In one of the forums that I regularly visit today there was a great question posed by one of the active members:

Should I just finish the set or should I try to push my technique

Before I get into my coaching banter, I have to say that I was somewhat surprised at the question initially but then I thought about how many times I had been asked the same question throughout the years of coaching….countless (especially in the first half of the year or during our Max VO2 sets).

Either way, my response to this question is two-fold:

1) Absolutely push your technique!  What you want to do is establish muscle memory that will be able to replicate the perfect technique in a similar exhausted state (i.e. quick turn time from one even to the other in a meet).  In other words, you don’t want your technique to fail you from the 100 back to the 100 fly if there are only a few events in between.  Savvy?

2) Push the technique, but don’t roll over and give up on the workout.  There is a point to everything that a coach gives you for a practice.  If the set is making your technique fall apart then it is probably on purpose.  The coach probably  wants to see if you can push both mentally and physically.  So, do just that….hit your walls, get perfect pushes off the wall, hit your breakouts, get into your catch early, and efficiently pull/kick!  Push!

Maybe as a coach I am a bit one sided, but when I coach I set up practice for a specific purpose and to have an established effect.  I would love to hear some of your comments from a swimmer’s perspective if you concentrate on your technique as much when you are gasping for air in a difficult 10 x 50 @ :40 freestyle set (or something similar…you get the idea).

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