News For SWIM PARENTS Published by The American Swimming Coaches Association 5101 NW 21 Ave., Suite 200 Fort Lauderdale FL 33309
The Nature of Stroke Work Sometimes the Perception is That Not Enough Stroke Work Is Being Done Guy Edson, American Swimming Coaches Association
A
sometimes concern among Moms and Dads is whether enough stroke work is
being done. “All they do is swim. I don’t see any instruction at all,”
is a typical refrain. The purpose of this short article is to explain
what to expect from stroke work and to describe the different ways we
coaches do stroke work and when we do it. What to expect from
stroke work: Do you remember teaching your children to tie their
shoes? Some get it sooner, some get it later, some get it when you are
not even watching. Each gets it in their own time regardless of your
efforts. Same deal on stroke work. We hope to see immediate
improvement but it is not always there. Patience is the key.
Thorndike’s “laws” of learning come into play here: Is the child ready
to learn? Does the child repeat the skill at the conscious level in
order to move the skill from the conscious level to the automatic
level? (Are they even operating at the conscious level during
repeats?) With some children we notice a “delayed reaction” to teaching
where they apparently make very little progress at the time and then
some time later, sometimes even weeks later, magically get it. There is
trial and error learning going on at the subconscious level and it may
take many repeats for things to suddenly click. So why do coaches
allow swimmers to swim lap after lap with incorrect technique? Because,
the hope is that a seed planted by the coach suddenly blossoms through
trial and error learning after many repeats. Where do those
seeds come from? There are three basic types of stroke work. The most
obvious is formal teaching where the lane or the workout group is
stopped from aerobic or race pace swimming conditioning for 10 to 20
minutes and the coach explains a technique, uses a demonstrator, and
then will have the athletes attempt the skill, usually one at a time
with immediate feedback from the coach. This type of instruction is
commonly used nearly every day with less advanced swimmers (novice) and,
less frequently, with more advanced swimmers. Early in the season the
coach may have the more advanced swimmers involved with formal teaching
nearly every day as well. A second form of stroke work is the
stroke drill. Stroke drills are intended to isolate a part of the
stroke so that the swimmer can focus on that particular skill. Stroke
drills are often done as repeats on a low to moderate rest interval so
that there is a conditioning effect as well. The third form of
stroke work is the most common - to some coaches it is the most
important - and it is the most misunderstood and underappreciated by
some observers (parents). This form of stroke work is the constant
reminders coaches give to swimmers either verbally during the short rest
periods between swims or visual cues demonstrated by the coach during
the swims. The purpose is to move swimmers from an automatically wrong
movement to the consciously correct movement; and, if done enough, given enough time will effect a change. Some coaches are “always”
doing stroke work of this type, even though it is not always easy to
observe from the bleachers. I meet with parent’s groups
regularly and I like to do this little exercise with them: “Imagine a
successful swimmer at whatever level you chose – state level, regional,
national, international. Now, let’s list the factors that contribute to
this swimmers success. "Ready go.” When I do this exercise I get
responses such as “work ethic,” “discipline,” and “commitment” --
these are factors relating to the psychology of the athlete. We usually
get 8, 10, or maybe even 12 factors on the list before we get
to…”technique.” I am not saying that technique is not important – it is
– but every Olympic gold medalist has defects in their stroke. The
pursuit of the impossibly perfect stroke is futile. Yes, stroke work IS
important, but I am not sure it is the most important thing for
advanced swimmers. When we observe a coach who doesn’t appear to be
doing enough stroke work, step back and look at the larger picture. Is
the child happy and improving? If so, then life is good.
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