I am often asked how relatively important technique is in the sport of swimming compared to training. I believe they are equally important. Without good technique, a swimmer creates a ceiling of potential improvement, in spite of how hard they work. Having good technique without training well does not work either. A swimmer will not be able to sustain the good technique for long nor the speed of fast racing without proper training. Swimmers need both technique and training.
What is important is that good technique be learned early in a swimmer’s career. Every coach should be teaching young swimmers basic fundamentals of good technique. We live in a sport that requires extraordinary attention to detail, yet few are paying attention to that. One of the best places to start teaching fundamentals is with a great streamline.
At our Race Club Camps, it is a bit startling to see how few young swimmers either know how to streamline correctly or care enough to do so. Many of our campers leave the wall with their arms spread apart and their heads looking forward, the so-called Superman position. This week, on our Race Club webisode in Lanes 2-4, you will discover what a dramatic difference a proper streamline can make with a young ten-year old swimmer. After pushing off the wall at the same speed, the difference between the Superman position and the Hyper Streamline position, the best possible streamline a swimmer can make, is dramatic with this young swimmer.
Check out this week’s webisode in Lane 2, 3 or 4….then practice the Hyper Streamline, first on land, then, most importantly, in the water. You will immediately see the difference that this fundamental detail in technique will make in your competitive times.
Yours in swimming,
Gary Sr.
Teaching and Learning Fundamentals: Begin with Streamline
