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Coaches Newsletter
Current Newsletter
July 2010
Achieve
May 2010 Part I | Part
II | Part III | Part
IV | Part V | June
2010
Jan 2010 | Feb 2010
| Mar 2010 | April
2010
Feb 2009 | Mar 2009
| Apr 2009 | May 2009
| June 2009 | Dec
2009
A review from one of our swimmers
I’ve been coming to Ken Holland for swim stroke coaching for three+
years. Every time I visit, he’s got new ideas and suggestions for how
to improve. With swimming, it’s all about efficiency in the water; Ken
is an expert on how to achieve optimal efficiency and body alignment. On my
last visit to Ken’s place, he had me try out a new technique in his
dual Endless Pool (EP) facility that challenged my technique and endurance.
Ken set me up in the pool with both EP currents flowing, one faster than the
other. He had me start out in the “slow lane” and then drift over
to the “fast lane” and stay there as long as I could — I
then drifted back to the “slow lane” and swam until I recovered;
I repeated this process for about 20 minutes. As any swimmer knows, it’s
when we get tired that our technique starts to fall apart. This new training
method Ken developed challenged me to not only work hard, but also keep my
stroke efficient throughout the process. Having a “slow lane”
to move over to, provided “active recovery” which is ideal for
improving endurance. As I train for my long-distance open water swims this
season, I’ll be going back for more “dual lane” EP workouts
at Kens.
-Roger (Age 44)
SWIMMITTs
O2 SWIMMING designed the SWIMMITT to help all swimmers
advance their technique primarily by forcing them to swim from their core
and stop the endless arm cycling. Throughout the summer, O2 SWIMMING did testing
of prototypes on various levels of swimmers and triathletes. One thing became
clear - this is an awesome training aid that sharply increases the learning
curve both with and WITHOUT professional coaching. By "hiding" the
swimmers hands, we are able to lengthen them out on the water and engage the
forearm as a paddle. Without the sensitive hand and fingers in the equation,
the swimmer will swim slower initially as they build a stronger core - this
reduces potential injuries by shifting the burden off the smaller arm muscles
and onto the larger back and chest muscles (core power). As proficiency is
gained, speed is a "free" byproduct. The SWIMMITT causes a hyper
focus and shifts the mind off the clock and onto the technique. The best swimmers
spend the most time doing APPROPRIATE drills. Our Olympic team does not just
bang out thousands of yards a day, as a matter of fact MOST of the workouts
are NOT whole stroke swimming !!
We recommend the SWIMMITT to any swimmer with a reasonable degree of competency
and they are available in 3 sizes both with and without a sealed thumb. We
designed the open thumb for the younger swimmers to increase their feeling
of security by being less "restricted". To my surprise, half of
the adults love the freedom on an open thumb as well to adjust goggles, etc.
Try a pair today ! They are manufactured here in Doylestown and available
only at The Training Zone and O2 SWIMMING.
SwimStrong. SwimSilent.
Ken Holland
Coach
O2 Swimming
267-994-0568