Swim Sci

Acute Leadership

noreply@blogger.com (G. John Mullen) — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 15:48:00 +0000

Leadership is defined as:

The action of leading a group of people or an organization.
The state or position of being a leader.

The duration of leadership is not determined by the definition. With college championships underway, I feel it is timely to discuss the importance of acute leadership.

Many people view leaders as constants. When you think of leaders you think of amazing men and women, but all these characters have flaws and glimpses of leadership and embarrassment. Leadership and leading is put on a podium, as leaders are thought as entities of great length or duration. However, great leaders still make mistakes, but their accumulation of acute leadership makes them great.

As an age-group swimmer I was damn good. I was always pushing Top 16 times from ages 10-14 while only attending three practices a week. I had high neural control allowing me to prosper over uncoordinated opponents. Whether I was successful due to my genes (ACTN-3 gene present), my high involvement in other sports helping me master my neural control, or both...genes are not entirely innate entities, I was success which allowed me to with elite swimmers.

I was fast enough to attend various select swim meets and will never forget one meet, the Central Zone competition. I don't necessarily remember the story, but was reminded of it recently by the person my acute leadership influenced.

At this meet, I was selected for a medley relay. As a highly competitive age-group swimmer, I knew the other fast swimmers in the area. I was also obsessed with times, constantly studying psych sheets and learning everyone's top times. This accumulated knowledge allowed me to make an educated hypothesis for the relay far beyond my years.

The zone coach worked on a local team and one of his swimmers was in the hunt for the backstroke relay position. At this meet, he selected the swimmer from his team instead of another swimmer at the meet. Little did he knew I studied heat sheets, like Tyrone Biggins hunted for a crack rock, and knew the swimmer he selected was not the fastest on the roster. I admit, I likely didn't know all the variables and idiosyncrasies at the meet, but I knew who was the fastest swimmer and voiced this concern with the coach. I, at 10 years-old went up to the coach and gave him a piece of my mind. I told him, his decision was incorrect and that he shouldn't select his own swimmers over more deserving athletes. After all my fuss, the coach didn't switch the athletes. I wouldn't expect him to change the order either; I was only 10 years-old! With all this commotion, I don’t even remember the result of the relay. I don’t remember if we won, or if the backstroker swam the race of his life.

However, this backstroker who I stood up for and didn't make the relay later moved out of Ohio and swam in the Olympics reminded me of this story. He was so moved by my acute leadership, he reminded me of it over 10 years later!

I'm not writing this to brag about acute bout of leadership, or my great age group success (remember age group success doesn't correlate with adult success), but to bring to surface the fact that everyone has performed many acute acts of leadership which have changed people's lives. Unfortunately, these moments are barely announced or discussed. Many people are afraid of leadership and proclaim they aren't leaders. It is easy to say you are not a leader, but realize acute leadership occurs and changes live.

Help proclaim those who have performed acute bouts of leadership. Tell them about these acute bouts of leadership and their influence on your life!

Be a leader for a moment and change a life forever.

By Dr. G. John Mullen, DPT, CSCS. He is the founder of the Center of Optimal Restoration, head strength coach at Santa Clara Swim Club, and creator the Swimmer's Shoulder System.

Referred Shoulder Pain

noreply@blogger.com (G. John Mullen) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 14:39:00 +0000

I've talked about shoulder pain and rehabilitation in the past, click here, but why does it seem the location of shoulder pain is erratic? I've had a few high level coaches tell me treating shoulder pain is nearly impossible, since the pain can jump around, described as unpredictable. Whether you’ve had pain in the front, side, or back of your shoulder, it has likely slowed your swimming. This variability is due to trigger points of muscles. Each muscle has a common referral pattern. Many high level coaches feel that treating shoulder pain is nearly impossible, since the pain can jump around, and be unpredictable. This article will address this topic and uncover common areas of shoulder pain, potential cause and treatment.

Referral pain and trigger point

Muscles tightness may refer pain to a variety of locations. For example, the heart, which is a muscle, can tighten up and refer pain all over the body. This incident, known as a heart attack most notably refers pain down the left arm. The muscles of the shoulder are no different. Some of the muscles' referral patterns make sense, as many of them refer directly to the location of the muscle, but other muscles are different. In fact, the anterior neck muscles often refer to the head, commonly entitled tension headaches. Dr. Janet Travell extensively studied referral patterns and trigger points and described them as a

“hyperirritable locus within a taut band of skeletal muscle, located in the muscular tissue and/or its associated fascia. The spot is painful on compression and can evoke characteristic referred pain and autonomic phenomena.”

These hyperirritable loci are commonly caused by an increase in muscle tension, causing tightness and symptoms (Travell, 1983).

Common Shoulder Trigger Points
Obviously swimming puts high levels of stress on the shoulder. This degree of stress causes many muscles to fire. As expected, fatigue can cause improper muscle firing, which leads to soreness. Soreness can lead to compensations, which overwork certain muscles, often times termed phasic muscles. The most commonly overworked shoulder muscles include:

Upper Trapezius- Trigger points are believed to occur from excessive elevation of the shoulder girdle. Trigger points can occur on the lateral neck or superior to the shoulder blade. The upper trapezius can refer pain to the bottom of the skull or anywhere along this large muscle.
Levator Scapulae- Trigger points often occur due to sustained elevation of the shoulders, causing excessive activation. The common trigger points are on the superior medial border of the scapula, along the muscle belly. This muscle can refer down the bottom of the shoulder blade or to the posterior deltoid.
Pectoralis Minor - Common trigger points are noted on the front of the shoulder and referred pain is typically seen on the anterior deltoid or down the inside of the arm. This muscle can become overworked from sustained anteriorly rolled shoulders and poor posture, a typical swimmer's posture.
Subscapularis - The subscapularis typically has trigger points on the muscle belly, but it refers pain to multiple locations: posterior and middle deltoid as well as the wrist and shoulder blade.
Infraspinatus - Common referral pattern down the front and back (around the deltoid tuberosity) of the arm, and trigger points are along the muscle belly.
Supraspinatus - Refers to the middle deltoid, with trigger points on the lateral aspect of the muscle belly.

These are the main muscles overworked, but the other rotator cuff muscles (supraspinatus and infraspinatus) can become injured from repetitive swimming. The supraspinatus is the the most commonly injured muscle in swimming and typically refers pain to the midtdle deltoid. The infraspinatus has a referral pattern down the front and back of the arm and trigger points along the muscle belly.

Conclusion

This dense article hopes to ensure swim coaches muscle tightness and improper firing can be from hypertonic (tight) muscles. These tight muscles can cause trigger points, referral patters and inhibit other muscles. These three items can disrupt biomechanics at the shoulder (possibly other regions) and impede swimming. If these problems are noted in a swimmer, light stretching can help, but soft tissue must be performed to completely relax the muscle and improve muscle length for proper muscle activation. Order the Swimmer's Shoulder System to learn the top methods for prevention, but this is only advised as prehabilitation and asymptomatic people. If pain is present, see a health care professional and stop the symptoms before the symptoms progress.

References

Travell, J. Simons, D. Myofascial Pain and Dysfunction The Trigger Point Manual. Williams and Wilkins 1983.

By Dr. G. John Mullen, DPT, CSCS. He is the founder of the Center of Optimal Restoration and head strength coach at Santa Clara Swim Club.

Neural Trained or Athletic?

noreply@blogger.com (G. John Mullen) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 05:58:00 +0000

Neural training and control are essential skills for elite athletes. These skills combined with strength, agility, and flexibility are a few characteristics which separate professional athletes from pretenders. Some sports demand more neural control for success than others, but no matter the sport the elite athletes utilize precise neural control. I've worked with elite swimmers, NHL, and NBA players helping me grasp the varying level of neural control required at the top. From my experience, swimmers reply more on neural control compared to other sports.

One reason I feel neural control is higher in swimmers is due to the volume of swimmers who are purely 'aquatic animals'. These swimmers run like they are wearing stilts while riding a unicycle! During dryland, coaches cringe and pray that these swimmers will not injure themselves as they run around with their feet pigeon toed and back arched.

These one-dimensional swimmers are unique; it is rare to find another sport where the participants can only perform their sport. This may be due to the aqueous medium, the novel/unnatural movements, or the complex movements required in swimming. Nonetheless, swimming requires more neural control. Requiring more neural control has its pros and cons.

Pro: It is easier to become an 'elite' athlete. If mastering specific movements is the highest contributor to success, than athlete's with lower amounts of elite physical characteristics have potential for successful. This is one reason many old school, grinder coaches love the sport. These coaches often feel they can paint the lines of a zebra and create a thoroughbred.
Con: Many swimmers and swim coaches rely heavily on this neural control, neglecting the importance of athleticism and overall fitness. This inhibits overall success and potential.

Other Sports
In other sports, excelling can involve being good at one specific movement. For example, a good basketball player may only be good at one aspect of basketball, rebounding. Being a dominant force on the glass makes an elite basketball player. In swimming, just being good at streamlining doesn't make you elite. Most good swimmers are good at swimming. They can be mediocre at starts or turns, but being good at swimming is essential (note this is for long course, short course relies more on turns, allowing athletic ability more important).

Finale
Despite this high volume of neural training required for swimming success, there is no need to dismiss athletic ability in swimming. Athleticism and neural control are additive, not separate entities. As one rises, the other does not fall. Unfortunately, many inhibit the volume of athlete's in the sport, impairing the top percentage of athletes in the sport. I feel this is the main reason the United State's dominance in the sport is rapidly decreasing. Equalize neural and athletic training to enhance both.

By Dr. G. John Mullen, DPT, CSCS. He is the founder of the Center of Optimal Restoration, creator of the Swimmer's Shoulder System, and head strength coach at Santa Clara Swim Club.

Perturbation Training and the Shoulder: A Look into the COR System

noreply@blogger.com (G. John Mullen) — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 06:56:00 +0000

If you haven’t read last week’s posts yet, I recommend you do so. I posted an article about external focus cues for skill acquisition and Dr. John followed with a related post on the swimmer as a reactive animal. A common theme in each of these posts is conditioning the swimmer to adapt to his or her surroundings. The more we can rely on the autonomic nervous system to control our movements, the more efficiently we can allocate our mental energy. The same principles that we discussed in the performance and skill realms can also apply in the rehab and injury prevention contexts. Whether you’re a sprinter, distance, high mileage, low mileage, free, or IM, these concepts of reactivity are compatible with any swimming system.

There’s an old saying that “Too much of a good thing can be a bad thing.” Such is the case with perturbation training in the performance, general fitness, and rehabilitation realms. Perturbation training first hit mainstream as clinicians of the 1990s and 2000s realized therapy was about more than isolated muscle testing and modalities. Unfortunately, many fitness professionals (and some rehab professionals too), have made a total mess of perturbation training with trainers in an endless competition to create the most outlandish BOSU exercise.

Sarcasm aside, as with any tool, it’s important to properly match the application of the tool to the needs of the individual(s) we are training or coaching. If you read the preview of the COR Shoulder Guide last week or saw Dr. John’s post on Swimming World, you’ll note a few perturbation exercises included, such as push ups and catches. Perturbation comes in various forms such as those initiated by the athlete/patient/client, those initiated by an outside source, and those combining these two forms. You’ll find all of these in the COR Shoulder System.

The key factor for perturbation training is muscle timing. Even though pool swimming involves repetitive use in discrete patterns (unlike team sports, which are entirely unpredictable), the nature of the water is ever changing around us. Even if you are alone in the pool, the water is constantly changing in ways the body can’t see or fully predict. Proficiency is a function of how well the brain can predict the turbulence of the aquatic environment, hence the term “feel for the water.” In fact, the difference between elite athletes and non-elites in many sports is noted by sport-specific perceptive ability (Kioumourtzoglou 1998). One hypothesis why many rehab and prevention protocols fail is they don’t address this unpredictability.

The two main properties addressed via perturbation training are anticipation and deceleration. We’ll talk about anticipation first. Whether swimming in the water or moving on land, the body must react subconsciously to changes that it can’t see. Even though your shoulders may be “strong” in a quantitative sense (how much you can lift), they might be woefully underprepared to handle the proprioreceptive demands foisted upon them by competitive swimming. Muscle length, strength, and timing all matter for optimal shoulder health and no property should be overlooked.

By training the body to handle the unpredictable via perturbations, the better we condition it to handle the demands for dynamic stability in the water. Muscle timing can differ significantly in comparing a healthy shoulder with an unhealthy shoulder. Impinged shoulders routinely show decreased and/or delayed firing patterns in the serratus anterior, rotator cuff, and lower and middle trapezius. The upper trapezius and middle deltoid tend to fire early (Phadke 2009). Think of muscle timing like a musical group. Everyone can hit all the right notes, but if people are singing at the wrong times, you’ll end up with an incoherent musical mess!

Although not a swimming study, Popa (2008) found that specific training could help divers create an effective frame of reference to deal with pending perturbations. The nature of perturbations in swimming is different than those of the diving board/platform, but there is evidence that dealing with perturbations is a trainable skill. Pain, injury, and surgical interventions can alter the body’s awareness of the shoulder, necessitating specific training to restore optimal muscle timing (Myers 2000, Sarfan 2001). Perturbations can help in this role.

Deceleration is an overlooked property in many rehab and strengthening protocols, which is unfortunate. Escamilla (2009) and Dr. James Andrews conducted an exhaustive study of overhead sports and found the highest torque, force, and muscle activity occurred during the deceleration and arm cocking phases of overhead movements. These are both acts of changing direction. Deceleration affects individual joint systems but the body as a whole, which is why you’ll find perturbation exercises in the COR Shoulder System in both compound movements push ups and pull ups, and in localized shoulder movements. It is believed that most injuries occur during the deceleration and arm cocking phases of movement.

Although we aren’t imposing anywhere near maximal forces with perturbation exercises, a perturbation forces the body decelerate in response to an outside force and bring the joint back into centration. If the body does not make the appropriate response to the perturbation, the joint would either dislocate (an extreme example, though unlikely) or we’d completely lose balance and fall. Repetition of perturbation tasks should result in optimal timing for the appropriate muscles to keep the joint in place and avoid stress on the surrounding structures. Shoulder health is not just about strengthening that which is thought to be weak; it is also about calming that which has a tendency to overpower.

Summary
Perturbation training is often a missing link in shoulder programs to address propriorecption in and around the joint. Through this post we have offered a preview behind the “Why” of perturbation training when you see these exercises in the COR Shoulder System. Perturbation exercises complement training of muscle length and strength, thereby allowing for full expression of these properties in a healthy shoulder and to restore the health of the injured shoulder.

By Allan Phillips. Allan and his wife Katherine are heavily involved in the strength and conditioning community, for more information refer to Pike Athletics.

References

Escamilla RF, Andrews JR. Shoulder muscle recruitment patterns and related biomechanics during upper extremity sports. Sports Med. 2009;39(7):569-90. doi: 10.2165/00007256-200939070-00004.
Myers JB, Lephart SM. The role of the sensorimotor system in the athletic shoulder. J Athl Train. 2000 Jul;35(3):351-63.
Safran MR, Borsa PA, Lephart SM, Fu FH, Warner JJ. Shoulder proprioception in baseball pitchers. J Shoulder Elbow Surg. 2001 Sep-Oct;10(5):438-44.
Kioumourtzoglou E, Kourtessis T, Michalopoulou M, Derri V.Percept Mot Skills. Differences in several perceptual abilities between experts and novices in basketball, volleyball and water-polo. 1998 Jun;86(3 Pt 1):899-912.
Popa T, Bonifazi M, della Volpe R, Rossi A, Mazzocchio R. Anticipatory control of impending postural perturbation in elite springboard divers.Eur J Appl Physiol. 2008 Dec;104(6):1007-11. Epub 2008 Aug 26.
Phadke V, Camargo P, Ludewig P. Scapular and rotator cuff muscle activity during arm elevation: A review of normal function and alterations with shoulder impingement. Rev Bras Fisioter. 2009 Feb 1;13(1):1-9.

Weekly Round-up

noreply@blogger.com (G. John Mullen) — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 15:32:00 +0000

7 Things I learned in 2007 with Eric Cressey.
Butterfly: Both Kicks Should be Created Equal by Russell Mark.
Coaches in the Know: Paul Yetter.
Fix your Technique, Fix your Shoulder by Russell Mark. Looking to prevent shoulder pain? Buy the Swimmer's Shoulder System today!
Prevent Overtraining by Charles Poliquin.
Interview - Mike Bottom.
Training Tip Thursday - Catch Drills.

COR Swimmer's Shoulder System

noreply@blogger.com (G. John Mullen) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 17:40:00 +0000

Below is the preface from my e-book, a part of the COR Swimmer's Shoulder System. I've been working on this piece for the past few years and am proud of how it came out. I put a lot of work into this system and truly believe it will change many shoulder prevention programs for the better. More importantly, I know it will prolong and improve many swimmer's careers.

If you're a habitual reader of this website, thank you! When I started Swim Sci we used to receive 10 visits on a popular day. Now we receive more than 1,000 page views a day and have a great, expanding staff of writers. The goal of this website is to remain free with minimal ads and great content, which is difficult due to the time requirements associated with maintaining a website. If you've been a regular reader of this website, you've enjoyed many hours of free content. For this website to be successful, we must support our writers with their individual projects. We here at Swim Sci do not ask much of our readers, but we are asking you to support our writers and website by purchasing, or encouraging others to purchase, the COR Swimmer's Shoulder System. Thanks for all the support and keep swimming!

Preface

I’ve been involved in swimming for a long time. At the age of three I was tossed into swim lessons, and at the ripe age of four I started swimming year- round for the local YMCA team. I became deeply involved in the sport. Through the ups and downs, ranging from older kids tying my shoelaces in knots during practice to accepting a collegiate scholarship, I can honestly say I’ve enjoyed my time and hope my enjoyment never ends. My lifelong passion for the sport has led me to make this product. I hope everyone exposed to swimming has a similar feeling and, if they wish, a long-lasting experience as an athlete, coach, and/or parent.

Whether you have followed me on Swimming Science, Swimming World Magazine, Swimmer Magazine, or at the Center of Optimal Restoration, LLC, you know I delve into a wide variety of topics. I’m easily immersed in many topics with passion and curiosity as my driving force. My recent passion is injury prevention, and a After helping countless injured athletes, it has occurred to me that injury prevention is much easier than injury rehabilitation.

Swimming careers are often slowed or interrupted by shoulder injuries. Shoulder pain runs rampant in the sport, and it is estimated that 80% of swimmers suffer from shoulder pain at some point during their career (McMaster, 1993). With acknowledgement that complete eradication of shoulder injuries would be impossible, it is my goal to reduce and prevent shoulder pain as much as possible. The only way to completely prevent musculoskeletal injuries is inactivity, but this leads to cardiovascular disease, chronic pathologies, and other serious problems. The goal of this product is to help every swimmer prolong his or her swimming career, whether this person is a masters swimmer who dives into the pool at 6 am to start the day, an up-and-coming age group swimmer who peaks too early due to shoulder pain, or a world record holder pushing the limit of the body to go where no person has gone before.

Over the years I’ve worked with many top athletes who have suffered with shoulder pain, and through using the techniques described in this product, I was able to help them continue swimming towards their goals. I hope this product prevents athletes from reaching the point of questioning their careers, and helps keep alive their desire to have chronically dry skin and chlorine bleached hair.

Keep Swimming,

Dr. John, DPT, CSCS

Monthly Dryland Program: Advanced Core and Shoulder Timing

noreply@blogger.com (G. John Mullen) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 14:57:00 +0000

Monthly Dryland Program

Phase III: Advanced Core and Shoulder Stabilization

Dr. G. John Mullen, DPT, CSCS

Stabilization is essential for every athlete. Unfortunately, activities requiring large ranges of motion, but one at risk for instability if accompanying stability isn't present. This will be a monthly dryland exercise list compliments of the Center of Optimal Restoration (COR). If you want to receive information like this join the Swimming Science and COR e-mail list.

If you want more of exercises, descriptions, and videos similar to this support Swim Sci and purchase the Swimmer's Shoulder System by Dr. G. John, DPT, CSCS! Order now and receive a 25% discount for entering the promotion code 'PREORDER'. Today is the last day to preorder, get your copy today!

ADVANCED CORE STABILIZATION

Rules

1. Maintain the back position as instructed.

2. Do not let that position change AT ALL during the exercise.

3. Stop if the exercise causes 'your pain'.

4. Stop if can not keep the correct back position

ALTERNATE ARM AND LEG EXTENSION IN PRONE

Lie on stomach with or without pillow under stomach, as instructed. Tighten your stomach and make the back flat. Have your arms over your head. Push your right arm, left leg and forehead into the floor or mat. Lift the opposite arm and leg. DO NOT LET YOUR BACK ARCH. YOU MUST ACTIVELY TIGHTEN THE ABDOMINALS WHEN YOU LIFT YOUR LIMBS.

BUNKIE

Place your hand on a weight (to put the wrist in a neutral position) and top foot onto a bench. Next, raise your hips towards the ceiling, keeping your shoulders and hips in line. Hold statically.

Watch here.

TORTURE TWIST

Lie with a bench underneath your hips and your feet securely held either by a partner or under a stable surface. Lean back while contracting/bracing your abdominals until your body is parallel to the ground, then rotate to one side holding at this side isometrically for approximately four seconds on each side. Following the isometric hold, rotate quickly to the other side and hold again.

CAT VOMIT

Begin on your hands and knees (hands underneath shoulders and knees underneath hips), then suck in your stomach and blow out all your air. Attempt to bring your abdomen to your spine.

PLANK WITH HIP EXTENSION

Roll out on ball on forearms. Move through the hips not through the shoulders. Make sure you keep the back rounded toward the ceiling. Next, extend one hip at a time, while keeping your back rounded!

ADVANCED SHOULDER STABILIZATION

Rules

1. Maintain the compact position as instructed

2. Do not let that position change AT ALL during the exercise

3. Stop if the exercise causes your pain

4. Stop if you can not keep the correct shoulder position.

CATCH DRILLS

These drills are pretty simple and just involve tossing a light medicine ball against a trampoline or dribbling it against the wall. Each time the ball comes back to you, the muscles of your shoulder girdle need to decelerate it. You can also use “dumbbell rebound drop-catches”, similar to the catch phases of your strokes.

PUSH-UP WITH PERTUBATIONS

Place your hands next to your sides, and approximately make a 30-degree angle with your arms and your body. Tighten your glutes and abdominals while obtaining the compact position. In this position, bring your chest to the floor keeping your body in one unit. Have your partner tap your upper arm at the bottom or top of the movement, while maintaining the compact position.

SUITCASE WALK

Pick up the heaviest weight you can carry in one hand, while holding the compact position. Hold your shoulder in this position and walk as fast as you can while holding the position.

INVERTED ROW

Lie underneath a stable bar, grabbing the bar in a pronated position. Start in the compact position, and then bring your shoulder blades together. Next, bend your elbows to bring your chest to the bar. Upon return, ensure the compact position is maintained. Read more about the inverse row: Dryland Mistake: Inverted Row Part I and Dryland Mistake: Inverted Row Part II.

By Dr. G. John Mullen, DPT, CSCS. He is the founder of the Center of Optimal Restoration, creator of the Swimmer's Shoulder System, and head strength coach at Santa Clara Swim Club.

Reactive Animal

noreply@blogger.com (G. John Mullen) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 15:17:00 +0000

Are we too smart? Does being an intelligent species inhibit our strength, power and instinctive nature? Thinking turns our body into an open circuit, leading to many pauses to make decisions. These microsecond pauses may seem negligible, but add up quick in athletics. Being a reactive animal is mandatory for success. This occurs in elite athletes when they don't remember their race; they turned up their sympathetic nervous system for success (Schulpis, 2009).

Allan Phillips elegantly discussed the use of cues. External cues and associating the outside world accelerate learning. Too often are coaches trying to complicate certain issues. Whether it pertains to dryland or swimming this occurs frequently as I've had a lot of varied settings to see this variation. The most specific example in rehabilitation is using internal cues such as finding 'neutral spine'. This mythical land is complex is hard for anyone to understand due to its high proprioceptive demand. In swimming this is excessively performed as coaches discuss 'feel' or connecting your nuchal line to your plantar fascia. These internal cues are not beneficial for athletes, especially young agile minds. These cues are too commonplace; they are pitfalls. Even thought I'm aware of the dangers of internal cues, I still catch myself from time to time using these cues and feel there is a correlation between knowledge base and use of this terminology. I know I'm not the only one trying to complicate issues with swimmers as I receive many e-mails from eager 12 year-old swimmers asking about neutral spine, or the exact distance of their finger spread sparked from my Swimming World articles. Perhaps I make topics too confusing, but I realize there is a fine line between knowledge and learning. I don't instruct elite National qualifiers to connect their whole latissimus dorsi from shoulder to pelvis let alone an eager 12 year-old.

The More you Know, the More you Learn

In fact, the more knowledge one obtains on a subject the more they realize the depth on the subject. Therefore many coaches attempt to teach swimmers in the pool and on land through complex terms and information. Many think transferring information is the best method to improve learning in sports. I think it is beneficial in elite athletes with the ability to flip on and off the switch, but teaching any new subject with in-depth, internal cues is dangerous. Swimming knowledge and performance don't always correlate. This is why many are jealous of the Superman Swimmers. These athletes use minimal cognitive thought and achieve high levels of success. I feel overall knowledge is beneficial for elite swimmers, but being able to flip the switch to become the reactive animal is essential. If you get stuck in knowledge land, your body is constantly checking in for directions, causing paralysis from analysis.

Not Just Swimming

In every sport, coaches and fans are aware of less than intelligent athletes. Many disgrace these athletes saying they don't even know anything about the sport. They make claim 'natural ability' rises these athletes beyond their competitors. These athletes are not the mudders, those who have to scrap for every inch and is why very few of them are coaches, but they do rely on an amazing ability to flip the switch. From my experience, some athletes are able to naturally flip the switch, but luckily this trait can be learned. These athletes tap into their fight or flight system resulting in remarkable outcomes.

It is unfortunate the smartest or most intelligent athlete does not equate as the best, but that is life. Being too smart or thinking too much is a negative influence in sport. Luckily, Allan Phillips and other researchers have made clear evidence using 'external' cues and solely relying on instincts are essential for success. As coaches and educators it is important to bridge the gap and be able to turn on these different switches. Having 'spiels' and sayings to teach athletes is important. As swimming educators we must: 1) transfer/teach information to swimmers, 2) understand the exact process to enhance the sport. Being able to differentiate and perform these two tasks will enhance the sport and our athletes. As coaches, we can't only rely on instinct. Understanding the knowledge of the sport is a must, but realize while teaching and talking with athletes to not clutter their mind. Allow them to maintain their instincts and remain a reactive animal. Feed the best, don't install a brake pedal.

References:

Schulpis KH, Parthimos T, Papakonstantinou ED, Tsakiris T, Parthimos N, Mentis AF, Tsakiris S. Evidence for the participation of the stimulated sympathetic nervous system in the regulation of carnitine blood levels of soccer players during a game. Metabolism. 2009 Aug;58(8):1080-6. Epub 2009 Jun 18.

I am nearing completion on the Center of Optimal Restoration Swimmer's Shoulder System. Help eradicate shoulder pain in swimmers. Order now and receive a 25% discount by entering the code 'preorder'.

By Dr. G. John Mullen, DPT, CSCS. He is the founder of the Center of Optimal Restoration and head strength coach at Santa Clara Swim Club.

External vs. Internal Focus for Optimal Skill Acqusition

noreply@blogger.com (G. John Mullen) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 10:27:00 +0000

“High elbow”

“Fast hips”
“Lead with your pinky”

We all have various cues to communicate with athletes. Everyone’s cues vary with style, audience, and available tools such as video. Clarity is our goal with athlete communications. “Feel” does not always equate to “real”, which is why video is so powerful. Regardless of whether you use video or not, what matters most is how the athlete internalizes cues. As video becomes more commonplace, our job as coaches is not only to pick out stroke flaws but also to translate cues into useable language.

Think of our jobs as writing code for the computer in our athletes’ brains. Without translating thought into useable language (i.e. code), the program won’t run very smoothly. Proper language makes good information useable, and our job does not stop with identifying the flaws and giving out drills. Every cue follows a three stage process:

Identify the technical point
Communicate the technical point
Athlete has their own understanding of the technical point via self-dialog

Stage three is the most important and is often overlooked. Automaticity in movement is the objective and is best accomplished via effective communication both between coach and athlete, but also via the athlete’s self-dialog.

Internal Focus vs. External Focus

Athletes have two choices for skill-based attention: internal focus and external focus. Internal focus is to focus on a specific body part. “High elbow,” “fast hips”, and “lead with your pinky” are all examples of an internal focus. Eternal focus is based on the effect of movement in relation to the environment. “Pull the water back” is an example of an external focus.

The concept of internal vs. external focus is not to be confused with association vs. dissociation. Association refers to staying in the moment during a task, such as being aware of your surroundings or monitoring your physical state to optimize timing of your surge at the end of a race. Dissociation involves thinking about something other than your present task. A classic example is thinking about your dinner plans during a set of repeat 1000s. These are related concepts, but not the same as internal versus external focus. Of course there is “losing focus”, which we never want to encourage.

Modern research has overwhelmingly supported external focus cues as most effective for skill acquisition. In fact, the term “modern” is somewhat redundant since most of the literature supporting the superiority of external focus is new. Some of this research may challenge what we think, since nearly everyone uses internal focus cues in some way. You may find it disarming to remove all your cues that make reference to a body part (Try it…not easy!). Fortunately, there are ways to reconcile research with practicality and explain ways we can apply these concepts in the unique aquatic environment.

Review of the literature

Early research in this field began with a series of balance tests in various studies. For example, one study asked participants to keep a balance board level (Wulf 2001). Some were told to think about keeping feet level; others told to keep the markers on the board level. A control group was told to think about nothing. In this study and in others of its ilk, the external focus groups have universally outperformed the other groups, including the controls that were given no instructions and theoretically should have had the clearest minds. Similar data related to target accuracy has been shown in both novice and elite golfers. Without fail, an external focus directed toward the golf club or at the target results in better accuracy than thinking about a body cue at all skill levels (Wulf 2007).

Research has quantified movement efficiency in context of external focus strategies. In one study, subjects performed a bicep curl during which EMG data (muscle activity) was gathered (Marchant 2009). The internal focus group was told to contract the bicep; the external focus group was told to curl the weight. Control group was given no instructions. EMG activity was highest in the internal focus group. For movement efficiency when measuring a set load, a high EMG is not what we want because it shows that more effort is being used for the same task. Efficiency is ability to use the least resources possible for a task with maximum benefit.

Another study involved dart throwing accuracy…trust me, this does relate to swimming! (Emmanuel 2008). Internal focus group was told to think about wrist flexion; external focus group was cued to think of the target. The external focus group not only had better accuracy and lower EMG activity near the wrist; it also showed decreased activity on muscles away from the wrist. When internal focus is used, ALL muscles, not just those subject to internal focus, show increased activity. A focus on one body part makes the whole motor system work harder, sometimes in undesirable ways.

There’s also evidence that endurance performance can improve via external focus: Schücker (2009) looked at 10k distance runners with an average time of 36:27 (not elite, but much faster than novice). One internal focus group was told to focus on form; another was told to focus on breathing. External focus group was told to focus on the passage of surroundings. A control group was told to focus on nothing. The external focus group showed the best economy, or least oxygen consumption per unit of output. External focus was also shown a superior strategy for muscular endurance in a bench press test (Marchant 2011).

Finally, we get to the swimming studies! Freudenheim (2010) tested a group of intermediate swimmers in 16m sprints in a 16m pool. Internal focus group was told to pull their hands back fast or kick their feet down; the external focus group was told to pull the water back or kick the water down. Researchers noted a statistically significant improvement in the speed of the external focus condition compared to the internal focus condition. From a coaching standpoint, we might recognize the external cues as inherently superior anyway, since “pulling the hand back” could promote a sloppy catch and slipping water. Nonetheless, the result is consistent with a large body of research and deserves consideration in that context.

Stoate (2011) performed a similar study with expert swimmers in a 25m pool. Swimmers were instructed to swim under one of three focus conditions: internal focus (“pull hands back”), external focus (“push water back”), and control (no instructions). Both the external focus condition and control had significantly faster times than the internal focus condition. Researchers probed further into the control condition and found that swimmers who voluntarily chose to focus on “speed” outperformed those who self-selected an internal focus condition on a body part. In fact, they found similar results between the self-chosen “speed” focus in the control condition and the external focus condition. One explanation was that at higher levels of skill mastery (expert swimming), external focus cues are less needed, as the proficiency of the athlete allows them to focus on movement outcomes such as feeling fast!

Where do we go from here?

The research is virtually unanimous that external focus cues outperform internal focus cues for skills involving precision, efficiency, endurance, and strength. Does this mean all of our internal focus cues are wrong? I wouldn’t go that far yet. For one, swimming is a series of unnatural movements in an unnatural environment. One hypothesis to distinguish swimming from the acts studied is that balance, aiming at a target, and running are all natural movements. Even though our long-lost ancestors didn’t throw darts in their basement or play golf in their free time, they did use various implements to hunt down food. Swimming is entirely unnatural and there is nothing intuitive in our brain’s movement development that can trigger a swim stroke with a cue like “visualize your target.” The Freudenheim study did demonstrate the effectiveness of an external focus cue in swimming, but I don’t think we should accept the concept based on that study alone, which was conducted in a 16m pool.

Further, you’ll note that most studies involve the interaction of our body with some external object, such as a balance board, golf club, or target. One of the biggest challenges in swimming is actually finding an “object” (i.e. a grip on the water) to hold onto. In fact, I asked leading researcher in this field Dr. Gabrielle Wulf about “free floating” sports like diving or gymnastics and she acknowledged that the research is still developing in this area (Wulf 2008).

Using external focus imagery is most in-line with the literature, but as a practical matter we may need internal cues at the onset of interaction so the athlete knows what part of the body we are actually referring to. There just isn’t much creative imagery to describe an early vertical forearm catch to someone who doesn’t know what it is to begin with. Further, since it is not a natural motion like jumping or throwing, there isn’t some magic word to trigger the movement.
Stroke analysis in video should go beyond breaking down the stroke, but also guiding the athlete to appropriate self-talk language for their stroke keys. Whenever possible, utilize external cues. If you work with young kids, you are probably good at finding creative cues already! If we can’t find an appropriate external focus cue for a movement, it may be a sign we’re not in the right place with that athlete. In other words, if you NEED to cue into a body part (internal focus) to explain a movement, perhaps what’s really needed is a regression to a different drill or exercise. According to the literature, cues should be distillable into external imagery. Again, I think we can make concessions for the unique aspects of swimming, but ultimately this is the intersection of drill with skill.

One reason we emphasize fundamentals like breathing patterns and the “compact position” for the low back and shoulder girdle is to reduce the need for compensations at higher levels of skill complexity. Optimize these basics, and higher level skills will develop with greater automaticity. As the athlete masters basic forms of movement with less mental “noise,” higher levels of skill will become more teachable via simpler communication.

References

Emanuel M, Jarus T, Bart O. Phys Ther. Effect of focus of attention and age on motor acquisition, retention, and transfer: a randomized trial. 2008 Feb;88(2):251-60. Epub 2007 Nov 27.
Freudenheim, A., Wulf, G., Madureira, F., Pasetto, S., & Correa, U. (2010). An external focus of attention results in greater swimming speed. International Journal of Sports Science and Coaching, 5, 533-542.
Marchant DC, Greig M, Scott C. Attentional focusing instructions influence force production and muscular activity during isokinetic elbow flexions. J Strength Cond Res. 2009 Nov;23(8):2358-66.
Marchant DC, Greig M, Bullough J, Hitchen D. Instructions to adopt an external focus enhance muscular endurance. Res Q Exerc Sport. 2011 Sep;82(3):466-73.
Schücker L, Hagemann N, Strauss B, Völker K. The effect of attentional focus on running economy. J Sports Sci. 2009 Oct;27(12):1241-8.
Stoate, I. Wulf, G. Does the Attentional Focus of Swimmers Affect Their Performance? International Journal of Sport Science & Coaching, 6, 99-108.
Wulf G, Shea C, Park JH. Attention and motor performance: preferences for and advantages of an external focus. Res Q Exerc Sport. 2001 Dec;72(4):335-44.
Wulf G, Su J. An external focus of attention enhances golf shot accuracy in beginners and experts. Res Q Exerc Sport. 2007 Sep;78(4):384-9.
Wulf G. Attentional focus effects in balance acrobats. Res Q Exerc Sport. 2008 Sep;79(3):319-25.

By Allan Phillips. Allan and his wife Katherine are heavily involved in the strength and conditioning community, for more information refer to Pike Athletics.

Weekly Round-up

noreply@blogger.com (G. John Mullen) — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 20:35:00 +0000

It's all about pain by Dr. Joe Brence.
The secret to sprinting is to relax.
A mouthpiece decreases cortisol after exercise, anyone try this in swimming?
Packed neck by Allan Phillips, everyone needs to understand this concept.
Move the bar fast on bench press for bigger gains.
Side-lying external rotation with manual resistance and perturbations. On a side note, I am nearing completion on the Center of Optimal Restoration Swimmer's Shoulder System. Help eradicate shoulder pain in swimmers. Order now and receive a 25% discount by entering the code 'preorder'.
Missy Franklin talking about her high school team.
Science of Performance: Return after an injury part VI: Muscle timing.
Increased brain-derived neurotrophic factors in sprinters.
Charles Poliquin discusses post-activation potential.

Friday Interview: Craig Weller

noreply@blogger.com (G. John Mullen) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:53:00 +0000

Please introduce yourself to the readers. Include how you got started in the profession, education, credentials, experience, etc.

I suppose you could say that my involvement in strength training started when I was in about the seventh grade. I was a weak, unusually skinny kid and there was one day that all the kids in my neighborhood were gathered around a weight bench my brother had purchased having a contest to see who could bench the most (this male behavior starts quite young, apparently). In front of my parents and just about everyone else, I benched the least out of everyone there. By a lot. I was humiliated. However, I was also pulled aside afterward and told that I had nothing to be ashamed of and that I could get stronger by working at it. The advice stuck and became a bit of an obsession so I spent a lot of time in high school ordering books online and trying things out with myself and a group of people that I eventually started coaching.

On the assumption that mental strength mattered more than physical and that college was for boring people I enlisted in the military at the start of my senior year and volunteered for Naval Special Programs without knowing how to swim. I figured that out, barely, and after two and a half years in the special operations selection pipeline, graduated from SWCC (Special Warfare Combatant Crewman) training.

For more on SWCC, see here. SWCCs are the guys in the boats:

My interest and strength and conditioning continued throughout this time and even as a SWCC student I was studying whatever I could find and usually training someone or coming up with stretching and soft tissue release protocols for BUD/S and SWCC students to keep their knees healthy during training.

I spent a total of six years in the military and throughout this time spent much of my spare time poring through books, reading online and further testing and developing ideas on myself and an increasing group of people I worked with. This gradually evolved into an official capacity and by the time I left the military I had developed strength programs for other Americans I had worked with as well as special ops men we had trained on three different continents.

I figured that since it was what I like do to in my free time anyway, I may as well make a business out of it, so I opened Barefoot Fitness shortly after getting out of the military.

As a civilian, the first step was getting an NSCA certification, but I honestly put very little stock in those things and much prefer seeking out the smartest guys in the industry, asking for their reading lists and learning through conversations with them. In that sense, I've managed to have a few really good mentors.

Barefoot grew and branched out to multiple facilities. We specialize mainly in small group conditioning classes but have worked quite a bit with one on one clients ranging from Miss USA competitors to college basketball teams to post-surgery rehab cases to professional MMA fighters like Joe Warren and Urijah Faber.

I don't spend much time in the US lately, so for the most part the Barefoot facilities are owned and managed independently under the model I created and I specialize in online coaching for special operations candidates.

What methods do you imply to measure and distinguish overreaching and overtraining?

Prior to HRV technology I relied mainly on more subjective measures like mood, energy, sleep quality and performance numbers in the gym. Generally as one transitions from overreaching to overtraining they'll have a peak in performance in which they're going really hard and everything feels great and it's kind of like a stock market bubble; they'll want to keep going up and up. When they cross over into overtraining, that's the market crash, and if you hang on too long there you can dig yourself into a pretty good hole.

What is the best method to prevent overtraining syndrome?

The trick, kind of like playing the market, is knowing when to cash out. Your body is only capable of adapting positively to so much stress. By tracking objective data and subjective measures over time one can develop a pretty good intuitive understanding of what their body can do. A catch to this is that to truly understand what the body can handle, you have to have crossed that line a few times.

I still think that the popular method of three weeks of accumulating allostatic load from volume and intensity increases (there are a few different ways to fluctuate those variables within those three week windows) and then taking a deload period of roughly one week is a good method for a fairly experienced trainee to induce a measure of overreaching without overtraining and then drop back to supercompensatory recovery during the deload week.

Although you still want to pay attention to all the subjective stuff, I think that HRV monitoring is probably the most reliable and effective way to gain insight into your nervous system, know for sure where you are in the continuum and stop yourself early before overtraining becomes an issue.

In your opinion, what is the maximum amount of training an athlete should perform? Is this volume dependent on the athlete?

Yes, it's going to vary so much from one person to another that it's hard to give a single number or guideline. It also depends on the nature of the sport and what exactly they're training for.

I have a friend who is a former Force Recon Marine (special ops) and recently did a sprint triathlon as a break from his usual routine. For him, it was just a random workout and he did the bike portion on his mountain bike. He still placed reasonably well and was back to his normal routine the next day. For others, something like that is a big deal and requires careful planning, training, deloads and peaking. He wasn't a triathlete, but he's got such great work capacity from the training involved in his military background that he was able to take it completely in stride without working up to it. So background matters a great deal in determining training volume and intensity.

What psychological methods do you imply to improve your athlete's ability to cope with stress?

It depends a lot on the individual and where they're going. It's an especially big deal for guys going into Special Programs in the military and a stoic philosophy or mindset is the foundation of it. There is a lot of reading to be done in order to gain a basis of knowledge there and then that has to be employed and practiced in day to day life in order to cement that thought process into one's consciousness. Patterns of thought eventually create physical neural connections and reinforce themselves with repetition, especially when those reps are performed under stress. With enough time and effort you can actually alter your subconscious response to something horrible from aversion and panic to acceptance and coping.

A remarkably useful one that I use with online clients is to do the 21 Day No Complaint Experiment, which I first learned about from Tim Ferriss. It comes down to an awareness of one's thought process, especially during moments of stress. As Shakespeare put it, there is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.

Aurelius articulated this concept well with the words, "Take away your opinion, and there is taken away the complaint, 'I have been harmed.' Take away the complaint 'I have been harmed' and the harm is taken away."

We're all going to face stressors and things with the potential to harm us. The idea is to develop the type of mindset that simply doesn't allow that potential harm any effect. Whatever it is, it can only hurt you if you allow it.

On a more practical side, when I train people who I know can handle it or who are going into special ops, I never encourage them. I have this tendency as does just about anyone else I know from a Special Ops community. When you're going through selection your entire world is there to discourage you. The instructors will be tormenting you for days, weeks and months on end with freezing water, sand and more physical work than you thought a body could survive. You'll be puking into the sand in front of you between burpees as an instructor tells you through a bullhorn two feet from your head that the reason you're not going to make it is because your parents failed in raising you. If, at that moment, you need someone other than yourself to encourage you and tell you to keep going, you will be broken.

So we never encourage. We understand what suffering is and we respect it. We know when bodies break before minds and we don't allow that to happen. We offer guidance and every helpful tool we can, but we never say, "Come on, you can do it, you're doing great! High five!" Anytime I've ever been working out and someone says something like that to me all I can think is "get the f!&k away from me."

Are you able to swim butterfly?

Not even close. We used to get tortured with that one in selection every once in a while when the instructors wanted a laugh. There were always one or two guys early on who didn't get it and would raise their hand and say, "I don't know how to swim butterfly."

The standard response was always, "Fake it."

That's pretty much what I would do. I'd flutterkick and glide underwater for a while and then pop up for a breath and flail my arms like an idiot in what I hoped was a passable semblance of at least trying to butterfly. Usually I'd swim in the middle of the pool where I knew the glare on the water prevented anyone from really seeing what was going on under the surface, so I could get away with a lot under the water as long as I looked normal when I broke the surface.

Later on a competitive swimmer friend of mine who tried with near zero success to teach me the stroke said that her coaches called my version "the flutterby" and used it as a special way to exhaust them in practices. It works exceedingly well for that.

Thanks Craig, if you liked this interview read his adventures during the SOF selection process and follow him on Facebook!

Asthma and Swimming

noreply@blogger.com (G. John Mullen) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:41:00 +0000

An Interdisciplinary Look at Asthma and Swimming
Perhaps the demon to rival swimmer’s shoulder around the pool deck is asthma. Asthma can present an onslaught of debilitating symptoms, but is often used as a catchall diagnosis (much like swimmer’s shoulder) to describe a vast range of conditions. Rhinitis and various allergies carry similar symptoms, but our main focus in this post will be on asthma itself. Although greats such as Mark Spitz, Tom Dolan, Kurt Grote and Amy Van Dyken (among others) have successfully battled asthma to thrive on the Olympic stage, asthma has gotten the best of many swimmers and driven them out of the sport prematurely.

A link between asthma and competitive swimming is consistent in literature, but hardly unanimous. However, there is no consensus on the threshold at which chlorine exposure via recreational swimming can trigger an increased risk of asthmatic symptoms. Ferrari (2011) found that recreational swimmers at indoor chlorinated pools had a higher rate of developing symptoms than a non-swimmer control group, but asthmatic non-swimmers exhibited a higher frequency of symptoms as compared to asthmatic non-swimmers. However, Font-Ribera (2011) had a massive sample of 5,738 kids with longitudinal information from age six months through age 10 and found no increase in risk of asthmatic symptoms based on recreational swimming pool attendance. Data instead found an increase in lung function and a reduction of asthmatic symptoms.

Here’s a glance at some of the research linking competitive swimming to asthma:

Bougault (2012) found that long-term, intense swim training in indoor chlorinated pools resulted in airway changes similar to non-swimmers with mild asthma, but with higher mucin expression. Increases in mucin expression were independent of airway hyperresponsiveness. Although changes occurred as a result of long term training, the study did not reach the issue of their permanence.
In a sample of elite swimmers, Moreira (2011) found similar levels of vascular permeability (a form of airway damage) in the swimmers compared to non-swimmers, but vascular permeability was not dependent on airway hyperresponsiveness or inflammation.
Stadelman (2011) found high levels of bronchial responsiveness in elite swimmers. 83% presented with respiratory symptoms and 65% had positive provocation test.
Helenius (2002) conducted a five year prospective study on a group of highly trained swimmers. Of the swimmers who still swimming at both the beginning and end of study, there was a 31% asthma rate during the pretest and 44% rate five years later. Asthma reversed in swimmers who retired during the study period and returned for post-testing.

As noted previously, the data linking competitive aquatics to asthma is hardly unanimous. Sidiropoulou (2009) found that water polo players had LOWER rates of exercise induced asthma than football (aka, soccer) and basketball players of similar age. More recently, NM (2012) found no evidence of increased eiosinophilic airway inflammation in aquatic athletes compared to non-aquatic athletes.

Despite the evidence linking asthma to competitive swimming, many of us know swimmers who have all the symptoms but somehow pass the battery of tests administered in the medical clinic, especially when swimmers (or any aerobic athletes for that matter) are graded against general population norms. Being told “there’s nothing wrong you” when symptoms persist can be equally as vexing as a positive test for asthma. In a sample of Brazilian male competitive swimmers age 6-14, 32.7% showed spirometric alterations. However, in the same sample, 31.2% of those with symptoms received no treatment (Fiks 2009). These athletes often enter a frustrating cycle in which treatments, medications, and other interventions don’t work, leaving them frustrated and possibly quitting.

What can we do?
Now, I’m a coach…not a medical doctor. Asthma is a serious medical condition that is sometimes treated by powerful steroidal medications. Always tread with caution in this area. That said, because there are definite links between asthma and several topics squarely in the coaching scope-of-practice (posture, breathing patterns, psychology, environment), coaches can do several things to become part of a solution, especially when a solution appears elusive. There’s no definite evidence of causation, but there are tangible signs of correlation that we would be remiss to ignore. Fortunately, these areas all involve aspects of health and performance that we should address as coaches anyway. It’s a true chicken-or-the-egg scenario…is the classic swimmer’s posture an antecedent to the pulmonary symptoms, or is it a byproduct of the pulmonary symptoms? Does mental stress predispose one to asthmatic symptoms or does asthma cause psychological distress?

The literature has found definite links between the musculoskeletal and pulmonary/respiratory. To the extent the musculoskeletal is affected by other systems, we may identify additional linkages as well. Lunardi (2011) found that patients with asthma (both mild and severe cases) had a more forward head position, rounded shoulders, lower chest wall expansion (i.e. uncentered ribcage), decreased shoulder internal rotation, and decreased thoracic spine flexibility compared to non-asthmatic patients. Further, lower thoracic, cervical, and shoulder pain was significantly higher in asthmatics than non-asthmatics. Chaves (2010) found altered cervicocranial position and hyoid (translation: altered head and neck position) in young patients with asthma.

All of the above characteristics and symptoms are hallmarks of common imbalances in swimmers, but also of faulty breathing patterns, which we have covered thoroughly here in recent months. We may hypothesize that the more functional your breathing patterns are, the more of a buffer you might have against respiratory stress. Psychology is also related to both breathing patterns and asthma: Ritz (2011) found that after a period of induced psychosocial stress, asthma sufferers exhibited expiratory lengthening and greater tidal volume variability compared to non-asthmatics.

Environment is another variable to be considered, but there is scant evidence that alternatives to chlorine such as saltwater or bromine would be an improvement. The issue simply has not been studied with the same depth as with chlorine. Since coaches have to fight for lane space in many places, getting pools to redo their entire filtration system to accommodate more intense training is a stretch, though subjectively I think we’d all take the outdoor aquatic paradise of Palo Alto or Irvine compared to a six lane, five foot deep chlorine bathtub enclosed by a protective bubble half the year.

Summary
Consider all factors to improve respiration proactively in healthy swimmers and to aid those struggling with asthmatic symptoms. Although breathing it is not a common part of the athletic screening process, the links between asthma with posture, breathing, and psychology are reasons that breathing patterns should be addressed in all athletes, if for no other reason than to rule out possible contributing factors. Coaches can’t treat asthma, but we can address related areas that can improve both health and performance. In terms of environment, evidence on the role of chlorine is mixed, but suggests it can exacerbate symptoms at the competitive level. Research on the effects of salt water and bromine pools remains scant and would be helpful to gain more answers on how to improve respiratory and pulmonary health in swimmers.

By Allan Phillips. Allan and his wife Katherine are heavily involved in the strength and conditioning community, for more information refer to Pike Athletics.

Resources

Bougault V, Loubaki L, Joubert P, Turmel J, Couture C, Laviolette M, Chakir J, Boulet LP. J Allergy Clin Immunol. Airway remodeling and inflammation in competitive swimmers training in indoor chlorinated swimming pools. 2012 Feb;129(2):351-358.e1. Epub 2011 Dec 22.
Ferrari M, Schenk K, Mantovani W, Papadopoulou C, Posenato C, Ferrari P, Poli A, Tardivo S. Attendance at chlorinated indoor pools and risk of asthma in adult recreational swimmers. J Sci Med Sport. 2011 May;14(3):184-9. Epub 2011 Jan 22.
Font-Ribera L, Villanueva CM, Nieuwenhuijsen MJ, Zock JP, Kogevinas M, Henderson. Swimming pool attendance, asthma, allergies, and lung function in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children cohort. J.Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2011 Mar 1;183(5):582-8. Epub 2010 Oct 1.
Stadelmann K, Stensrud T, Carlsen KH. Respiratory symptoms and bronchial responsiveness in competitive swimmers. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2011 Mar;43(3):375-81.
Moreira A, Palmares C, Lopes C, Delgado L. Airway vascular damage in elite swimmers. Respir Med. 2011 Nov;105(11):1761-5. Epub 2011 Jun 12.
Helenius I, Rytilä P, Sarna S, Lumme A, Helenius M, Remes V, et al. Effect of continuing or finishing high-level sports on airway inflammation, bronchial hyperresponsiveness, and asthma: a 5-year prospective follow-up study of 42 highly trained swimmers. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2002;109:962-8.
Päivinen MK, Keskinen KL, Tikkanen HO. Swimming and asthma: factors underlying respiratory symptoms in competitive swimmers. Clin Respir J. 2010 Apr;4(2):97-103.
Lunardi AC, Marques da Silva CC, Rodrigues Mendes FA, Marques AP, Stelmach R, Fernandes Carvalho CR Musculoskeletal dysfunction and pain in adults with asthma. J Asthma. 2011 Feb;48(1):105-10. Epub 2010 Dec 29.
Chaves TC, de Andrade e Silva TS, Monteiro SA, Watanabe PC, Oliveira AS, Grossi DB. Craniocervical posture and hyoid bone position in children with mild and moderate asthma and mouth breathing. Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol. 2010 Sep;74(9):1021-7. Epub 2010 Jun 20.
Ritz T, Simon E, Trueba AF. Stress-induced respiratory pattern changes in asthma.Psychosom Med. 2011 Jul-Aug;73(6):514-21. Epub 2011 Jun 28.
Fiks IN, Santos LC, Antunes T, Gonçalves RC, Carvalho CR, Carvalho CR . Incidence of asthma symptoms and decreased pulmonary function in young amateur swimmers. J Bras Pneumol. 2009 Mar;35(3):206-12.
Sidiropoulou MP, Kokaridas DG, Giagazoglou PF, Karadonas MI, Fotiadou EG. Incidence of Exercise Induced Asthma in Adolescent Athletes Under Different Training and Environmental Conditions. J Strength Cond Res. 2011 Sep 9. [Epub ahead of print]

Weekly Round-up

noreply@blogger.com (G. John Mullen) — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 17:38:00 +0000

Dryland Tip: Compact Position, everyone should be doing this!
Pool based athletes don't show increased airway inflammation:
Stretching your right calf improves your left calf length by 11%...interesting
Power Balance mouth guard improves upper and lower body power.
Shouldn't your diet should be different from the every day person?' I disagree. It should be very similar. Interview with Natalie Coughlin.
Science of Performance: Return to Swimming After Injury, Part V.
Betting on swimming?
Heart rate variability training.
8 Strength Training Mistakes to Avoid.

A Beautiful Swimming Stroke

noreply@blogger.com (G. John Mullen) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:05:00 +0000

Beauty in the eye of the coach?

The definition and description of a beautiful stroke has always brought me great interest. Everyone has seen, saw and given a swimmer's stroke the descriptor of beautiful, but what makes up a beautiful stroke? Richard Seymour discusses in a 2011 TED talk how beauty is a feeling not a physical attribute. This description truly interest me. Is beauty in the eye of the beholder? Is it in the eye of a coach? Is it in the eye of the swimmer?

Nearly everyone has heard of the 1/16th rule or the golden rule of beauty. This rule suggest beautiful faces have symmetry between points on the face. Does symmetry relate to beauty in swimming? Has anyone watched Phelps swim the 200 free, is this stroke symmetrical?

Recently a research study attempted to disprove the golden rule. These researchers had people rate a group of individuals while only viewing half of their face. Then, another group of people rated these same individuals, but were shown their whole face. The ratings were nearly identical, suggesting symmetry is not nearly as quintessential as thought.

All of these studies analyze facial beauty. What is facial beauty doing on a swimming website up for a Reader's Choice Award (shameless plug, vote for us today!)? I'm sure everyone reading have views and opinions on physical beauty, but you also have opinions on swimming stroke beauty. Does a beautiful stroke equate to swimming success? Again, watch Michael Phelps' 200 free. Is his hybrid stroke symmetrical? I feel his stroke is asymmetrical, but beautiful. Therefore, symmetry appears irrelevant in swimming and facial beauty, but is this one man's humble opinion or the consensus.

Whether discussing faces or strokes, beauty is far from being quantified, but everyone has a view or opinion on the subject. I've heard coaches, most commonly college coaches, describe some swimmers as "10 yarders". This means the coach only needs to watch the swimmer race 10 yards to know they are a gifted/talented swimmer. What are these coaches watching? Are they judging a stroke on beauty or other characteristics? If they are rating a stroke on beauty, then why can't we all agree on a beautiful stroke?

Beauty and the Beast
Unfortunately, beauty isn't the end-all be-all. If anyone saw the movie Moneyball, then they know Billy Beane went on a whim using mathematics, not scouts opinions, to formulate a winning team with minimal salary. Is this possible in swimming? This view is opposite of the "10 yarders", but is now installed in nearly every Major League Baseball team. Is it possible to know an athlete's anthropometric and certain swimming specifics (ie 100 yard kick time) to decide which swimmers will be successful? Is a coaches (or scout for baseball) view on a beautiful stoke irrelevant?

Paralysis by Analysis
The novel Blink describes art kouros the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. The museum bought a sculpture as many of the Getty's kouros felt the piece was authentic. Despite the purchase, many of the kouros felt there was something off with the sculpture. Later in the story, more kouros analyzed the sculpture. Of all the art kouros, one was able to tell with a blink of the eye that the sculpture was a fake. In this case, a split second decision, a "10 yarder" swimmer, was the best means to find the correct decision. This subconscious thought is valuable, but years of practice are required for fine tuning which doesn't guarantee the skill despite years of practice.

Wrap-up
I wish this piece could give answers about the art and beauty of swimming, unfortunately there is no consensus method to depict swimming beauty. More importantly, there is no correlation between a beautiful stroke and fast stroke. Some people are able to blink or use their subconscious to pick out an elite stroke. Others use mathematics and formulas to find elite swimmers. Realizing both areas are essential and provide insight is essential. Start looking at beauty, but attempt to quantify why it is beautiful other than "it's beautiful because I said so"! Looking for the answer will benefit the sport as the best answers to quantify a beautiful and successful stroke will be discovered and later be proved through scientific research. Remember, the artist are the people on the pool deck everyday; build the sculpture and the scientist can determine why it works.

By Dr. G. John Mullen, DPT, CSCS. He is the founder of the Center of Optimal Restoration and head strength coach at Santa Clara Swim Club.

References

Springer IN, Wannicke B, Warnke PH, Zernial O, Wiltfang J, Russo PA, Terheyden H, Reinhardt A, Wolfart S. Facial attractiveness: visual impact of symmetry increases significantly towards the midline. Ann Plast Surg. 2007 Aug;59(2):156-62..
Little AC, Jones BC. Attraction independent of detection suggests special mechanisms for symmetry preferences in human face perception. Proc Biol Sci. 2006 Dec 22;273(1605):3093-9..
Zaidel DW, Cohen JA. The face, beauty, and symmetry: perceiving asymmetry in beautiful faces. Int J Neurosci. 2005 Aug;115(8):1165-73.

Underwater Video Analysis Software Review

noreply@blogger.com (G. John Mullen) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:06:00 +0000

Now you see me, Underwater!

If you frequently read the Friday interview series, you’re sure to note the widespread endorsement of underwater video as the top training aid, ahead of lactate measurement, dryland, and recovery tools. Video analysis, from the coach’s perspective, is all about communication. Sometimes, all you need is a five second video from the deck to show someone they are crossing over with freestyle or backstroke. Other times, you need a more detailed look with software to measuring specific angles or to show off some “bling” to a triathlete enamored by the latest gadgetry.

Fortunately, with the advancement of video technology, the market is replete with video analysis software at all price points. I remember back to my junior golf and little league baseball days when this type of software was not available to the consumer and we’d analyze footage from the VCR by drawing lines on TV with erasable marker (though a couple times a Sharpie snuck in there)! Now you can perform the same analysis on your iPhone or Android for under $5.

Choosing video analysis software depends on two things: First is cost. Fortunately, highly capable systems are available as free downloads. We’ll cover the full range of cost below. Second is need. “Need” can also refer to coaching preference, as some coaches prefer to get into more detail than others. How much detail depends on individual athlete too: some athletes are satiated only by complete information, while others suffer paralysis-by-analysis with any mention of technique.

Below is a review of software with which I have personal experience. This is not a complete survey of the market, but should provide a glimpse into the more popular systems.

Dartfish
Arguably the best performing product on the market…and it better be for the cost. Widely used institutionally in sports and health care. Benefit of wide use is that if you think to yourself, “Wouldn’t it be nice if the software can do [insert feature here]?” there’s a good chance someone has previously thought of that and the feature is already part of the software or is currently in development. The leading companies like Dartfish and V1 Golf (discussed below) are constantly updating their software. Dartfish, like most of the companies, offers a free thirty day trial download to sample these features.
The drawback to Darftish is obviously the cost. If your team needs to sell boxes of do-it-yourself pizza kits to pay the gas to the State meet, Dartfish is probably out of the team budget. A sometimes forgotten consideration is the hardware requirement: Without a quality camera and equipment to keep your camera steady underwater, some of the advanced features become useless. Same applies with cheaper systems, but if you are paying thousands for Dartfish, I assume you want to utilize all it has to offer.
If you just want to point out obvious stroke flaws, you are better served with a cheaper system, although Dartfish does have advantages in user friendliness the ability to communicate with athletes by recording lessons, as in the demo video above. Technical support and continuing education opportunities are extensive but these come at a cost.

Biggest negative to Darftish…No Apple compatitibility. Sorry Steve!

V1 Golf
Don’t be fooled by the “Golf” title into thinking this is only a golf product. Yes, V1 has its largest footprint in golf instruction, but is also used by many other sports such as skiing, tennis, gymnastics, and baseball. There are a variety of options in the V1 menu:

Pro (starts at $1,295)
Home: Premium ($39.95)
Home: Basic (Free)
Apps for iPad, iPhone, and Android ($4.99)

We’ll first discuss the Pro version, which starts at $1,295 for a one camera license and one year of free tech support. Beyond a year you gotta pay more. With its recent involvement with USA Skiing, V1 has shown it is a capable system for tracking moving figures (golfers just stay in one place), though I probably give Dartfish an edge in that category.

If you have the financial resources, you can’t go wrong with either V1 Pro or Dartfish. Personally, I find V1 to have superior drawing tools, perhaps because these are the primary weapon of the video-based golf instructor. I have also found V1 easier for uploading and downloading videos directly from Youtube.

One way in which the V1 Pro version differs from the cheaper V1 options is the live-screen capture. For coaches doing private lessons, this can be a useful revenue stream, as it already is in golf and baseball. It can also be valuable in coaching professional athletes who travel extensively and need technical instruction while away from home. Likewise, if you can’t do personalized analysis during practice time, you can communicate with your team away from the pool. Here’s an example of how that it is done in a different type of “pool”…Yes, billiards is in the game of video analysis!
Also note the split screen option midway through the video, which is available in most software these days at all price points, but not in the Home (Basic) version of V1 Golf. However, as with Dartfish, if you don’t have quality hardware, many advanced features are useless. Unless you plan to coach remotely and utilize the communicative tools built into a Dartish or V1 Pro, you may find what you need in a cheaper system.

Retailing at $39.95, the 2.0 Premium is basically a stripped down version of the Professional edition. Don’t be fooled by the price, as there is no sacrifice in quality; just fewer features available. Compared to the Free (Basic) version, $39.95 buys the ability to play videos side by side and to record variable speed playback. Otherwise, the products are virtually identical.

The phone apps are a great buy at $4.99 but have limited use on deck for underwater analysis with an iPhone or Android, as you’d have to go through several steps to get the video into the device (that is, until iPhones and Android offer underwater video in their phones…). Best setup for deck analysis would be an iPad if you can remove the storage card from an underwater video camera and insert immediately into the iPad on deck. Even if you just have an iPhone, this is a cheap but potentially useful investment for breaking down starts, above-water video, and dryland exercise form.

Any sports video analysis apps on that iPhone?

Kinesiocapture
This is a relatively new product that I have not used for my own coaching, but have sampled. Overall it has gotten promising reviews from those using it in the sports performance and medical fields. Apple users rejoice, as Kinesiocaputre is ONLY compatible with Apple products. Versions are available for both the iPad and iPhone, priced at $299 and $49 respectively.

Several tutorial videos are available on the Kinesiocapture website detailing its features. As with most Apple-based products, Kinesiocapture rates high in aesthetics, interfaces nicely with Apple’s superior multimedia elements, and has an intuitive flow to its setup. Look for this product to get even better with updates in the next few years.

Kinovea
Kinovea is a free, open source system that is a well-kept secret, perhaps because they are based in Europe. Unlike the cheaper and free versions of V1 Golf, you can save analysis drawings that you make on the screen. You can’t record an entire lesson as with Dartfish and V1 Golf Pro, but you can save and share pictures as part of an edited video. For example, if you wanted to measure the elbow angle in a freestyle catch, you could measure this angle on the screen and save the image within a video, but you can’t save any voiceover.

Other features are relatively similar to other products on the market, though Kinovea does offer a split screen option, unlike the free version of V1, and is more advanced as a video editor (cutting and pasting clips). Personally, I prefer Kinovea to V1 for objects moving across the screen, but find V1 more intuitive for face-on views underwater, and stationary movements as in golf, hitting, throwing, or in-place exercises. One nice touch with Kinovea is that adding a watermark to your videos is simple.

Summary
These are hardly the only products on the market for video analysis, but all are well regarded. You might find that you don’t need any analysis tools. However, if you want to explore the options, quality software is only a free download away. If you want to spend more, you can find value at all price points from under $40 to several thousand. Always consider the quality of your camera and other hardware first before making any software investment.

By Allan Phillips. Allan and his wife Katherine are heavily involved in the strength and conditioning community, for more information refer to Pike Athletics.

Weekly Round-Up

noreply@blogger.com (G. John Mullen) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 13:52:00 +0000

Groin Kick Syndrome: Part III

noreply@blogger.com (G. John Mullen) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:00:00 +0000

Prevent GKS
In part I the process of GKS was discussed and in part II the errors in kicking were tackled. This part will give ideas for improvement and implantation on your team.

From my experience, tackling the first break down in any long chain reaction effect is necessary to improve the subsequent processes. The first step in the GKS continuum was leg spin. To improve leg spin, proper kicking biomechanics is essential. Too many swimmer rely on improving kick speed at fatigue causing fatigue and starting the GKS process. Increasing kick speed also decreases the amount of range of motion used during the kick, causing swimmers to use an improper motor program and decrease the amount of whipping motion.

Part II discussed the misconception surrounding kicking from the hips and locking their knees to kick like toothpick man/woman. Unfortunately, this decreases the quadriceps (quads) use for force production and forward propulsion. The quads are the strongest knee extensor and full activation is mandatory for a long distance per kick. Improving and maintaining distance per kick is essential to prevent leg spin and the GKS process.

Distance per kick is a subject rarely tackled with swim coaches, however if you asked any coach they would talk about the importance of distance per stroke. Kicking efficiency plays an important role in distance per stroke! Elite club and high school coach Chris Plumb hints at briefly discusses the importance of kicking efficiency in his beep, beep, beep, as his team uses tempo trainers to train dolphin kick tempo. During fatigue many swimmer's believe spinning their legs will get them from point A to B. However, this tempo will increase fatigue and be inefficient. Don't eliminate the whipping motion mandatory for an efficient kick.

Land Before Water?
Performing proper kicks on land is easier than in the pool. To learn a proper kick on land, the movement must mimic kicking as much as possible. Even though soccer kicking eliminates hip roll, soccer kicking is like kicking a soccer ball. Doesn't sound too absurd, but I'm sure some disagree, but think about it, when someone shoots a soccer ball, they will rapidly flex their hip, extend their knee and point their toes (plantarflex) to propel the ball forward. This is the same method used in the pool. One method to improve the kicking power and whipping motion is to have the swimmer perform kick backs on a soccer bungee provides an opportunity for the athlete to practice proper kicking on land.

Soccer Swimmer...

Once improved on land, the athlete must show improvement in the pool, as we could venture David Beckham may have a good kick but is unlikely to make and Olympic swim team. It is difficult to measure kicking efficiency, but a few methods are counting kicks in groups of four to determine your kick rate. This is possible with a board, without a board and rotating (like six kick switch) and with regular swimming. Once this number becomes constant, the athlete can try swimming at a desired pace with their ideal kick rate or they can perform descending kick sets with either decreasing intervals or decreasing the interval. and descend the amount of total kicks while staying on the interval. This concept of kick count could be valuable for swimmers who suffer from GKS. Remember, this isn't the only possible for GKS, but this link in the continuum plays a vital role.

Wrap-up
GKS occurs for many reasons. Try to tackle this flaw at the first step, not the step which occurs right before feeling like you were kick in the groin. Don't become a slave to the tag line of under training or wussy swimmers. Strive for answers to these complex questions while realizing the answer may be the result of many variables. Accept and embrace complexity, talking each subject one at a time.

By Dr. G. John Mullen, DPT, CSCS. He is the founder of the Center of Optimal Restoration and head strength coach at Santa Clara Swim Club.

Lats on Lats on Lats

noreply@blogger.com (G. John Mullen) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 19:12:00 +0000

Lean wit it Rock (or Roll) wit it

Backstroke is a unique stroke. Despite the obvious difference in orientation, backstroke is more than freestyle on the back. Elite backstroke swimmers have two typical stroke styles discussed eloquently by Russ Payne on backstroke: rocking or rolling. These vastly different styles differ by the degree or rotation and/or depth of the catch. These variables must fit the athlete's body type and muscle fiber preference forcing individualization and analysis for each swimmer. However, one constant aspect of backstroke independent of the swimmer's anthropometrics is the muscle used during the catch, the latissimus dorsi (lats).

The lats contract during in each stroke of each style of swimming. This is why swimmers have large backs. Line up ten elite swimmers and the ratio of shoulder width to hip width is huge, much larger than "regular Joe's" or even other athletes. This large ratio this is due to the size the lats altering the upper body to a 'V'. No studies have analyzed the activity of the lats during each stroke or the phase of each stroke, but from my experience and humble opinion the lats are used more in backstroke than any other style. This article will discuss the lats and the resultant kinetic chain movement in backstroke if used properly, like the elite backstrokers.

Lats on Lats on Lats
The lats stretch over the entire backside of the body attaching from the sacrum and thoracolumbar fasica to the inside of the humerus (upper arm) on both arms. This width of the lats resulted in its name, meaning broadest in Latin. The lats control shoulder extension, adduction and internal rotation.

Via Grant's Atlas of Anatomy

The lats also cause side bending of the body via the attachment to the sacrum.

Due to the high activity of the lats in swimming the lats are often tight. Unfortunately, tight lats have been shown to cause shoulder and low back pain (Arnheim 2007).

"Because the latissimus dorsi connects the spine to the humerus, tightness in this muscle can manifest as either sub-optimal glenohumeral joint (shoulder) function which leads to chronic pain or tendinitis in the tendinous fasciae connecting the latissimus dorsi to the thoracic and lumbar spine (Francis 1999)."

This information suggests lat stretching is necessary to improve lat length and decrease injury. I do feel lat stretching is beneficial, but in backstrokers, performing lat stretching until the cows come home is unnecessary. However, I feel lat length (at least in backstrokers) must be used during backstroke to prevent injuries and optimize reach, setting up the wiggle hips.
Wiggle Hips

I'm going to use Aaron Peirsol for this demonstration, but any elite backstroker will work. Until underwater swimming videos became readily available, everyone assumed backstroke moved in a straight line rotating forwards. This misconception was taught to numerous children and is still taught on many pool decks. Unfortunately, we have taught swimmers wrong for years, as the top backstrokers wiggle their hips side to side like they are shimmying to the Macarena.

I have yet to hear a reasonable explanation for this wiggle, but I'm making a case for the lats. As stated, the lats cause shoulder extension, adduction and internal rotation as well as side bending (aka lateral flexion) at the thoracic and lumbar spine via their attachment to the thoracolumbar fasica and sacrum. This side bending will connect one whole side of the body and bring the shoulder and hip together. Approximation of the shoulder and hips on one side will cause the spine to move from a straight line to a 'C'. This 'C' shortens the side of the pulling arm causing the hips to move lateral. This occurs on one side then the other, appearing as a wiggle.

The other side of the coin
If one side shortens the other will elongate and lengthen. Therefore, shortening on one side induces lengthening on the other side. Not only will this cause a longer, optimal reach, but will act as dynamic mobility lengthening the lats hopefully decreasing rate of shoulder and low back pain in backstrokers.

As you side bend left, the right shoulder elevates

Head Steady As with all stroke adjustments, the wiggle will be awkward. However, this move may be more awkward and complex than other stroke corrections as it requires self-correcting of the head to keep the head still. For example, if the spine from the thorax to the sacrum side bends to the right, then the head will follow unless it is corrected. The head must side bent left to resist this motion to keep the head still. Remember the head is piercing water before the rest of the body and for the body to enter through one whole it must be stable via self-correcting!

Wrap-up

Realize there are different types of backstroke in elite swimmers. However, the main muscle involved in pulling is the same whether you rock or roll. Make sure you're connecting your head during this strong whole sided catch to ensure the head is stable and leading the way to time improvements.

References

Arnheim, D.D., Prentice, W.E., Principles of athletic training. 9th ed. McGraw Hill, pp 570-574, 1997.
Francis, P., Applied anatomy and kinesiology, supplemental materials. KB Books., p 19-25, 1999.

By Dr. G. John Mullen, DPT, CSCS. He is the founder of the Center of Optimal Restoration and head strength coach at Santa Clara Swim Club.

Beep, Beep, Beep

noreply@blogger.com (G. John Mullen) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:11:00 +0000

Throwing up in the huddle...

Timing is everything. Finding a date for Friday night, getting a free sandwich, networking with potential colleagues – many opportunities in daily life can be attributed to time and space. One of the most famous football leaders of all time, Al Pacino in Any Given Sunday, may have put the coaches’ perspective on timing the best: “Because in either game, life or football, the margin for error is so small. I mean one-half step too late, or too early, you don't quite make it. One-half second too slow or too fast and you don't quite catch it. The inches we need are everywhere around us. They are in every break of the game, every minute, every second.” Okay, so maybe Al read some great lines amidst smooth background music, LL Cool J getting amped, and flashy cinematography, but the half second too slow or too fast resonates with me.
To take a more scientific approach, consider timing in skill acquisition: the muscles fire at the right time and fire in the right order, this stimulates the correct number of muscle fibers, which in turn leads to athletic success. The Talent Code author, Daniel Coyle, talks about building superhighways of myelin-sheathed neural pathways in the skill acquisition process to lead to athletic superiority. If you take enough golf swings in a highly concentrated practice, and the timing of your swing becomes impeccable due to the myelin sheath around that particular neural pathway, you too could become the next Tiger Woods, in theory anyway.

What does all of this mean in terms of swimming? As swim coaches, we have some options in creating and building race ready strokes for our swimmers. On account of the cyclical nature of our sport, one of the most impactful ways to refine your swimmers’ stroke is to examine their stroke rate. Tempo (balanced with distance per stroke) is a crucial determinate in an elite stroke; you can develop athletes to swim at an individually correct rate. This is where the tempo trainer, a well-used tool at the Carmel Swim Club, comes into play. I defer to G. John Mullen on the science of what timing a beep to a stroke does to the body and brain, but to my observant eye, I see a remarkable difference in concentration when an athlete puts a tempo trainer in their cap. The tempo trainer objectively holds each swimmer accountable to a time or rate and as such is extremely effective. The beauty is, instead of the coach constantly droning, “go faster!” your swimmer is motivated to hit a pace or tempo more intrinsically – or at least by the beep in their head.

While you can use the tempo trainer in a multitude of ways, we use them most often at Carmel Swim Club in the following four modes:

Race Pace Tempo Training
Race Pace Time Training
Kick Tempo Training (Dolphin Kick and Breaststroke Kick)
Swimming with Intent

Race Pace Tempo Training
Many of you have seen the chart that was originally inserted with the Finis tempo trainers that lists a single cycle and three stroke cycle tempo minimum, maximum, and average for each event and each gender. We utilize a version of this chart that our assistant coach, Maggie Moss, generated while she was coaching at Indiana University from 2007-2008. Maggie updated the chart by looking at the top-20 all-time performances in each event on the USA Swimming website. The race analysis data offered for each event provides the minimum (fastest), average, and maximum (slowest) tempo within each performance. Maggie took that data from each of those performances and averaged each minimum, average, and maximum for a single cycle count and for cycles per minute. The results are distributed on the chart here:

While we realize these tempos are not necessarily going to be a perfect fit for our swimmers, this chart gives us a guideline for what to work towards. After all, if we want to develop elite swimmers, it is important to expose our swimmers to what the best of the best are doing. We encourage our swimmers to start with the average tempo for their event on the chart, and then we work with them to adjust the tempo up or down depending on how their stroke looks. At Carmel, one of our favorite ways to work this is in short bursts of about 15 meters or in a set number of stroke cycles during a longer distance. For example, we do a set long course (usually in preparation for blue sets) where swimmers do four to six 100s. During each 100, swimmers must pick 15 meters anywhere within the 100 to hit race pace tempo.

Race Pace Time Training
We call this type of training, “Beat the Beep” at Carmel. We look at a swimmer’s goal time in an event and set the tempo trainer to half the time it takes for a swimmer to swim 25 yards or one-fourth of the time it takes to swim 50 meters at the indicated pace. Here is an example: Say a swimmer wants to go 50.0 in a 100 yard event, or 12.5 seconds per 25. Half of 12.5 in 6.25, and thus you set the tempo trainer to that time. The swimmer knows the tempo trainer will beep every 6.25 seconds, so, right before a beep, the swimmer goes underwater in order to push off the wall precisely on a beep. Their goal is to “beat the beep” for the designated distance. If we are doing a set of 25s in this exercise, a swimmer will have to reach the 12.5 by the second beep (counting the beep when they depart the wall as the first) and then reach the 25 by the third beep. The pattern continues for whichever distance we choose to pace that day. To make sure we are effectively measuring pace, we have our swimmers go to their feet. “Beat the Beep” does not necessarily have to be for race pace training, but can be used for any kind of training in practice where having your swimmers hit a certain time is the goal.

Kick Temp Training
Want to speed up or slow down a dolphin kicker? Put a tempo trainer in their cap. I believe the tempo trainer is effective for dolphin kick as it often informs swimmers that they are not kicking nearly fast enough (or as fast as they think they are kicking). One tradeoff of manipulating a swimmer’s dolphin kick may be a decrease in the size of the kick. It is therefore essential that the coach and athlete work together to ensure that the kick’s amplitude remains appropriate for each swimmer. We also find the tempo trainer useful in breaststroke kicking. The device helps hold the swimmer accountable to maintaining a proper tempo for practice. Again, you can play with the rate and adjust accordingly through a set, but it is important to keep a close eye on how the swimmer maintains the size of their kick.

Swim with Intent
I find one of the biggest challenges of being a swim coach to be getting swimmers to transfer great looking moderate swimming into race-hardened technique. The tempo trainer is useful to bridge great technique with race appropriate speeds. Use the tempo trainer to gradually transition moderate swimming into race pace swimming. It’s interesting to watch the swimmers manipulate their strokes and listen to them discuss where breakdowns are occurring as the rate increases. I recommend doing 25’s in groups of four or six and gradually increasing the rate until the preferred technique breaks down.

Wrap-up
Hopefully the information and suggested uses for the tempo trainers offered here helps get you thinking about how tempo work and different pace exercises can work within your program. The most important thing I’ve learned after working with these tools over the years is that they offer a guideline of where to begin with tempo. Work closely with your swimmers to figure out what works best with them. Encourage them to play with it, let them have fun and take ownership in communicating what happens to their stroke at different paces and tempos. Timing is everything, of course, but each swimmer has their own timing that works the best for them.

By Chris Plumb. He is the head coach of Carmel Swim Club in Carmel, Indiana. As Carmel high school head coach Chris has coached the team for the last 5 of their 25 consecutive women and 2 of the boys last 13 state titles.

Oscillating Oxygen

noreply@blogger.com (G. John Mullen) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:51:00 +0000

Oscillating Oxygen
A couple weeks ago we discussed Optimizing Breathing Patterns in a post that sparked quality discussion. Let’s take this post to consider what patterns are we actually optimizing? The word “pattern” implies orderliness rather than breathing whenever we feel like it. Other than a no-breath 50, every race can involve multiple patterns, so it important to understand what they are to count appropriately.

Counting breaths can be tricky!

The aim of this post is not to advocate for a particular strategy as the most optimal for all swimmers in each event. As we saw in the data from the Men’s 100m Free at Worlds, strategies among a homogeneous group can vary significantly. Further, we can’t tell whether an individual swimmer optimized their breathing strategy for a given race based on result alone. In this post, we’ll catalog some of the different breathing patterns available.
Terminology can get messy in this area so we’ll go ahead and define some terms up front.

No breathing = Self explanatory.
Same side = Every 2, 4, 6, etc. Breathing to the same side of the pool.
Alternate side = Every 3, 5, 7, etc. Alternate right side breaths with left side breaths.
Consecutive = Breathing consecutive strokes. Stroke and breathe right, then immediately stroke and breathe left. Never seen it before? Read on!

No Breathing

Obviously the only race for which this would be an option is the 50 free. Just about every competitive swimmer can actually do a no-breath 50, but some will breathe several times during the race. Big question is how much practice time to devote for developing this skill at race effort, both in the 50s but also for closing out longer events. To save one or two breaths, is it worth sacrificing velocity in practice to train hypoxia toleration? The current evidence, both in the literature and anecdotally, indicates hypoxic training does not improve fitness as was once thought. Might there be an alternate justification as part of a race rehearsal strategy?

The above might seem like a small point, but the 50 can be decided by a fingernail or less. Fortunately, the 50 can be practiced frequently which allows for the collection of more race and time trial data. Additionally, we know that respiratory demands can change during periods of anxiety. Hopefully the swimmer will have the mental state to keep their breathing under control, but last minute race adjustments are sometimes needed. This consideration applies for all distances. Air quality, particularly with older indoor natatoriums, can be inconsistent, which may also require calling an audible on race day to suit the conditions. The concern is less for the 50 than for distance events, but is still worth noting.

Sometimes you need to call an audible.

Same side breathing

Every two – is the preferred pattern for many swimmers in middle distance and distance events. Remember that energetics and respiration are duration dependent, not distance dependent. At the 1:45 mark in the 200m free, when the fastest in the world are done with the race, even a female hitting an Olympic Trials qualifier (2:03) still has nearly 20 more seconds of swimming to go! Although quantification of inspiratory muscle strength is not widely available, we do know that respiration ability varies by individual and should be treated as such. A dogmatic attachment to any single breathing pattern should be avoided.
Duration is not the only consideration for same-side breathing. Biomechanics play a role too. It’s hard to say whether a history of massive yardage breathing to one side ingrains a same-side pattern or whether preexisting physical traits lead a swimmer to favor one side (most likely it’s a combination of both). Regardless of the cause, there are some swimmers for whom learning to race while breathing to their weak side qualifies as a major stoke change; the kind that if it goes wrong could send a career into a tailspin. Look at muscle length, strength, and timing in the upper extremities before trying to force a pattern change. If a change to bilateral breathing must occur, it should be accompanied by the appropriate dryland work to support new demands on the other side of the body.
Asymmetry isn’t necessarily bad, just as a balanced stroke isn’t inherently good. Some of the most balanced strokes you’ll see are also pretty slow…just hang out with triathletes who worry more about bilateral breathing than the pace clock. One the flip side, I’ve been around veteran masters swimmers who would have preferred repeat 200 flys rather than take a single breath to their “off” side.

Also account for strength of underwaters. A swimmer who can perform more dolphin kicks off each wall may need to breathe more frequently between the flags to make up for the length of time and exertion underwater. However, the corollary to this is not automatically true: spending less time underwater does not require the swimmer to breathe less on the surface, although it may be a viable strategy for some.

Every four or more – This pattern is an option for selected parts of middle distance races, as well as in the closing stretches of longer races. Rarely is this the dominant pattern beyond 100m.

Every two mixed with every four – Multiple combinations are possible here, such as 2-4-2 or 2-2-4. Any of these strategies are analogous to alternate side strategies (described below) for swimmers whose weak side breathing is not race-ready. In other words, if you think an Every 3 pattern is a good fit for the swimmer’s respiration ability, but the swimmer lacks proficiency breathing to his/her weak side, consider a blend of every two mixed with every four.

Alternate Side breathing

Bilateral – Generally refers to every three strokes while racing. Although every five or every seven are also options, they are infrequently used as a dominant pattern. Two big concerns here: first is obtaining enough oxygen. Most would agree the ability to breathe to both sides is important and should be a part of training, but is not always appropriate for racing. Second consideration is whether it is compatible for the swimmer’s stroke. Swimmers whose racing freestyle stroke resembles a one-arm fly drill may have trouble, as will older swimmers who were never encouraged (or forced) to breathe to their weak side. Younger swimmers may be encouraged to breathe this way to establish balance, but may be freed from this restriction when race times become more important and event specialties emerge.

One side up, other side back – Pattern used by Ian Thorpe while racing. I’m not suggesting that because Ian Thorpe did it therefore you should too, but rather that it’s an option for those with sufficient balance to breathe to the weak side in a race but who need more frequent respiration. If racing head-to-head, this also allows you to breathe every two strokes while keeping tabs on a competitor.

Hybrid breathing - I used the term “hybrid” in the previous segment to describe a mix of same side breathing with bilateral breathing. I would describe hybrid breathing as this: breathing multiple times to the same side in an “every two” pattern, but then breathing every three to get to the other side, at which you breathe multiple times to that side in an “every two” pattern. A hybrid pattern such as this provides more oxygen intake and CO2 expulsion than bilaterally every three, but creates symmetry not found in breathing to the same side. If my description of hybrid breathing was confusing, just watch what Katie Hoff does in the freestyle leg of this video and you’ll see for yourself (around 2:45 is a good example)!

Every Stroke Breathing Quick…hide the kids before they realize you can breathe between the flags and the wall, and in the first stroke off the wall!

Breathing to both sides in consecutive strokes is not reserved for beginners who are afraid to put their faces in the water. Here is a great video with 1500m WR holder Sun Yang who not only breathes to both sides consecutively, but on occasion breathes on three consecutive strokes. Additionally, he practically takes his entire head out of the water to breathe and looks forward at the wall before his flip turn. How dare he swim so fast!

The modern trend has been to increase breathing in all races, especially distance events. Sun and fellow Korean distance ace Park Tae-Hwan have taken it to a different level in breathing consecutive strokes. Supposedly Kieren Perkins utilized this tactic as well, though it is hard to verify that claim with the absence of quality videos from the 90s.

Time will tell whether this catches on and whether it is appropriate for non-elites. Heck, we don’t even know if it is optimal for Sun and Park, but I have to believe the Chinese sports science machine performed their due diligence before settling on this method. What is promising about the tactic is that despite a clearly unbalanced stroke, Sun makes this tactic work with minimal disruption to his rhythm. Ultimately it will be up to coaches in the laboratory of the pool deck to experiment and determine for which swimmers, if any, this tactic is optimal. Personally, I think it has potential to become more widespread, though it could be a disaster when tried with younger swimmers.

Summary

Breathing patterns vary widely from not breathing at all to breathing every stroke. Hopefully cataloging multiple patterns in one place will aid coaches in deciding which pattern is most optimal for each swimmer in each event and in each segment of those events. Consider multiple factors from respiratory ability, fitness, technique, individual anatomy, mental state, pacing, age, and environmental conditions when deciding upon the optimal breathing strategy.

By Allan Phillips, he and his wife Katherine are heavily involved in the strength and conditioning community, for more information refer to Pike Athletics.

Weekly Round-up

noreply@blogger.com (G. John Mullen) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 15:02:00 +0000

Do squats damage your spine? by Charles Poliquin
Contreras Files Volume 2 by Bret Contreras read his Friday Interview: Bret Contreras
Anatomy of a speed drill by Lee Taft
Swimmers may not benefit from their usual competition warm-up by Swimmer's Daily
One arm cable press - Performance U style by Nick Tumminello (I suggest having the cable between the arm and the body to incorporate external rotator strength)
L-arginine improves recovery but not muscle strength
Training for the 400 meters: A retrospect by Jimson Lee 400 meters is the 100 meters of track, interesting comparison.
Random post by Elliott Keefer sounds like he's not convinced with thFS3
The two Mikes by Casey Barrett
10 Minute Solution: Knee Pain by Dr. John, DPT, CSCS
Dryland Tip: Self Soft Tissue Infraspinatus

Stats Saturday: Men's 50 Free Anthony Ervin

noreply@blogger.com (G. John Mullen) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 16:54:00 +0000

This past weekend in Austin brought a lot of interest to the men's 50 free (check out Stats Sunday: WR Comparison Men's 50 free). With all the "comebacks" for this upcoming Olympics, I will argue with anyone Mr. Ervin's is the most impressive. His 10 year departure and unorthodox career (a license tattoo artist) for an athlete is one of the most unusual in the sport. After his first retirement many whispers surround this young, talented athlete regarding wasted talent and laziness, but remember he did win Olympic gold in 2000 and is only 30 years old, putting him on the cusp of the age when men reach their peak strength.

His 10 years off appears to cause no more than a slight hiccup in his training. Ervin is still one of the best sprinters in the world as his ability to get into his catch and his high stroke rate are unfathomable. He is able find clear water better than any swimmer. Despite his good attributes, he still demonstrates flaws as the sport progressed towards underwater kicking he still hows a poor start with little to no underwater kicking causing early stroking. This flaw puts him behind the ball during every race and forces him to use a higher and faster stroke rate than his peers. In Austin he took 39 strokes, 3 more cycles than Cesar's 20.91and 2 more than Bousquet's 20.94 (Race Analysis: Cesar Cielo 20.91) . Sure this difference could be due to his slower overall time, or suits, but Adrian took 34 strokes and Bousquet 35 strokes. Taking two or more stroke cycles directly correlates his break out time of 2.48 seconds (nearly one second than Cielo's 20.91). These extra strokes will cause his body to transition from the creatine phosphate system (lasts approximately 10-15 seconds) to the glycolytic system earlier causing fatigue.

Ervin never competed during the reign of the hi-tech suits which eased fatigue and provide invaluable core stabilization during fatigue. These benefits would have immensely helped him, considering the suits made vast improvements of the last 15 meters during a 50 meter race. To demonstrate, 0.5 of the 0.6 difference between Cesar's 20.91 and his 21.52 from World Championships came during the last 15 meters as lactate and fatigue s settle.

Despite likely using all his creatine phosphate system, not having the hi-tech suits and having to use more glycolysis (producing lactate) than his peers, I still like Ervin's chances to make the Olympic Team. His catch and stroke rate unmatched.

Simple improvements with his start could make him above his peers, but I doubt this will be changed due to his age and lost time. Luckily, he is talented enough to make the team without this correction and I like his chances.

Bold prediction: 21.60 at Olympic Trials, placing him 2nd and making the Olympic team.

What do you think?

Friday Interview: Eric McGinnis

noreply@blogger.com (G. John Mullen) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 15:01:00 +0000

1) Please introduce yourself to the readers (how you started in swimming, education, experience, etc.).

My name is Eric McGinnis and I’m from Raleigh, North Carolina. I started swimming year round at 10 years old, mainly because my older brother, Matt, showed success at a young age and I wanted to be like him. I swam at the University of Kentucky and specialized in the 50 and 100 yd free. At UK I majored in exercise science and am currently a strength and conditioning coach for Spectrum Sports Performance in Winter Park, Florida.

2) What is your current training schedule?  
At the moment my training schedule consists of no swimming (laughs). I’m currently “retired”, although I am being strongly encouraged to make a comeback. I lift 5 days a week and am planning on entering my first Olympic weightlifting meet in the near future.

3) How do you incorporate mobility and stretching into your training?  
My warm-up routine always consists of soft tissue work (such as foam rolling or using other trigger point tools) and dynamic stretching. I stopped warming up with static stretching (holding stretches for extended periods of time to make the muscles relax) in college and started performing my static stretches after workout and at the end of the day. Currently, I do very little static stretching but I found that I haven’t really lost any range of motion. I believe this is due to the consistent strengthening that I do at full range of motion when training the Olympic lifts.

4) What is the weirdest training you've done throughout your career?
In the water it would have to have been the summer of 2008 going in to Olympic Trials. The volume of yards I did was INCREDIBLY low. The intensity, however, was almost always very high. Lots of land work incorporated with the swimming. I would have workouts where I wound dunk a basketball 10 times, run a 200 yd sprint, do a rope climb, then finish with a 50 meter sprint with fins and paddles. Not sure how much rhyme or reason there was to the specifics of the training, but it was fun and I had great results. That season I qualified for World University Games by placing 2nd at the U.S. Open in the 50m Free. I will say that recovering from that training was very difficult though.

5) What aspects of your swimming are you currently concentrating on?
Finding motivation to get back in the water (laughs). My younger brother, Zach, is lighting it up for Virginia Tech so I’m focused on supporting him. During his holiday breaks I got to help him with some start and turn work and I had a great time doing it.

6) What drills/activities are you doing to achieve this?
I’m stronger and more explosive than I was when I was in my swimming prime, so if I do make my way back into the water I should have something to work with. My current level of conditioning is lacking a bit, however.

7) In your opinion, what was the biggest adjustment you made in your swimming career (stroke biomechanical, training, dryland)?
I learned that I didn’t have to front load my season with aerobic conditioning to have a successful taper/season. Recovery is aerobic in nature so some level of aerobic conditioning is certainly necessary for sprinters. This can be achieved by cycling in appropriate aerobic work for the events being targeted. Coaches often forget that aerobic training and distance training are not synonymous. Aerobic refers to an energy system and is not movement specific. I believe coaches should avoid using distance training for aerobic benefit when targeting short distance events. Aerobic work can be accomplished in or out of the pool, and without useless garbage yardage.

8) Over the past few years, what is the biggest change you've made with your training?
I would have to say learning to know when I need to push it and when I need to back off. During any swim season I would get to a point around early December where I had little motivation to train, I would doubt myself, had issues dealing with all my stresses (school, relationships, practice, etc.), and mood issues. As I grew older and smarter I realized this was a classic case of overtraining, and it was very common for me. My taper was getting longer and longer each season in an attempt to dig me out of that hole. Swimming has a mentality that if you don’t train full throttle every day two times a day then you’re a sissy so it can be tough to avoid this. Luckily I built good relationships with my coaches and I was able to cycle in necessary recovery a little more often during my last couple seasons in swimming. I should add that my coach during my last year and a half of high school was actually really good about avoiding overtraining. He typically had a recovery week cycled every three weeks, which worked quite well.

9) What projects are you working on in and outside the pool?
This is my first year working for Spectrum Sports Performance. We have our own facility and we also work with some teams in the area, including Trinity Prep Academy High School and most of the Rollins College athletic teams. My primary responsibilities are coaching at Rollins, particularly running the Softball and Swim team strength programs. It has been a blast; I love working in the college setting. I’ve made the switch from athlete to coach. If I do decide to train again it will be part time. I’m committed to helping others with their own athletic endeavors. Hopefully I can bring something new to the table for swimmers and other athletes that wasn’t available to me when I was competing.

Thanks Eric!

Groin Kick syndrome: Part II

noreply@blogger.com (G. John Mullen) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:58:00 +0000

Kick Konfusion

Over the weekend many athlete's tightened up at the end of their races. Tightening up or groin kick syndrome is a multi-factorial result, but one potential mechanism was discussed last week with groin kick syndrome: part I. In order to improve this facet in your swimmers it is essential to understand the chain of events and give a method for improvement. Unlike many circumstances where one variable is the cause, GKS is multi-variable and halting events at the beginning of the chain will improve the subsequent variables.

Many coaches default GKS as purely a conditioning flaw or even worse a gauge an athlete's toughness. These two reasons do occur, but are not always the result. Looking for solutions is essential and relying on a $300 suit isn't the answer, as minimal differences were noted in Austin, TX with the new tech suits. I do not think these suits will make a noticeable change in times, but it will be hard to gauge. For example, if a swimmer improves 0.1 in a 10o free, was it secondary to the suit or training? This is a tough decision someone must make when you have a 13-year old girl spending $700 on a suit!

I feel the goggles are the only vast improvement, not sure how much but I'm intrigued yet disappointed it took this long for goggles to transition towards cyclist helmets considering more drag occurs in water than air. Then again, they are going higher speeds and their head is the first object to pave the way in new air, typically (hopefully) the arms are breaking new water and the head isn't leading the way.

Back to GKS, leg spin is the first step in the GKS continuum. Improving leg spin and distance per kick is the most influencial aspect for improvement with distance per kick. If this aspect improves, the rest of the continuum will follow suit. The best method to improve leg spin is to improve distance per kick (DPK). This unfamiliar topic is like distance per stroke, but measures kicking efficiency. From my experience, many coaches and learn to swim instructors are unfamiliar with the biomechanical movement of a kick. Unfortunately, no concrete evidence (that I've seen) has measured the kinematics of freestyle kicking, but underwater video can do wonders!

Kicking biomechanical confusion

"Keep your knees straight! Kick from your hips!"

These two phrases are constantly screamed at little kids on the pool deck. Unfortunately, straight knees are far from the reality in elite swimmers. Great swimmers typically do 60-80 knee flexion to propel themself forward with a rapid knee extension. I'm not suggesting initiating from the hip isn't important, but in reality swimmers use approximately 1/3 the amount of hip extension compared to knee flexion.

In the Club it's going down...kick

Flutter kicking is a whipping motion starting from the hip. First the core must stabilize to prevent excessive frontal and transverse movement, then the hip must begin to flex (for a downkick), then the knee extends and the ankle points (plantarflexes). This whip motion generates more force than kicking with straight legs like toothpicks. This downkick is the most propulsive movement in kicking and teaching swimmers to only kick from the hips takes out the most power muscles in the downkick the rectus femoris (RF). The RF is the only muscle which flexes the hip and extends the hip, having proper timing and use is essential to prevent step 2 in GKS, No Ro.

No Ro is the result of fatigue causing poor muscle timing. Studies on soccer players (Apriantono 2006) found a decrease in kicking velocity was due to poor kick coordination, they stated:

"slower peak lower leg angular velocity, was most likely due to a significantly reduced resultant joint moment and motion-dependent interactive moment during kicking. These results suggest that the specific muscle fatigue induced in the present study not only diminished the ability to generate force, but also disturbed the effective action of the interactive moment leading to poorer inter-segmental coordination during kicking. Moreover, fatigue obscured the eccentric action of the knee flexors immediately before ball impact. This might increase the susceptibility to injury."

Soccer kicking isn't identical to swimming kicking, as more hip extension is utilized in soccer, but the same process and muscles involved (in my opinion) results in many similarities.

Upkicking Ain't Easy Baby

A lot of coaches stress the upkick, feeling it propels the body forward. In my opinion, the upkick is less about propulsion, but more for balance and rhythm. If you only kick one way, your body can't perform the subsequent phase properly. For example, if you don't do a correct or full upkick, then your downkick won't be in the right starting position. These two phases need seamless transitions and if your body is stick downkicking, then you'll never achieve a whip kick. The upkick sequence starts with hip extension, then knee flexion and slight ankle dorsiflexion.

It is clear to see the end of the upkick is the beginning of the downkick. Finishing each phase fully sets up the body or the next kick by providing balance and rhythm.

Wrap-up

Next week I will discuss methods to improve the whip like motion of the downkick, forcing a rhythmic upkick and methods to measure and practice distance per kick (DPK).

By Dr. G. John Mullen, DPT, CSCS. He is the founder of the Center of Optimal Restoration and head strength coach at Santa Clara Swim Club.

Monthly Dryland Program: Phase II Intermediate Stabilization

noreply@blogger.com (G. John Mullen) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 20:32:00 +0000

If you missed the phase I program, start there first! It is essential to start basic and advance your stabilization exercises. Stability is the base of all exercises allowing optimal force production. See Monthly Dryland Program: Phase I Stabilization if you missed it and start there. This will be a monthly dryland exercise list compliments of the Center of Optimal Restoration (COR). If you want to receive information like this join the Swimming Science and COR e-mail list. Enjoy!

Phase II: Intermediate Stabilization

Muscle Strength
Remember the rules of low back stabilization. Make sure your back is stable as a rock!

Rules
1. Maintain the back position as instructed.
2. Do not let that position change AT ALL during the exercise.
3. Stop if the exercise causes 'your pain'.
4. Stop if can not keep the correct back position

HOH Curl-ups
-Lie on your back with knees bent. Lock your fingers together over your head. Flatten back before initiating movement. Do a curl-up,until the bottom of the shoulder blades come off the floor. Keep abdominals tight and back flat at all times. There is a great tendency to arch your back as your lift. Do not let this happen.

Side Plank with/without Rotations
-Lie on your side with your elbow bent and your feet together. Lift your hips towards the sky, with your shoulders and hips stacked on top of each other. This can be progressed by rotating your body towards the ground, tapping your hand and foot on the side of the floor you are facing. For beginners start with your knees bent and hold the plank.

Plank Rocks
-Roll out on ball or on ground on forearms with your legs extended. Move through the hips not through the shoulders. Make sure you keep the back rounded toward the ceiling, then rock through your ankles.

Bridge Hold/March
-On the Swiss ball or chair get into a bridge position. Have your knees shoulder width apart and your hands on the floor for support. Straighten one leg, let it down and repeat with the opposite side. DO NOT LET YOUR BACK ARCH, OR PELVIS/SPINE MOVE IN ANY WAY. YOU MUST STAY ABSOLUTELY STILL.

If you have a Swiss Ball, make sure you follow these rules to prevent the low back from cheating.

Rules:
1. Starting Position: Hug the ball face down, with knees bent. Flatten your back as instructed. Tuck the chin.
2. In all of the following exercises, as you bring your arms up, you will have a tendency to arch your back. In order to target the scapular stabilizers and not cheat through the thoracic and lumbar spine, only perform the exercises with the back flattened.

Swiss Ball/3-Point Windmill (SB Windmill)
-Keeping the arms as straight as possible, bring one arm forward and keep the other arm behind. The forward arm should have the thumb up, the backward arm should have the thumb down. Lift both arms, thinking about bringing your shoulder blades together.

Swiss Ball/3-Point Y (SB Y)
-Keeping your arms as straight as possible (at 11:00 and 1:00), bring both arms in front, thumbs up. Raise the arms as high as you can, remembering to raise them only as far as you can maintain your starting back position. Lower the arms slowly and repeat.

Band Pulls

-While standing, obtain the compact position. Bend your elbows and have your palms facing the sky with your elbows next to your side, pull a band to rotate your arm outward. Slowly return to the starting position, MAINTAIN YOUR ELBOW POSITION!

Muscle Length

Rules:

1. Lie on the tennis ball focusing on the instructed areas
2. The more sensitive or tender the area, the slower you should go
3. Stop if the exercises causes pain
4. Perform for 30 seconds – 2 minutes

Tennis Ball Iliotibial Band (TB ITB)
-Lie on your side with a tennis ball under your lower thigh, on the bottom leg, just above your knee. Bend the top leg’s knee and place it flat in front of the bottom leg. Push through your top leg and forearms to move the tennis ball.

Tennis Ball Calf
-Sit-up with one leg straight and the other bent, then place the tennis ball under the outside calf of the straight leg.

Tennis Ball Pectoral

-Lie on your stomach and place a tennis ball on the upper, outer portion of your chest. Place the tennis ball as close to your shoulder as possible, with the ball still on the muscle. You may need to position your arm diagonally to allow your arm to relax.

Tennis Ball Midback (TB midback)
-Lie on your side and place a tennis ball under your back as instructed. Give yourself a bear hug, grabbing your shoulder blades, then roll on and off the tennis ball ten times. Move the tennis ball to the next level and roll again.

Kneeling Quad Stretch
-Kneel on one knee with your other leg forward with your foot flat on the ground. Use a table or chair to your side for balance and a pillow under your knee if padding is necessary. Line up your body over the knee that you are kneeling on. In this position do a pelvic tilt or 'tuck under' and you will feel a stretch in the front of your thigh. Common mistakes are arching your low back or leaning forward which negates the stretch.

By Dr. G. John Mullen, DPT, CSCS. He is the founder of the Center of Optimal Restoration and head strength coach at Santa Clara Swim Club.