MAGAZINE
STARTING BLOCK
ISSUE NO. 11 DECEMBER 2018
HIGH ELBOW FREESTYLE RECOVERY Abbie Fish
THE BENEFITS OF AQUATIC THERAPY EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW!
All American Swim Staff Writer
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT! Aimee Schmitt
FEATURED ATHLETE KATHLEEN BAKER
Dear readers, I hope you enjoy the December edition of Starting Block Magazine! All American Swim, The Lifeguard Store and Swim Shops of the Southwest value each and every one of you as customers and as people. Our goal is to aid and inform all of our readers and help them reach their personal and professional swimming goals through relevant content. Don’t hesitate to reach out with any comments, suggestions or  questions for us. You can connect with us through any of our social
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HOW TO WIN 1. FIND ALL FIVE OF THE CARTOONS HIDDEN THROUGHOUT THIS ISSUE 2, EMAIL MARKETING@THELIFEGUARDSTORE.COM WITH THE CORRECT PAGE NUMBER OF EACH CARTOON 3. IF YOU ARE THE FIRST PERSON TO RESPOND, YOU WIN AND GET YOUR CHOICE OF WHICH STORE YOUR PRIZE COMES FROM ***EMPLOYEES AND FAMILY MEMBERS OF THE THREE COMPANIES ARE NOT ELIGIBLE P.5
HIGH ELBOW FREESTYLE RECOVERY . BY ABBIE FISH
In the stroke technique world, there is a lot of emphasis on a high elbow pull—but not necessarily, a high elbow recovery. Every fan, swimmer, swammer, or coach has taken a moment to look and be in awe of the effortlessness of Michael Phelps or Ryan Lochte’s Freestyle--it’s so graceful. Michael can keep his Freestyle looking “effortless” while sprinting. The way Michael does this is through having a high elbow recovery. In order to obtain a high elbow recovery, a swimmer must do 3 technical point really well. Let’s dive into each of them: P.6
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ROTATE!
For a swimmer to get into position where the elbow CAN be the highest point during the recovery, a swimmer must be on their side. And by side, I mean no more than 40-degrees from the water’s surface. By rotating to the side, it allows the swimmer’s shoulder to be more in a positive angle and gives the shoulder joint space to point the elbow directly towards the sky. If a swimmer tries to do a high elbow recovery without proper rotation, they will be pointing their elbow towards the sides of the pool and cause excess strain on the shoulder, which isn’t necessary!
ABBIE FISH
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HAVE A GREAT KICK!
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As you saw from the video, Michael has an awesome kick. Even when Michael slows down to a different speed, his kick is still very apparent. Having a great kick is important for a high elbow recovery because a swimmer will spend more time out front with their upper arm extended—prior to the catch. This is due to the fact that a high elbow recovery requires more rotation, which a swimmer must kick through in order to keep them moving forward. If a swimmer decides to kick less than required for a high elbow recovery, their legs will eventually slow down and/or stop, which will cause their lower body to start sinking--affecting their overall body
Abbie has been in the competitive swimming realm for over 20 years. From qualifying for the Olympic Trials to working at USA Swimming’s headquarters, Abbie has been on all sides of the sport. Abbie believes anyone with the heart to train can benefit from technical advice!
KEEP THE ELBOW AT THE HIGHEST POINT DURING THE RECOVERY! So combining a great kick and rotation, a swimmer will now be able to keep the elbow as the highest point during the recovery. With this though, a swimmer must actively CHOOSE to bend at the elbow and lower the forearm, palm, and wrist towards the water’s surface. It is possible for a swimmer to keep the lower arm up HIGHER than it needs to be while recovering—if they don’t bend their elbow enough! This point is the MOST important aspect of a high elbow recovery, because we are looking at how much work is being done. When a swimmer doesn’t bend their elbow enough to bring the lower arm down to the water’s surface, a swimmer is still actively engaging their pecs and bicep muscles to keep the lower arm higher-requiring more work. Going back into the “effortlessness” of Michael’s Freestyle, this is HOW he does that! When a swimmer is recovering in Freestyle, the “recovery” is NOT an effortless position to be in-- there is still work required. What we want to do during the recovery is to MINIMIZE how much work is being done. If a swimmer lifts the lower arm up higher than it needs to be, they are PERFORMING more work than is necessary and are wasting energy during the recovery! All this wasted energy does NOT help a swimmer go faster! By lower the hand closer to the water’s surface, a swimmer shuts off activating their pecs and biceps on the recovering arm—lowering their work output and conserving energy!
THIS IS EXACTLY HOW YOU SWIM AN EFFORTLESS FREESTYLE! P.7
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Q&A FEATURED ATHLETE
KATHLEEN BAKER
BY ALL AMERICAN SWIM STAFF WRITER
Kathleen Baker is an American competition swimmer who specializes in freestyle and backstroke events. At the 2016 Summer Olympics, she won a gold medal in the 4x100-meter medley relay and a silver medal in the individual 100-meter backstroke.
AAS: What is something you get excited to do daily? KB: Getting to see my best friends while getting in a great workout.
All American Swim: How did you begin swimming? Who has inspired you the most throughout your swimming career? Kathleen Baker: I began swimming because I wanted to follow in my sister's footsteps and she was already a part of our summer league swim team. My mom also told me that if i learned to swim a 25 without help, I could go off the diving board without anyone watching me. AAS: What makes swimming a passion of yours? Why does it stand out? KB: I love how competitive swimming is and how I can push myself to be better everyday. Unlike many sports swimming gives you the opportunity to control a lot of your success as an individual sport, while still having the camaraderie of a team. There’s always something to focus on and improve, so it’s easy to set goals both big and small and that keeps me going.
I love training, racing, swim meets, and weights, I love it all. I believe that passion started when i was much young and just fell in love with it. Being in the water is one of my favorite things and i just love to race and compete. AAS: What drives you personally & professionally? When you have an “off day” what motivates you to push through it? KB: I am extremely competitive. I like competing in all aspects of my life. When I have an off day, or race, or even meet, the love for the sport keeps me going. I use swimming as an outlet. AAS: What is something you cannot live without, and how does it help push you forward in your career? KB: I can’t live without being in the water. As much as I love to compete and race, i love practice and training as much. I think i am able to stay so motivated because I am doing something that I love.
AAS: Tell me about your proudest moment as an athlete. What does success in the pool look like to you? KB: My proudest swimming moment was breaking the world record in to 100 meter backstroke. Breaking a world record has been a dream of mine for my whole life, a goal for years, and truly the pinnacle of my career. However, success isn’t always about winning. Sometimes success means perfecting something I’ve been working on technique-wise. That’s the great thing about swimming, there’s always something new to reach for or master!
AAS: Tell me about a time when swimming challenged you and a lesson you learned from it KB: I went through a patch where I really struggled with prelim swims. I would add time that first swim out at big meets. For example, at 2015 Worlds I finished 17th and was just barely scratched into finals, and at the 2016 Olympic Trials I was 8th after prelims. Having to go back and swim so soon after a tough swim taught me a lot of mental toughness. You can’t dwell on a bad race, I learned to trust the process and really believe in myself and focus on what I was capable of.
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KB: EVERY TIME I’M BEHIND THE BLOCKS, I TELL MYSELF,
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I TELL MYSELF, “I CAN DO THIS.”
AAS: Do you have a word or mantra that you say to yourself when you’re competing? KB: Every time I’m behind the blocks, I tell myself, “I can do this.” I think just positive affirmation like this, or thinking about all the hard sets I’ve done, helps turn my nerves into confidence.
AAS: Do you reward yourself when you reach goals? If so, which goals (large ones or the small ones, too) and how? KB: I emotionally reward myself after I reach goals, because I am so proud of what I have accomplished. And a good ice cream or milkshake, or bowl of mac and cheese doesn't hurt either!
AAS: What does your training schedule look like? KB: During a typical week, I usually swim 6-7 practices, do 3 weights sessions, and a yoga or pilates.
AAS: Do you have any nutritional or fitness recommendations for other swimmers? Any favorite foods or workouts? KB: I love doing a mini stretching and ab session before I get into the water. It gets me warmed up and focused before I even dive in, and building flexibility and core strength is key to fast swimming!
AAS: Where do you see your future going right now and what are your plans? What are some things you are looking forward to? KB: I will graduate from University of California, Berkeley in May, and I am looking forward to being a fulltime, professional swimmer! Right now, I am preparing for the 2019 World Championships and fine tuning things from last summer. Then, I will set my sights towards training for Tokyo 2020. I am also looking forward to traveling the world and going to new places with my swim friends! After swimming, I hope to have a career in the medical field and continue to be a voice for the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation.
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AIMEE SCHMITT
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT 4 Easy steps to improve this Season. It's all in the details. The key to being
successful is not necessarily doing something big and spectacular; but rather doing the little things extraordinarily well.
Have you ever thought about “the little things”? Think for a moment, about how many little details go in to swimming just one stroke of freestyle correctly: head position hand position core position front arm press recovery hand entry depth of the pull angle of the pull breath head position breath timing, and so on. You get the point…there are many details that make up each and every one of your swim strokes. P.21
Many details become automatic. You can do it with your brain turned off…hundreds of thousands of strokes every week, every month. But if even one of those little details is developed with poor technique, and is poorly repeated as a habit, these are the little details, that when corrected will bring about the most improvement this season. Step 1. Identify your details
Start with a quick list– what are you already “good” at?
and what do you think is in need of improvement?
Consult your coach on what they recommend would be the single best item to improve. You can even ask your teammates or your parents for their thoughts on areas of improvement.
For example–the plan of Be open to suggestions and honestly evaluate improving kick-outs off where you feel your the wall must “From improvements can come (today’s date) to (6 weeks from. Then, choose one of from now)–I am going to those items to focus on do X, Y, and Z to improve and get to work. my kick outs. Example: Kick outs off After 6-weeks I am the wall. Not breathing going to ask for an the first stroke. evaluation from coach and I expect that my Step 2. Be specific on time will be faster as a how to change the result.” detail. It is important to include It is one thing to say that a start and finish time you need to have better window and have your kick-outs; it is another to coach or family help you set up a reasonable time actually have a plan to do something about it. So be line for measuring improvement. It could specific on how you will be measuring your speed improve. Do you need to plan to stay after practice in practice or at the mid-season or end of 2 days a week to work season meet. In the specifically on the walls? Do you need to plan to go plan of improving kick to a clinic or a camp? Can outs off the wall-it could be as simple as you work with your coach measuring improved to create a new dryland distance off the wall. Or exercise specifically for speed in and out of the added strength in this wall. area? A specific plan will help you get you started All of these are ways to and focus on making the keep you on track with change. improving a single detail. Step 3. Establish a time line for the improvement.
Clearly delineate and even write down how many weeks you plan to put intense focus on the change, and punctuate that timeline with intermediate measuring marks.
Step 4. Document the process.
There are several ways to document the process. Simply writing down where you are at the start point is the easiest way to begin to measure progress.
Video taping is another.If you can ask your coach or teammate to video your current stroke or kick-out–and write down your plan in a log book, even better. Step 5. Go back to step 1.
Once you have improved on one detail, go back to your original list and focus in on another detail you know you need to work on to make another improvement. Following these steps will almost guarantee improvement every season. Aimee Schmitt, author of The Ultimate Swim Log and Goal Planner, is a former competitive swimmer, NCAA All American and was part of the Stanford Women’s Championship team in 1989. Click here to check out The Ultimate Swim Log and Goal Planner P.22