Friday, November 07, 2014

Should You Embrace A Swimming Plateau?

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#going to finish this in the morning but let me know what you think...#

If you've been swimming for a while you've probably hit a plateau in your swimming performances at some point in time, in fact it's quite likely you're on one right now. You might have been swimming for weeks, months or even years without seeing any improvements in your swimming ability, which is a very frustrating place to be.

There's a common school of thought out there that says in this situation you should 'embrace the plateau' and enjoy it for what it is - as if doing so is in some way virtuous.

At Swim Smooth we fundamentally disagree with embracing plateaus because to do that you're believing that either:

- You are already as good as swimmer as you can be (vanishingly unlikely).

- By repeating the same things for months on end, without improvement, that one day you're going to wake up and suddenly be a much better swimmer*.

Should you embrace a plateau? Here's our answer:



Getting Off A Plateau

Here's some questions to ask yourself to help break off a plateau:

- Do you ever practise your exhalation technique? If not, there's some free speed right there by improving it. See here.

- Are you performing the right fitness training? See here.

- Are you thinking of yourself as an individual in regard to the type of technique work you are doing? As we mentioned on the blog last week, our Swim Types system is a great way to address this. See here.

- Are you consistent with your training? See here.

- If you race in open water, have you thought how a good open water stroke might differ? See here.

- Do you practise your open water skills regularly? Your ability to swim straight, draft and punch effectively through disturbed water can all be practised in the pool during the winter. See here.

Practising open water skills in the pool is essential
to reach your potential as an open water swimmer or triathlete.

- What are your pacing skills like? Go off too fast every time you start a set (or start a swim within a set) and the quality of your training will be reduced. See here.

#wrap up point#

Swim Smooth!

* The definition of insanity? Keep doing what you've always done and expecting a different outcome.

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