Swimmers and Parents,
Attached you will find groups and coaches and new Report Cards for swimmers. Our Fishes and Sharks program is focused on technical skills and proper execution. The new report card will reflect that more accurately while providing you with detailed information about the skill level of a swimmer and his or her skill achievement progress.
The base of new report card is BLABT approach B stands for Body position, L-is legs, A- arms, B-breathing patterns, T-is for timing. This acronym is used for all the competitive strokes: Freestyle, Backstroke, Breaststroke and Butterfly. All strokes will have the same components although the each specific part of the stroke will be slightly different due to nature of the stroke. For example in freestyle the arms are working in similar motion like a windmill and in breaststroke the arms are forming a small circle and are working simultaneously. The same applies for Legs component-each stroke will have slightly different way of using the legs, for example: freestyle legs-steady alternate leg kicks, where butterfly legs are moving in wave like motion and both legs kick at the same time. All strokes will have their own breathing pattern, even backstroke. Same will go for timing of the stroke-each stroke has their own unique way of synchronizing all parts of the stroke in smooth motion to produce propulsion-movement forward. What's really unique to the sport of swimming that other sports do not have to deal with is that every time we move any body part thru the water we also create resistance. The challenge then is to move swim body thru the water creating as little resistance as possible. That's where technique efficiency comes to play. Better your technique and understanding and execution of stroke mechanics the better, more efficient and faster you can swim.
Please take a look at the new Report Card and if you have any questions or comments we would be happy to talk to you.
Wishing all swimmers fantastic practice :)
Marta
