(or how to keep focussed when your goggles fog up)

By Wayne Goldsmith

And this is what makes WINTER TRAINING so tough. Less competitions, fewer real competition goals (and colder mornings). It’s dark in the morning when you go to training: it’s dark when leave the pool at night. You are working just as hard, yet the enthusiasm to keep up the hard work (and win every workout) is getting tougher to find.

Here are ten tips to get you through the winter blues:

Stay healthy. Consult a SPORTS DIETICIAN about a healthy eating plan that may include the right combination of vitamin and mineral supplements to keep your immune system functioning well.

Find every possible opportunity to compete. Organise races within your club. Challenge older and faster club members to handicap races with a small prize to the winner. Organise unofficial "SKINS" meets with other clubs. Whatever you do……..Keep racing!

Make your SUMMER PB’s winter goals by adjusting them for short course. As a rough guide, take your SUMMER PB’s and reduce them by one second per 50 metres. For example, if your summer PB for 100 backstroke is 1:35 long course, make your first winter goal for 100 backstroke short course 1:33. The cycle then repeats itself the following summer, when your WINTER PB’s become your first long course targets. The 1:33 from short course is now your long course goal. Using this simple system gives you definite swimming goals every season and is an effective way to progress over several years of competition.

Develop a Deadly Race kick. Aim to kick at least 40 metres in your 50 metre PB time. Try to kick 75 metres in your 100 metre PB time. Go for 200 metres kick in under three minutes. Also try to regularly FIN KICK faster than your summer swimming PB’s in training. Strong kick developed in winter is a great way to PB’s in summer.

Do "WINTER SPLITS". If your SUMMER goal is Scottish Championships, get a copy of last year’s results. Look at the times that made top 10, top 5, medalled and won. These become your short course "split goals". For example, if your goal is TOP 10 in the year 2000, and the time that got tenth place in 1999 was 1:40, this becomes a winter goal for you. Breaking that time into splits, your first training goal will be to do a set of 4 x 25 metres holding 25 seconds (1:40 divided by four) with 30 seconds rest between each. Once you achieve that time, try 4 x 25 holding 25 seconds with only 15 seconds rest between each, then 4 x 25 holding 25 with 5 seconds rest. Next try 2 x 50 holding 50 seconds with 30 seconds rest and so on. This technique gives you definite goals to work towards and you can readily see how you are improving. The ultimate goal for the season would be to swim 1:40 (or better) in training consistently and confidently. Then re-set your goals for Top 5 and repeat the process.

No dive PB. Another simple goal setting technique is to aim to swim your SUMMER long course PB in a short course pool during training without a dive start.

Develop skills and techniques in other events and other strokes. Try medley, try long distance free, try 200 metres in all strokes. Swim 50 metre events in each stroke, then add the times together. Swim the 200 medley and see how close you can get the medley time to the combined times of the four 50 metre events. Do the same with 100’s and the 400 medley.

Go to meets and experiment with warm ups. Try an all dryland warm up using jogging, warm showers, stretch cords and stretching.

Work on turns. A great technique for improving turn times in fly and breast is to reduce HAND TOUCH-FOOT TOUCH time. Hand touch-foot touch is the time it takes from when your hands (always two hands - even in training) touch the wall in fly and breast until your feet touch the wall. The tighter and snappier the turn, the faster the hand touch-foot touch time. Remember to keep your body tight, knees to your chest, heels to your bum. A good goal for age group swimmers is to aim to have every fly and breast hand touch-foot touch time under one second in training. Then aim for less than 0.9second. Turns under 0.8 of a second are in the excellent category.

Incorporate skill goals into your time goals. For example:

Aim to swim your long course PB in a short course pool.

Count your strokes and breaths.

Next aim to swim your PB time with less strokes.

Then aim to swim the time with less strokes and fewer breaths.

Finally aim to swim one second faster than your long course PB.

Then one second faster with fewer strokes, less breaths and so on.

 

For example:

PB Long Course time 100 buttefly = 1:32

Stoke count = 40 for the first 50 metres and 47 for the second 50.

Breaths = 18 breaths for the first 50 and 23 for the second 50.

First goal: 1:32 with 39 strokes and 46 strokes.

Second goal: 1:32 with 39 strokes 17 breaths, and 46 strokes 22 breaths.

Third goal: 1:31 with 39 strokes 17 breaths and 46 strokes 22 breaths.

Fourth goal: 1:31 with 38 strokes 17 breaths, and 45 strokes 22 breaths.

Fifth goal: 1:31 with 38 strokes 16 breaths and 45 strokes 21 breaths.

Sixth goal: 1:30 with 38 strokes 16 breaths and 45 strokes 21 breaths.

Repeat the above, reducing the time by one second, then the stroke counts and the breath counts.

Great swimmers swim at maximum speed with minimum strokes and minimum breaths. Work on skills and speed constantly.

Winter is a great time to develop skills and techniques that will give you an edge in the warmer months. Set goals that you can chase every session and targets that you can work on at every opportunity.

Remember… "THE PERSON WHO AIMS AT NOTHING IS CERTAIN TO HIT IT".