When I was on high school & college swim teams, we always started our workouts with technique drills. We did all sorts of different drills…many of which seemed completely pointless. We often asked the coach why we had to do technique drills. He usually gave a vague, general, because-they’re-good-for-you sort of answer.
This experience helped me prioritize the importance of making sure folks understand the “why” for any given drill. The better they understand how the drill transfers to the sport(s), the more buy-in they have & therefore, the better the learning.
Often the connection between the drill & the sport comes in “a-ha” moments. This is why Stephen Montamat is this week’s Performance High Athlete Spotlight. He recently had a big “a-ha” moment when he made the mental jump from “this is how we drill” to “oh…and this is also how we swim”! Congrats, Steve! I am so proud of your progress!
In Steve’s own words:
“I started swim lessons as a way to get my swim muscles in shape to (once again) climb the kiteboarding learning curve. From previous experience I know that my re-entry into kiteboarding will inevitably include a fair amount of time in the water! ‘Body Dragging‘ is the technique of retrieving your lost board (upwind) as you are being dragged (downwind) by your kite (Slide Glide, anyone??).
Even though I learned to swim over 50 yrs ago, I signed up for swim lessons. I am quite comfortable in water so I thought that those swim muscles would just come right back. Boy…was I in for an epiphany on how to efficiently swim from Point A to Point B!
As I was learning how proper form & technique could transform my relationship with water, Coach Michelle invited me into her Swim Training group workouts. I was definitely intimidated to join a group made up mostly of triathletes. But I try to follow a key step to learning new things taught to me by a language expert – you must be willing to look foolish!
I have always been anxious about sharing a swim lane, but my lane mates have been very accommodating & understanding. This gives me the opportunity to work on drills that I have learned in my private lessons while incorporating them into the workout sets. So, despite the fact that I’ve never enjoyed morning exercise, I’ve found these workouts to be an enjoyable & invigorating start to my day!”