Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation

PNF. Fabulous phrase if you learn to say it fast and fluently. This is a post from Tom to his club coaches:

First - check the Wikipedia articles on these topics so you know what I'm talking about;
Proprioception
Neuroplasticity
also here

I had an opportunity to work with the Regional group today, and it was great - I really enjoyed spending the time with that group, it's something I hope to be able to do more often this year now that we have Ben coaching Provincial. While I was watching them swim (we were working on underwater kicking) I was thinking about how they respond to teaching differently than the National group kids I work with most of the time.

As we age our brains change. They adapt themselves to the stimuli they most frequently encounter, they do this by first devoting 'space' in the brain to the specific activity, then figuring out the most efficient possible method to route the stimuli towards the required action. The simplest example I can think of is the DS game 'brain age' this is actually a marvelous application of this idea where your brain is trained to do things with increased quickness to get to the next level.

For the little kids most of you are working with the stimuli you are providing them with should be extremely varied. Verbal communication is important because it teaches them to come together and act as a well managed group. Quietly listening to instructions is an important skill they must learn during these periods. Utilizing visual cues is also important - whiteboards, models etc. are all vital because they provide continued reference and good 'story telling' ability for you. For the younger kids (JD and Regional), however, by far the most important stimulus they can interpret is kinesthetic - how does it feel to do a great streamline? What is it like to move FAST through the water? Discussing this in your groups is a great idea, but you must also provide them with ample opportunity to feel this. Get them in the water and keep them moving.

For instance, for my kids I might have them do a bunch of 25's for a teaching set. After each one I may provide them feedback as a group or individually. I think for the younger kids they need to move more than they are. If they swim across the dive tank they must then get a few words of instruction then head back... sitting listening for too long is boring! Plus they won't pay attention. What you want to do is encourage their brains to adapt to the feeling of moving through the water, specifically underneath it (for better streamline) and holding it (for better 'feel'). If you can teach them these two things in Junior Dolphins then you've provided them with the building blocks to succeed later on. The more movement based, feeling they get the better.

Of course you need to be on them ALL THE TIME about how to do it better - an example might be for the JD kids do 10 widths in the dive tank on underwater breaststroke swimming. Have a coach at each end who says no more than 5 words to the kids as they come in to the wall. Go over these specific word cues with the kids before they start - things like SNAP .... what does it mean when they hear that from the coach? Have them repeat it as a group after you say the word.

Underwater swimming I think can be the best thing for these kids. Underwater breaststroke, underwater kicking, breaststoke pullouts, freestyle, etc. can really help them feel what's going on and what to do.

Similar things apply to all the groups - we look to do a lot of underwater work with national group especially on the dolphin kicking and breaststroke.

Don't be afraid to make the kids swim a lot... just be on top of them and make sure they are doing it well... the more good swimming they do the better they will get. It's not about how fast they swim, but how they swim fast.

ASCA reports

Bob Bowman did a presentation on 'early Phelps practices' which everyone wished could have gone on forever.

The first practice MP ever did for BB when he was 11 years old and had just graduated to the 14-year group:

All short course yards so add 10% to the 'go'times for a rough conversion to metres.

3x
400 fr (negative split) on 5'
4 x 100 descend 1-4
1st round bf on 1:20
2nd round bk on 1:20
3rd round br on 1:30
400 IM on 5:30 (descend rounds 1-3)
4 x 100 fr
1st round on 1:15
2nd round on 1:10
3rd round on 1:05

24 swimmers in three 25 yard lanes; stop complaining about your conditions.

Excellent message for coaching age-groupers; 'Don't get excited about every success.'

Another example:
3x
4 x 200 fr on 2:40/2:30/2:20 (hold under 2:20/2:15/2:10 - MP went down to 1:54)
200 IM drill on 3:30

A good kick progression:

3x
5 x 100 kick on 1:40/1:35/1:30
Additional minute between rounds and move the intervals down over time to 1:10

'Janet Evans' set:
200 fr on 2:30
4 x 200 IM on 2:40
400 fr on 5'
3 x 200 IM on 2:35
600 fr on 7:30
2 x 200 IM on 2:30
800 fr on 10'
200 IM on 2:25

The fr is 'moderate' and the Im is 'best you can do.'

Fr and IM can be switched.


When MP was 13 the start of the season was planned thus:

Week 1 - 7 days at 3k/day
Week 2 - 7 days at 4k/day
Week 3 - 7 days at 5k/day
Week 4 - 7 days at 6k/day
Week 5 - 7 days at 7k/day
Week 6 - 7 days at 8k/day
Week 7 - 7 days at 9k/day
Week 8 - 7 days at 10k/day

After week 8 they reverted to 'normal' programming. Interesting they didn't start with, say, four days then move to five etc. - remember, frequency of training is more important than volume.

Micro-cycle design from 12 years of age through to Athens 2004:

USA weak, admits Schubert

Mark Schubert once again showed he is a class act as he gave a report on US Swimming's Beijing campaign at the ASCA World Clinic in Las Vegas. A famous Premiership manager once described a footballer as being 'D.K.; different Class.' and that's what Schubert is; D.K.

He said, 'If we have a weakness in the USA team it's that a lot of swimmers are not coached to be self-reliant.'

That's a marker for all nations, all programmes and all coaches. I'll post a synopsis of the Clinic next week.