The Foundation The Passive Technique approach relies on mostly non-verbal stimulus to achieve changes in the swimming form. The notion is that "conceptual ignorance" does not limit us so much as "physical ignorance". In other words, if your distance per stroke is serving as a limiter to your performance, it is not so much that your mind doesn't know that your stroke is too short, it is that your body does not know how to effectively make it longer. In fact, if your body possessed the fundamental components needed for an optimal stroke (aka "physical vocabulary"), it would select it's optimal distance per stroke simply through the pursuit of speed in workouts, and the refinement of efficiency through basic drilling routines. The fact that most courses and approaches to swimming instruction rely on an "active technique" or "corrective approach" (tell me what is "wrong" with my stroke) means that they fail to engage the swimmers ability to adapt as a result of physical stimulus - a far more potent agent of change than verbal stimulus. Variety, Adaptation, and the Foreign Environment When I look at a human being, I see a learning and adaptation machine. I think that our ability to alter our form is what sets us apart from the rest of the earth's creatures, or at least is one of the few things that we do in a superior manner relative to other creatures (some salamanders are the exception of course). The benefits of variety (which you might call “cross training”) from a psychological perspective are widely appreciated. Coaches and athletes like to eliminate boredom because bored athletes tend to miss more workouts. But I think it goes deeper than that. I think that the human craving for variety is an instinctive, and integral part of our superb ability to adapt and transform ourselves. I believe that by employing variety we can optimize the stimulus that will help us to find the subtleties that lead to truly superior execution, innovate new or unknown aspects of refined technique, and expand our awareness. The passive technique approach employs variety to develop each of the four basic skills: awareness, rhythm, physical vocabulary and relaxation. It also employs variety as a means of providing the stimulus for integration (swimming with a pulse kick is a great example of this). While a passive technique approach might be used for developing almost any skill, I think that the unique nature of swimming truly calls for it. At its core, learning to swim requires adapting to a foreign environment (the aquatic one). Beyond the basic challenge of getting sufficient oxygen (no mean feat before you have mastered swimming) so many of the basic motions, limb/body positions, and sequences of movements used in swimming are alien to the human physiology. However, while this perspective sees a benefit in variety for variety’s sake, a structured program contains certain inevitable outcomes that are a consequence of the activities that make up the structure. This course attempts to provide the tools that can be used to create variety, as well as insight into the outcomes that are a product of employing these tools and techniques (see table V.1 for a list of “Activities and Outcomes”). While it lays out a set of workouts that are designed to introduce, refine and reinforce the basic skills needed for optimal freestyle swimming, the individual is encouraged to add their own texture to the workout, using the drills and activities in this program, or simply applying the approach and insights used in this book to invent, interpret and/or implement other drills and activities. Primary Considerations, Secondary Considerations The title of this topic is inspired by a common reminder that the revolutionary swim coach Bob Mattson used to give – “have no secondary considerations”. In other words, focus on the task at hand. It is as relevant for the coach as it is for the athlete. For the athlete completing the workouts in this course it means focus on the drill at hand, and try to clear your mind of the other stuff that you have been told to work on in other courses and by other coaches on other days. For example, if you are doing float and paddle, think about float and paddle, and forget about the Statue of Liberty for the time being. Don’t even think about how this might fit into your stroke someday, or if it is compatible with the current axioms that you here repeated on your favorite endurance athlete web forum. By focusing simply and completely on the task at hand you will develop awareness, your will engrain the physical vocabulary that each activity has to offer, and you will also reduce the emotional stress of the workout! | Experience Finding Freestyle - Summer 2010 Group Classes in Richmond, VA |
"Finding Freestyle with Passive Technique" is a 12-week course with a different approach to developing the basic techniques for fast swimming. Finding Freestyle is available as an online, self-paced course, and also in a group class in certain areas.
Click Here to sign up for Finding Freestyle online - or click here to experience Finding Freestyle in coached group classes.