Pages: 12

This chapter explores that journey from its humblest beginnings to the current thought processes about skill adaptation. It conceptualizes the skill adaptation process, the theoretical frameworks that served to inspire many of the practices. This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book describes how task design and task instructions influence movement, as well as how to manipulate these constraints to move swimmers toward movement solutions that improve performance. It focuses on the individual, and how to manipulate constraints within the individual in the short and long term through physiological training, as well as through the use of training aids. The book lays out the key skills of each stroke, as well as practical examples of how constraints can be manipulated to allow for swimmers to explore these skills.

Pages: 51

No chapter abstract available.

Pages: 15

Creating the basic structure of a training set is the foundation of any training intervention. This chapter examines the basic considerations for the construction of a training set. When coaches go about designing their training sessions, they start by creating a set, or a task to be completed. Every aspect of a set design acts as a constraint on performance. The speed swimmers are asked to perform, the number of repetitions, the repetition distance, and the recovery period all influence how swimmers choose to swim. The parameters of the set constrain the options for movement, and as a result, the task assigned and the goal of the task greatly affect the swimming movements that emerge as a result. The chapter explores the constraints of velocity, repetition distance, and recovery intervals, and the impact of these constraints is intuitively understood by any successful coach.

Pages: 17

The value of a constraint is that it prevents swimmers from using specific solutions to achieve task goals. By removing movement options, most swimmers find new movement solutions. With a basic set structure in place, coaches can layer constraints to encourage swimmers to change how they accomplish the goals of a set. This chapter explores three different constraints that can be added to any set. Once the basic set structure is created that allows for these velocities to be achieved, coaches can add further constraints to influence how these velocities are achieved. They can require swimmers to swim with certain stroke frequencies. They can require swimmers to swim with certain stroke counts. They can require swimmers to travel underwater for certain distances. Effective set design reduces the need to verbally instruct, as much of the “coaching” is done through set design.

Pages: 17

The goal of providing any instruction or feedback is to help swimmers more effectively explore movement solutions without strictly requiring a given solution, as effective coaching language guides action, rather than prescribes it. Appropriately implemented instructions and feedback provide a nudge in the right direction, while still allowing swimmers to find solutions that best align with their own individual constraint. Language should act as a constraint on movement rather than a movement prescription, guiding action rather than requiring it, and this chapter explores several strategies on how to use language to accomplish this objective through instruction and feedback. How coaches communicate, the degree to which they communicate, and the specific words they choose, all impact the learning experience and the effectiveness of any coaching intervention. Task goals and verbal instructions create further constraints on movement opportunities, which can move them toward performance solutions, amplifying the impact of an appropriately assigned task.

Pages: 69

No chapter abstract available.

Pages: 24

This chapter examines how changes in physiology, one subsystem of the body, can influence the expression of skill. Because individuals are always changing, the individual response to a training set can be manipulated by altering the physiological state of the swimmer. This relationship between the individual and the task can be exploited to further constrain how a swimmer achieves task goals, thus allowing coaches to strategically move swimmers closer to optimal movements solutions. The chapter explores the theoretical rationale for manipulating the individual response to a training set and demonstrate how to practically apply that rationale to create sets that help swimmers solve movement problems. As technical swimming parameters are closely tied to physiological outputs, the physical capabilities a swimmer possesses will directly affect stroke performance. The chapter describes the practical options available to coaches, as well as which considerations the coach should make when choosing a particular approach.

Pages: 14

In contrast to manipulating physiological constraints, this chapter looks at practical strategies to influence skill adaptation through the manipulation of structural constraints with training aids. The major purpose for using training aids is to encourage the exploration of technical skills to facilitate skill adaptation by providing unique opportunities to interact with the aquatic environment. Manipulating structural constraints can create unique learning environments otherwise inaccessible without the application of a variety of training aids. The chapter examines the theoretical framework for implementing training aids to manipulate individual constraints. Training aids can create changes in velocity, spatio-temporal organization of movements, stroke rate/stroke length relationships, and rate of fatigue development. Event specialization is an example where individual constraints and task constraints both dictate appropriate training design and the implementation of training aids, as not only do the competitive demands of different events influence training design, so do differences in the individuals that typically perform different events.

Pages: 28

This chapter addresses the specific strategies coaches can employ to make the most out of these training aids. It focuses on the outcomes coaches can facilitate with training aids by altering the structure of the swimmer. The chapter explores how to manipulate the drag that swimmers experience while moving through the water, how to change the location of the center of mass, how to add mass to the limbs, and how to alter the size of propulsive surface areas. By using training aids, coaches can temporarily modify the structural constraints present in each swimmer, creating new opportunities for swimmers to explore their skills. The focus is on recognizing the value of manipulating each constraint, then finding the best tool for the job, rather than the other way around, as a given training aid is only as useful as the rationale for its use and implementation.

Pages: 87

No chapter abstract available.

Pages: 19

Psychologist James Gibson first drew attention to the relationship between living beings and their environment. One of his key insights was that perception affect action and in turn our movements affect what we perceive, which affects our subsequent actions. Regarding task decomposition versus task simplification, it is important to differentiate between tasks aimed at improving skilled movement versus those aimed at improving physiological capacity. Complex systems are characterized by many working parts with many different interactions and degrees of stability. Stable performance levels or movement solutions emerge based upon existing constraints, as different constraints can limit or enable the behavior of a system. Changing constraints can be a powerful tool for change, so powerful that coaches will find themselves consistently manipulating the same constraints that “work” best.

Pages: 10

When instructing and teaching are the primary tasks of the coach, it is implied that the coach has knowledge of an ideal technical model that can be applied to any given swimmer, as there must be something that is taught. In contrast, when viewing the skill adaptation process as centered on swimmers’ learning, the coach can focus on designing tasks that allow each swimmer to explore the possibilities for movement within the constraints each individual swimmer possesses. By extension, great swimmers can create high levels of propulsion and minimize their drag profile in a coordinated manner that maximizes efficiency. If swimmers are unable to create sufficient propulsion, they will be unable to create sufficient forward speed, with the main goal in creating propulsion is to move water backward. While swimming fast is a matter of increasing propulsion and reducing drag, a critical aspect of swimming performance is effectively timing propulsive actions and the manipulation of body posture.

Pages: 14

The goal of any skill adaptation program is promoting positive change that can be expressed in competition, as creating change that shows up in competition is what really matters. This chapter focuses on establishing a strategic framework for creating lasting change in those swimmers with movement patterns that are particularly resistant to change, leveraging all of the previously described strategies in an organized manner. Skill destabilization is most important for those swimmers who have deeply established ways of moving through the water. After effectively destabilizing established skills, the skill adaptation process can begin focus on pushing swimmers toward a more functional skill set. The final aspect of the skill adaptation process consists of stabilizing skills to withstand the pressure of competition. Movement skills must become resistant to perturbations, such as those that arise from the high physical and psychological stressors of competition.

Pages: 26

The creation of force and energy production allows for the expression and maintenance of all skilled movements, and without the necessary underlying physiological support, the most skilled swimmer will be unable to realize these skills in competition. Positive adaptation is the result of activation of allostatic processes that directly result from a disturbance in homeostasis due to training efforts. Varied training can also prevent the staleness that results from monotonous training. Training monotony is a manifestation of volume/intensity-loading interactions, characterized by high training loads that do not vary in content. Stagnant training sets and training loads have been consistently linked to overtraining and underperformance issues. Physical recovery is a process required for biological adaptation, and varied training can facilitate physical recovery. Beyond the physiological benefits, variability in the training program can enhance mental focus, improve psychological resilience and resolve, enhance motivation, and increase engagement.

Pages: 17

Coaches are often faced with challenging performance problems, and this chapter demonstrates the power of using constraints to solving complex problems. As most coaches have experienced, certain skills resist change created through verbal communication. Designing engaging learning environment is a distinct approach that does provide productive opportunities for swimmers to learn a complex skill such as interacting with the water. To create change, coaches must understand the basic movement concepts involved with the ability to feel the water. To improve a swimmer’s feel for the water, coaches can use two main, complementary approaches, both which can be facilitated through manipulation of the appropriate constraints. A simple strategy for helping swimmers learn to redirect the water is to perform basic sculling actions while standing in medium height water.

Pages: 88

No chapter abstract available.

Pages: 18

As with all strokes, great freestyle is the result of the same principles for fast swimming. As humans are constrained by their anatomy and physiology, certain strategies emerge as more successful than others for facilitating fast freestyle. Well-designed tasks constrain swimmers from using their preferred movement strategies while necessitating that they explore more effective strategies, allowing coaches to move swimmers toward more functional solutions, while minimizing the need for overt instruction. Individual constraints can then be manipulated through the introduction of fatigue, potentiation, and training aids. Swimmers effect great freestyle pulling actions when they orient their forearm and hand backward to create a large surface area to move water with over a large range of motion. Effective freestyle is characterized by a sustained kicking action.

Pages: 15

As with all strokes, great backstroke is the result of the same principles for fast swimming. As humans are constrained by their anatomy and physiology, certain strategies emerge as more successful than others for facilitating fast backstroke. The position of the thumb during the arm pull varies between swimmers. Well-designed tasks constrain swimmers from using their preferred movement strategies while necessitating that they explore more effective strategies, allowing coaches to move swimmers toward more functional solutions, while minimizing the need for overt instruction. In the past, backstrokers were instructed to consciously focus on various upsweeps and downsweeps during the pulling pattern, where the hands moved up and down as they traveled toward the feet. Fast and fluid backstroke results from accurate timing of the arm actions and the rotation of the body.

Pages: 22

As with all strokes, great breaststroke is the result of the same principles for fast swimming. Well-designed tasks constrain swimmers from using their preferred movement strategies while necessitating that they explore more effective strategies, allowing coaches to move swimmers toward more functional solutions, while minimizing the need for overt instruction. The breaststroke pull does require complete adduction of the shoulder, making full use of the strongest portion of the pulling action. Effective breaststroke kicking is similar to the arm action in that the swimmer’s goal is to orient as much surface area as possible backward, move that surface area backward with as much force as possible, and maintain that backward orientation for as long as possible. Elite breaststrokers demonstrate excellent horizontal lower body alignment while executing the highly propulsive arm action.

Pages: 14

As with all strokes, great butterfly is the result of the same principles for fast swimming. Well-designed tasks constrain swimmers from using their preferred movement strategies while necessitating that they explore more effective strategies, allowing coaches to move swimmers toward more functional solutions, while minimizing the need for overt instruction. Butterflyers pull effectively by using as surface area of the arm as possible to move a large amount of water over a long distance. Effective undulation is critical to help swimmers navigate the challenge of bilaterally recovering the arms without rotation of the torso, all while operating within the constraints of human anatomy. Single arm butterfly retains the essential rhythm of the stroke, while reducing the need for high levels of force production and the accompanying fatigue, allowing swimmers to focus on timing their kicking and stroking actions without the presence of fatigue.

Pages: 15

As with all strokes, great underwater kicking is the result of the same principles for fast swimming. Well-designed tasks constrain swimmers from using their preferred movement strategies while necessitating that they explore more effective strategies, allowing coaches to move swimmers toward more functional solutions, while minimizing the need for overt instruction. Swimmers must establish a stable platform at the top of the body from which they can create effective undulation. Effective propulsion starts from a point of stability which allows for force transfer to the legs. While the anatomy of the human leg is not conducive to truly symmetrical underwater kicking, elite underwater kickers are more effective at creating propulsion in both directions, and kick symmetry improves as velocity increases. An effective backward kick will tend to be straighter during the recovery until the end of the kick where the knee finally bends, which can be observed when watching elite swimmers kicking in slow motion.

Pages: 2

Most coaches will agree that faster swimmers are better swimmers. That is, success in the sport of swimming is determined primarily via skillfully moving through the water, with physical ability contributing a significant yet supportive role in performance. However, when looking at most coaching programs, you will see coaches institute training in a systematic manner, and while the methods may vary, a systematic approach to training is commonplace at all levels of sport. In fact, many would argue that it is coaching negligence if one does not take some sort of organized approach to developing the physical capacities of the swimmers under one’s charge. In contrast, the process of adapting skills serves a secondary or tertiary role. It’s layered into programs as an afterthought, or simply left to chance.