events.
- Emphasizes the importance of skill in achieving speed; skilled swimmers perform better.
- Highlights that swimmers must practice going fast to improve sprinting performance.
- Introduces key principles for speed development:
  - Skill equals speed.
  - To get faster, swimmers need to practice swimming fast.
  - Maintain focus on skill and speed development without distractions.
- Offers strategies for effective sprint training and planning to manage training workload.
- Encourages utilizing his experience to avoid lengthy trial-and-error learning.

- Focus on improving skill and speed is essential for faster swimming.
- Key components include surface swimming, underwater speed, starts, turns, breakouts, and finishes.
- Speed is determined by stroke rate vs. stroke length; longer strokes are crucial for long-term improvement.
- Propulsion (moving water backward) and resistance (minimizing drag) are critical for speed.
- Swimmers should aim for a streamlined body position and effective breathing to reduce resistance.
- Strategies to improve surface swimming include manipulating stroke count/rate, resisted swimming, and specific drills.
- Resisted swimming enhances propulsion awareness and alignment, leading to better overall performance.

- Resistance training enhances swimmers' ability to maintain a straight position, improving propulsion skills.
- Exercises include using pulleys or parachutes for added resistance, focusing on minimizing stroke count and maximizing speed.
- Drills are essential for helping swimmers feel key skills and improve effectiveness.
- Effective drills include backstroke position holds, vertical kicking, and isolated arm movements for various strokes.
- Hand posture variations (closed fists, different grips) increase sensitivity to pressure and improve water movement.
- Resistance training helps swimmers develop better alignment and stability in the water.

- Swimmers often compensate for alignment issues by using their hands for stability.
- Drills with closed hands help improve body control and straight swimming.
- A specific set of drills includes variations of backstroke with different hand positions to enhance propulsion.
- Underwater kicking skills are essential, focusing on stability, propulsion, and alignment.
- Drills for underwater kicking include dolphin kicks, vertical kicking, and using resistance tools like parachutes or kickboards.
- Effective starts require projecting off the block and achieving a clean entry with minimal splash.
- Jumping activities and single-leg dives help improve start techniques.
- Turns should be tight and fast, with a strong push off the wall and good streamline.
- Drills for tight turns include flip turns and open turns to enhance speed and efficiency.

- **Open Turns**: Practice rolling back and performing backflips to improve tight turns; focus on knee-to-chest movement.
- **Streamline Technique**: Jump off the pool bottom in a good streamline to maintain alignment; aim to land in the same spot.
- **Gliding Practice**: Restrict kicking until reaching flags to enhance gliding and streamline.
- **Breakouts**: Emphasize smooth, depth-appropriate breakouts; practice starting from a floating position and varying breakout depths.
- **Finishing Skills**: Maintain rhythm and alignment for smooth finishes; practice fast finishes through 25s or 50s.
- **Training Goals**: Focus on executing skills at speed and sustaining them throughout a race.
- **50 Speed Training**: Maximize speed with short distances (≤25m, ≤10s); allow ample rest for recovery.
- **Example Sets**: Include various drills like power pulls and resistance work to enhance speed and skill.
- **100 Speed Training**: Practice at slightly slower speeds with limited fatigue; focus on consistency and repetition.
- **Intervals**: Provide moderate rest (45-90 seconds) between repetitions for effective practice.

- Emphasize rest between sets to manage fatigue during speed training.
- Use varied distances (e.g., 25s, 50s) with specific stroke counts to enhance speed and technique.
- Incorporate drills (e.g., upside-down paddles, parachute) to focus on skill development.
- Introduce fatigue in training to simulate race conditions and improve performance under pressure.
- Balance training intensity: combine skill-building (deposits) with high-speed efforts (withdrawals) for optimal performance.
- Manage rest intervals to maximize practice while minimizing fatigue: shorter for 25s, longer for 50s.
- Utilize both non-fatigued and fatigued training to improve maximum speed and skill retention.

- Coach Andrew Schaff focuses on sprint training for 50m and 100m swimming events.
- Skill is crucial for speed; practicing fast swimming improves performance.
- Key principles for speed development:
  - Skill equals speed.
  - Practice swimming fast.
  - Stay focused on skill and speed.
- Strategies for effective sprint training and workload management.
- Emphasizes surface swimming, underwater speed, starts, turns, breakouts, and finishes.
- Speed relies on stroke rate and length; longer strokes enhance improvement.
- Propulsion and resistance are vital for speed; streamline body position reduces drag.
- Resisted swimming and specific drills enhance propulsion and alignment.
- Drills improve key skills, body control, and stability in water.
- Underwater kicking and effective starts/turns are essential for speed.
- Training should balance skill execution and fatigue management.
- Incorporate varied distances and drills to enhance speed and technique.
- Use both non-fatigued and fatigued training for optimal performance.

- Fatigue training alone limits performance; non-fatigue training lacks real-world application.
- Swimmers need strength, mobility, and basic endurance to execute skills effectively.
- Strength training is best done on land to enhance stroke length and rate.
- Mobility training is essential for achieving necessary positions, like streamline.
- Basic endurance helps with training recovery and consistency.
- Endurance work can be slow and long or shorter and faster, each with its pros and cons.
- Planning is crucial for ensuring effective training; it should focus on high-quality swimming.
- Workouts should have clear goals, prepare swimmers physically and technically, and facilitate recovery.

- Focus on one main goal for each workout to enhance success.
- Structure sets to allow swimmers to go fast with short distances and ample rest.
- After fast swimming, spend time on skill work to maintain technique.
- Weekly planning should consider workout frequency and recovery to minimize monotony.
- Avoid back-to-back similar workouts to keep training varied.
- Start the season by emphasizing skill development before adding speed and fatigue.
- Gradually increase speed, intensity, and distance while ensuring skills are executed well.
- Introduce fatigue only after swimmers can swim fast consistently.

- Start with small training volumes and gradually increase distance before adding fatigue.
- Focus on developing skills, strength, range of motion, and endurance without compromising speed.
- Reinforce skills consistently; sprinting is a skill that requires practice.
- Emphasize the importance of frequency in practice over long, infrequent sessions.
- Recommend short, regular sprint sessions (3-5 minutes, 4-5 times a week) for effective learning.
- Continuous reflection and learning are essential for coaches to help swimmers improve.
- Gratitude expressed for volunteer support to coaches from various countries.

- Fatigue training alone is insufficient; non-fatigue training lacks practical application.
- Swimmers require strength, mobility, and basic endurance for skill execution.
- Land-based strength training enhances stroke performance.
- Mobility training is crucial for achieving proper positions.
- Basic endurance aids in recovery and consistency.
- Endurance training can vary in duration and intensity, each with benefits.
- Effective training requires careful planning focusing on high-quality swimming.
- Workouts should have specific goals and promote physical and technical preparation.
- Emphasize one main goal per workout for better outcomes.
- Structure sets for speed with short distances and sufficient rest.
- Follow fast swimming with skill work to maintain technique.
- Weekly plans should balance workout frequency and recovery to prevent monotony.
- Avoid consecutive similar workouts to maintain variety.
- Start the season with skill development, gradually introducing speed and fatigue.
- Increase speed, intensity, and distance progressively while maintaining skill execution.
- Introduce fatigue after consistent fast swimming.
- Begin with low training volumes, gradually increasing distance before adding fatigue.
- Develop skills, strength, range of motion, and endurance without sacrificing speed.
- Consistent skill reinforcement is vital; sprinting requires regular practice.
- Prioritize frequent, shorter practice sessions over infrequent long ones.
- Short, regular sprint sessions (3-5 minutes, 4-5 times a week) enhance learning.
- Continuous reflection is key for coaches to support swimmer improvement.
- Appreciation for volunteer coaching support from various countries.

People coming from Africa, India, and other countries.

Andrew, our speaker, he had been consistently, he is actually 1 of the actually 1 of the best on the speakers for swimming for the UCSSC.

And we would like to acknowledge his presence today again, okay?

He had been helping the, he had been helping UCSSC on levels of coaching, okay, in swimming.

We're gonna talk a little bit more about sprint training and my goal here is to help you guys understand, some of the basic concepts of what's required to help swimmers go fast, especially over short distances.

And then also, you know, give you some big picture concepts about how to manage that so that you can always have something to come back to because inevitably coaching is all about problem solving in whatever situation that you're in.

And so there's never gonna be 1 solution that works in every single situation.

But if you have a good understanding of some big picture concepts, it becomes a lot easier to problem solve.

And then I'll also give you some specific strategies that can work really well.

So they have some tools to problem solve as you go.

That way you don't have to take notes and you can use it as a future reference.

There's some, you know, there's plenty of stuff in there that will hopefully be of help, even if you don't have or remember exactly what I said.

There's some sets and there's some other stuff that can be of use.

So We're talking about sprint training here and specifically developing the 50 meter and 100 meter swims That requires a little bit different strategy than when we're looking at longer distances 200 meters are up And what I'm hoping to do is provide you with some big picture concepts about what's really important and how to use those ideas to guide what you're doing.

And of course, provide you with a lot of specific ideas of how to solve specific problems as well.

So hopefully you were able to get the slides.

If not, at the end I can go back and we can take a look at that.

So what we're gonna cover, we're gonna cover the key principles for speed development.

So what specific skills swimmers need to learn in order to go fast, some of the training strategies for developing speed, some of the training strategies for supporting speed.

And so In terms of there's some things that swimmers will need to do to actually practice going fast But that doesn't mean the only thing that they need to do is do fast swimming And so that's where the supporting elements come we'll talk about how the 2 the development developmental aspects and the supporting aspects relate to each other.

And then we'll talk a little bit about planning in terms of how do you make all this, all this happen.

So what I'm going to do is I'm going to provide you with a lot of different stuff that needs to get done in order for swimmers to, to improve in the sprints.

But from a planning standpoint, all that really means is how am I gonna actually get all this work done?

Because if it's not approached with some sort of strategy, it becomes very difficult to manage everything.

So hopefully give you some ideas for that.

So again just a little bit of background about me.

It took me a long time to figure out how to build speed and so 1 thing that's always resonated with me in terms of learning from others is that there are 2 types of experience.

1 is inexpensive experience and that's when you learn from someone else who has already done what you're trying to do and they can help you take a lot less, it'll take a lot less time and you can get their experience without spending time, energy, money, frustration trying to figure things out.

And so the opposite of that is obviously expensive experience.

And that's where you figure out everything for yourself.

It just tends to take a lot more time, and it takes a lot more energy and it's a whole lot more frustrating.

And so rather than going through that process, hopefully I can help you take shortcut and you can use all of the trial and error that I have experienced, all the education that I have, and then use that information to help you get better.

All right, so we'll start off with the key principles for speed development.

And so here are 3 things that are really, really, really important that are probably or that are the most important things.

So the first is is that skill equals speed?

So the more skilled swimmers are the faster they go.

So if you watch, you know the sprints and the Olympics Even though it looks like things are just happening really fast.

There's lots of splashing Those swimmers are doing are executing their skills at a very very very high level without exception And so people want to go fast and if you want to help swimmers go fast, you have to help them develop their speed.

Second really important principle is that the only way that swimmers are going to get faster is if they're practiced going fast.

And so most of the training, most of the practices are done at slow speeds, that's going to make it difficult for swimmers to improve.

And the last thing is, the goal is to keep the goal, the goal.

And what I mean by that is that developing speed can be hard and there's, not a whole lot of room for improvement.

And so you're looking for relatively small changes.

And so it can be easy to not see, they're not going to get faster each and every day.

They're not going to show up to practice and go best times and go faster every day.

And so it can get easy to start getting distracted and start focusing on other things that seem like they may be helpful and they seem like they may be able to help swimmers improve.

But the more you get distracted from those first 2 elements that skill equals speed and then to go fast you have to go fast the less that you're going to be successful and even though it may seem like it's easier to go in a different direction the more you focus on skills the more you focus on going fast, the more swimmers are going to improve in the sprints.

So first, to go a little bit more detail on that.

And so when it comes to sprinting, the most important thing is skill.

They have to be strong, they have to be powerful, but the most important thing is skill.

And so they have to be able to execute those skills really, really fast.

A lot of swimmers can swim with pretty good skills when they're moving relatively slowly, but it's very difficult to do when they're moving fast.

And it doesn't matter how strong they ar how fit they are, doesn't their training is.

If they that training will not ma so swimming with great sc important thing for speed you see that's that succes very, very, very skilled.

And so there's a bunch of different categories for that.

So they have to be skilled on swimming on the surface.

They have to be skilled with underwater swimming, like underwater kicking.

And if they don't have those things, they're going to be in trouble.

They've got to find a way to make that happen.

Again, the other big concept is that speed must be practiced.

And so to get better at swimming fast, swimmers have to practice swimming fast.

Swimming slow can be useful in some circumstances, but what really matters is going fast.

And so the more fast swimming, the more quality work they do, the more they will improve.

And so we want to set them up for success, let them go fast, let them be successful at going fast.

And that's going to be what really helps them.

And so it's and what matters is that they're going fast enough.

And so as an example, let's say that you do a 10, 000 meter practice, which is obviously a ton of swimming, but if all of it's pretty slow, that's not necessarily going to help them improve their sprinting.

But if they do 200 meters of really, really fast work, even though 200 meters is a whole lot less than 10, 000 meters when it comes to sprinting, that 200 meters is going to be more important.

And so they have to be going fast and the more fast swimming they can do, usually the more they will improve, but they have to be going fast for it to me.

You got to stay focused on skill development.

You got to stay focused on speed development.

And you can't let anything take away from those first 2.

And so it's easy to get distracted trying to get really strong lifting weights or getting strong with push-ups and pull-ups or whatever it is, again, speed and skill is what matters.

Or you try to do a bunch of endurance work, again, speed and skill are what matters.

And a lot of times people will say, hey, if you do this 1 exercise or you get this 1 muscle strong, that will help them with improve their sprinting.

And it's not necessarily that that's not true.

But again, if it's not focusing on skill, it's not focusing on speed, it's taking away from what really matters.

And I understand that that's very simple, and I also understand that it's not easy to do that.

But again, if they can improve their skill and they can improve their speed, they will go fast.

It's simple, but it's not necessarily easy.

So first off, we'll talk about the skills of speed.

And this is where we'll probably spend more time.

And this is what's the most important aspect of it.

Better swimmers are fast, or faster swimmers are better swimmers.

And we have to make sure that that becomes 1 of the overriding priority in order for them to improve.

So each thing must be addressed, excuse me, each component must be addressed.

And So surface swimming, they've got to be fast on the surface.

I'm sure you've seen it, where people just get absolutely left in the dust when they're not good underwater.

They're going to be at a huge disadvantage from the beginning.

Every time they hit the wall, they're going to be losing speed.

They've got to have great breakouts to transition to their surface swimming.

And they've got to be able to have great finishes.

You know, if you go back to any, any major championship swimming, you can see how many races are won by less than a 10th of a second, and the finish matters.

And the faster swimmers wanna go, the more that they want to improve and the faster they get, the more everything is important.

And so if the goals aren't very high and swimmers aren't very good, they don't have to be great with everything.

But if they want to be really fast and they want to be really successful, everything matters.

So we'll start off with the surface swimming skills.

And the most important, or the biggest concept is that speed is stroke rate versus stroke length.

And so if they can take faster strokes or they can take longer strokes or they can do both, they're going to go faster.

And usually though, stroke length is the long-term driver of improvement.

And so as swimmers get older, as swimmers get faster, their stroke rate tends not to change very much.

What tends to change significantly is their stroke length.

So they're able to get more out of each stroke and that's what allows them to create speed.

But it's not just about swimming slow with long strokes.

They have to be able to take longer and longer strokes while maintaining their stroke rate.

And they also have to be able to sustain those skills, sustain that stroke length, and sustain that stroke rate throughout the course of their races.

Now speed also equals propulsion minus resistance.

And so the more propulsion they can create, and the less resistance they can create, the faster they will go.

And so creating propulsion is all about moving water backwards so that swimmers can move forwards.

And resistance is all about their streamline, the amount of drag that they create.

And just like a Formula 1 sports car is really aerodynamic, Swimmers need to be really hydrodynamic because that's what allows them to go fast.

They have to have a really sleek and streamlined body position.

And that's going to allow them to go fast.

And so Those are really the only 2 skills that matter.

If they can create more propulsion, they can create less resistance, they will go faster.

And so we talked about stroke length in the previous slide and how important that is for long-term improvement.

If swimmers can create more propulsion and less resistance that's going to improve their stroke length as well And so what going fast in terms of swimming on the surface is all about it's about creating more propulsion Creating less resistance and that enables them to take longer strokes, which enables them to go fast.

So a little bit more on increasing propulsion.

And so swimmers are trying to move more water backwards with each stroke and each kick.

So how do they need to create a big surf we're talking about their to be able to position the it faces backwards, both t hand and the more they ca they're going to be able backwards.

They also need move water backwards with And so if they can set up their stroke really far in front of their body, and then hold that position the entire way through and maintain that position through the back of the stroke, that's gonna be a lot more effective.

And so the big surface area is like, if you were on a boat and you've got a paddle, the bigger the paddle, the more you can move yourself forward with each paddle or with each stroke.

And the same thing, if you want to put that paddle in as far in front as you can and pull it back as far as you can, and that's going to create as much forward movement as possible.

And then during that pull, swimmers want to accelerate the pull.

They want to move it faster from so it starts a little bit slower and it ends faster and that's going to help move them forward as much as possible.

So rather than worrying about specific hand angles and specific pitches what really matters is those big picture concepts of big surface area, big range of motion, and big acceleration.

So on the flip side, swimmers need to reduce resistance as well.

They swim as straight through the water as possible.

Well, they need to eliminate side to side motion.

And so if their heads move inside the side, their shoulders are moving side to side, their hips are moving side to side, that's going to create a lot more resistance.

And they need to swim as horizontally as possible.

So they're not moving up and down very much and they they're they're keeping everything moving forwards and so if you think about like a Torpedo or something like that.

It's moving straight and it's not moving all over the place Of course swimmers need to breathe effectively too.

And so that make that's a really easy time for swimmers to lose their alignment and create more resistance if they lift the head up to breathe too much, they pull the head to the side.

It's more about just keeping everything moving straight forward.

Keep the resistance low by swimming straight.

So, well, how can you help surfers improve their surface swimming?

1 is length at speed, and we'll talk about these in a little bit of detail.

2 is resisted swimming, 3 is drills, and then 4 is different hand postures.

Well, A simple way to do that is to either manipulate the stroke count or manipulate the stroke rate.

And so what you can do as a couple of examples is let's say you go 10 25s and you're going to ask them to take 15 strokes, but the specific number doesn't matter.

What it is is you're asking them to take a number of strokes that's relatively low compared to what they're used to and then they're going to try to go fast at that stroke count.

So they can only take 15 strokes as an example but they try to go as fast as they can.

Or you can do something where it's like 850s fast or pace and you're asking them to take fewer strokes than they normally would but still hit that same speed.

Another example is 4 times 325s And so they're trying to take 1 last stroke each 25 on those 3, and they're trying to hold their speed as they go.

And so that's allowing them to create more length by taking fewer strokes and maintaining their speed.

It's a way to help them improve their stroke length.

And you can do the same thing by manipulating stroke rate.

So they're gonna go 10.25s, and you're gonna give them a certain stroke rate, and they're trying to go as fast as they can while keeping that same stroke rate.

You can do the same thing where you go 650s and you're asking them to try to hit their speed but they're trying to do that with a slower stroke rate.

The only way they can do that is to get longer and then the last set is again it's similar to the first 1 but now they're trying to go 25s and they're trying to maintain their speed, but use a slower stroke rate and the only way they can do that is improve their stroke length.

And so the idea and the value of that and so it could be swimming against a parachute swimming against a sponge swimming with clothing on anything that allows them to swim against more resistance and so they can improve their propulsion and it can help them eliminate the resistance.

So it can improve their propulsion because they have to create more propulsion to move forward because they have to overcome the resistance and they have to move water backwards if they wanna move forwards.

And so it's just an added challenge to forward motion, which means they have to create more propulsion.

Another benefit is that they're gonna feel more resistance on their hand and their forearm.

They're gonna feel more pressure and that can help them create more awareness of what they're doing and the more awareness they have of what they're doing the more they're going to be able to create change and change what they're doing.

Resistance can also be effective because it helps pull swimmers out of their alignment so at a lot of times it helps it causes their hips to sink a little bit.

That can be really valuable because now swimmers have to work even harder to swim straighter and so it's like an extra challenge to the ability to swim straight and that can improve their skills over time And then when they take the resistance off, it's much easier to maintain that straightforward position, which is going to allow them to go faster So here here's a simple example, so they're gonna go this is like with with a Pulley that's pretty resistance.

You can just use just use a parachute as well So they're gonna go 12 a 12 and a half with freestyle and paddles and they're going to use a heavy resistance And then they're going to go 14 strokes against the resistance, but a lighter resistance.

They're trying to get as far as they can and they're not breathing.

Then they're going to go 25 with light resistance.

They're trying to minimize their stroke count in time.

So they're trying to get really long and they're trying to go fast and they're adding their stroke count and their time, and they're trying to keep that as low as possible.

Then they're gonna take the resistance off, and then they're gonna go, again, keep the stroke count and the time as low as possible, and then they'll go a 25 fast.

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