Warming Up – Cooling Down Bullletin 51

[drpaul]

http://coachsci.sdsu.edu/swim/bullets/51%20WARM-UP.pdf

[Rick]

Hmm. Any opinions out there on this? Makes me wonder about the one swim meet a few years ago where we were stuck in traffic, got to the meet 15 minutes before the race and only had time to jog, do some jumping jacks, and race. Thought the fast time was just a fluke.

[billratio]

The best race I ever swam was without an in-pool warmup. All I did was took a shower. I know one example doesn’t prove anything but I’ve long been a doubter of how much warming up matters.

It would be hilarious to be the team that shows up to dual meets and doesn’t do any warm up in the pool. I still think it’s useful to try out the blocks and stuff though.

"Most people have the will to win. Few have the will to prepare to win."

[GlennGruber]

Look at page 11 of the document. In the middle of the third paragraph a sentence begins…” That being said, there is one valuable factor derived from pre-meet swimming in the competition pool.” Rushall discusses familiarization i.e., get used to the blocks, the touch pads, the walls etc. So he does say there is value in that.

[billratio]

GlennGruber,

I guess I glanced over that part. Thanks!

"Most people have the will to win. Few have the will to prepare to win."

[drpaul]

I saw where MA arrived late to a meet & said he swam a 50 free to warm up then proceeded to set a couple PB’s

Our warm ups are just about identical to our practice warm ups (practice should mimic meet). By the time other teams are just getting into their 2500yds of drills, we are on the blocks for a few dives then we disappear 🙂

I see these coaches who LOVE warm ups at meets because they can bark out lots of orders in front of a lot of people…..it’s comical.

[coachwagers]

I am in the process of implementing USRPT with our high school team. Would everyone be able to give examples of their warm-ups?

Thanks,
Coach Zachary

[billratio]

We did 200 free, 200 choice, 8×25 @:40. Then some turns and two 25s off the blocks. I’m not convinced that warming up matters at all. I had a couple girls ask if they could skip warm up at section finals (they already had done turns and starts in prelims) and I let them. They performed just as well in finals as they had in prelims.

Our warm up is pretty much just a suggestion. A lot of them do less and I don’t make a big deal out of it. As long as they feel confident with what they are doing that is all I care about.

"Most people have the will to win. Few have the will to prepare to win."

[Author]

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