Swim Coaches Podcast

Clive and Sam talk about getting back in the pool after lockdown and how we can start of fast far earlier on. With speed and power being the hardest things to develop over aerobic capacity why not start training for speed earlier in your program? We discuss the positives behind this idea and who it would benefit most. We also discuss the weeks of public swimming that many over 18s will have plan for with adult organised indoor sport not starting until the 17th May. Remember to follow us on Facebook and Instagram. 

Sam and Clive discuss the latest update about the British Swimming Selection Trials. With so many questions and disappointment hanging over it we talk about how its affected us and the community of swimmers who have qualified. We also talk about the many other options and ideas that could have been used to host the Olympic Trials. There is some good though with the exciting announcement of the Festival of Swimming as well as the pools opening soon. Get in contact with us and let us hear your opinions on this subject.    

Matt Brooks is back with Sam and Clive in this weeks podcast. This week we discuss how Sports Psychology can be used to improve athletic performance and how coaches should use Psychology techniques to better deal with athlete emotions and stress. We also talk about mindfulness practise and training to help us get through these last months of Lockdown before the pools open again. Remember to follow the Swim Coaches Podcast on Facebook and Instagram. 

Matt Brooks joins Sam and Clive today to discuss all things sports psychology. Sports psychology is an area that many swim teams will over look and brand as only needed for elite performance, but Matt is here to change that view. We  delve into why psychology should be available to all levels of athletes in order to not just create incredible swimmers, but to create incredible swim team cultures too. We also talk about athlete burnout and what causes this and how best to prevent this. Matt has so much knowledge and great advice that he shared in this podcast to help swim clubs create even better teams.   

Sam and Clive are back after their Lockdown Hiatus. We talk about what we are doing to keep fit over lockdown and how we can continue to improve without being able to swim. We talk about lifting, running and learning and how we can use all of these to make us better swimmers and coaches. We also touch on how resistance swimming will help with increasing our feel for the water when we get back and our plans for the coming podcasts. Remember to follow us on Instagram and Facebook for all of the latest updates and conversations. 

Clive and Sam select some of your swim sets that you have sent in for us to “breakdown”. We talk about the science and how these sessions will make you better swimmers. Because of Covid-19 a lot of swimmers now have to swim in public lanes, so we are here to help you understand these sessions and help you with your training. Today we look at 2 main sets. A 7x200 Free step test set which is great for collecting your performance data to track your improvements. The second set is a race pace set of 3x75 as 50 Max, 10s rest, into a 25 Max. This set is great for preparing those race skills as well as working in that lactate production zone. 

Clive and Sam select some of your swim sets that you have sent in for us to "breakdown". We talk about the science and how these sessions will make you better swimmers. Because of Covid-19 a lot of swimmers now have to swim in public lanes, so we are here to help you understand these sessions and help you with your training. Today we look at 2 main sets. A Lactate tolerance set of 8x50m Max off 6 minutes, and a simple yet affective 100x 25 off 20 seconds Aerobic maintenance set.  We break these down and then add our own twists to them to show how you can hit different training zones with similar sets. 

Sam and Clive open up about who we are and what made us start on this podcast adventure. We discuss our background in swimming from the days of volume, to the sprint life.  We talk about our experiences in the swimming community as well as our thoughts of the swimming world within Great Britain. Its something different but you will know a whole lot more about your hosts!

Clive and Sam interview Chris Neilson from Poole Swimming Club.  Chris talks about how he got into coaching and what it’s like for younger coaches in a job that is mainly dominated by older colleagues. We will also be talking about how the younger generation of coaches are bringing new ideas and new training models into a sport that some have said is stuck in the 80s. We also discuss peak arousal (The Spice) when it comes to racing, and how controlling stress can increase performance in training and racing. 

Clive and Sam interview Tom Company who is the Portsmouth Northsea Strength and Conditioning coach. We talk about how the use of S&C can help swimmers get faster in the pool by doing work out the pool. We discuss how teaching swimmers at a young age the basics of movement patterns will not only help them improve in the pool but will also reduce injury. We dive into the science of why lifting heavy before a race can increase your performance. Along with this Tom also talks about what we all can be doing over lockdown to be at our best for when we get back into the pool.