GERRY RODRIGUES Gerry Rodrigues Tower 26 Club www.tower26.com - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

GERRY RODRIGUES

Gerry Rodrigues

• Tower 26 Club
• www.tower26.com
• 100% Triathletes
• Coaching Triathletes for 30 Years

Technique

• Differences between swimmers and triathletes
• Key Question: What is stopping a person from improving?
• Focuses for mechanics:
• Good Structural Presence
• Alignment
• Propulsion

Structural Presence

• Maintain form in a suspended/weightless state
• New swimmers are rigid out of fear.
• The body is the framework for all mechanics
• First piece to go as an athlete fatigues
• Training
• Vertical Kicking
• Kicking with Snorkel
• Aim to minimize torso rocking while kicking

Always FAST Swimming!

• Fast=tighter frame
• Short and fast swimming assists in teaching structure.

Alignment

• Focus on hands, as they guide alignment.
• Establish a center line and minimize crossover with hands.
• Hand must stay between center line and line off of the same side shoulder.
• Head must stay aligned with spine.
• Minimize head tilt

Propulsion

• Propulsion does not exist without the first two points.
• Requires firm hands underwater
• Gentile hands=slow
• Firm hands=powerful

Coaching Cues

• Talk simply but with intent
• Use analogies
• Remember your audience
• Swimming for exercise?
• Triathlete?
• Competitive swimmer?

New Swimmer Frustration

• Usually get too much information when learning technique
• Taught to kick hard
• Heightened heart rate
• Not much propulsion
• Quick frustration for new swimmer
• The key points are all the age group swimmer needs to make big

improvement.

Swimming for Triathletes

• Training protocol is dictated by race and athlete goals for that race
• Beginner:
• “Recreation can be a subset of competition but competition can not be a subset of

recreation.”

• Teach based on what the athlete wants to achieve.
• Look at the question of “time.”
• Swimming is a small portion of the overall triathlon.
• Feel for the water is developed by more frequency with water
• Swim 4x40 minutes a week instead of 2x1:20 a week

We are land animals!

• Water movement patterns do not occur regularly on land.
• The key is to build comfort with the water.
• Swimming frequently does not have to mean long duration practices.
• Everything comes back to the athlete’s goals.

Training Mistakes

• Swimming continuously instead of mixing in intervals
• Swim coaches are looking at races that last four minutes or less.
• Triathletes need to be aware of this when understanding principles of

swimming.

• Lack of consideration for variables that occur in triathlon

Open Water Training

• Build a foundation into the pool first.
• Safety is critical for open water swimming.
• Practice sighting, muscular endurance, etc. in the pool first.
• Add in open water closer to race.
• The pool offers a better environment for learning skills and progressing.
• Add open water sessions during race season for familiarity and comfort.
• Establish pool standards for an athlete before they enter open water.
• Be able to swim two minutes per 100
• 35-minute mile

Practices

• Swim sets can be recycled with a different purpose
• 10x400 steady pace early in the year
• 10x400 during the season
• Dive in entry
• Swim first 100 fast (breakout in open water race)
• Sight 2-3x every 25
• Swim last 100 fast
• Climb out of pool at end and jog in place for 10 seconds
• Same set with a different focus
• Progression does not have to be complex!

Open Water Swimming: 3 F’s

• Fear
• Open water elicits fear response
• Frequency
• Repetition
• Familiarity
• Comfort with water and skill

Want to contact Gerry?

• www.tower26.com