Elevate Performance Swim Academy

Elevate Performance Swim Academy Dryland for Teams • Coaches Education • Comprehensive Swimmer Development

Understanding what drills are intended for is imperative When the idle arm is forward and swimmers have to breathe with ...
09/03/2026

Understanding what drills are intended for is imperative

When the idle arm is forward and swimmers have to breathe with the hand in front

They will always always
- [ ] Pause during the breath
- [ ] Kick deeper because of the pause
- [ ] The hips will sink
- [ ] Stop all momentum going forward through the weak point / sticking point (at the widest point of the recovery)
- [ ] The head will stay up too long through the center of mass shifting forward
- [ ] The recovery arm will not be able to get into extended/ lengthened position (finger tips to toes)
- [ ] Loose any and all natural rhythm of the stroke

And so much more.

If the goal is to teach correct breathing and single arm control - put the idle arm down and allow the swimmer to
- [ ] kick the hands out
- [ ] To use momentum to throw the hands forward

09/02/2026

You must have a system

At this point I feel comfortable going anywhere in the world knowing. I can recreate the exact same squat over and over and cover again.

Not by chance - but by design.
6 years old or 66 - it’s the same.

Keeping it simple and using basic cues the illicit meaningful results are the goal.

Box first
Full depth (flat feet or elevated - depends)
Loaded same depth
More load same depth
Return to the box twice per year.

The cycle never changes.

09/01/2026

Quality & Detailed Short Axis Training is 👑 episode 18 with Rob Clayton.

09/01/2026

From the podcast. Rob Clayton with the Air Force Academy.

08/04/2026

The corner is the most important yet most volatile Part ofThe stroke.

If the catch is late the elbows slide back first
The hips will drop too early and nearly always the swimmer will not be able to get up
And over the water which then has its own impact.

When done correctly or not - there is immediate feedback.

If they go up with the press - good (check timing)

If not - watch the elbows slide back first
Immediate feedback learned

This drill works for every level and every age.
I can promise if you do this every week - and hold the drill to a high standard - you will see improvement. (But only if done correctly)
Dive across - DONT dive down

Part 3

Fixing the depth in the glide Phase

08/02/2026

Read for details

In short axis strokes it’s all about
Mechanical tension and leverage points

In Breaststroke when the elbow leads first we can say 99.99% of the time the catch will be delayed as the elbows will pull back first and then press into the catch - later.
(Not Optimal)

We want the hand to lead and the elbow to follow. FEEL the pressure on the outsweep

Wrist outside the elbow
Elbow outside the shoulder
Don’t let the fingertips lead outward -
When the wrist breaks - there will be a compensatory movement pattern that follows
- the hand will have to later slide back into the original position.

This is why every single detail matters in swimming - especially Breaststroke.

Keep Eyes down on the outsweep

When we are in this Y position and in the lengthened portion - then and only then can you apply force - through leverage.

On the next video we will talk about maximizing this corner position

Stay tuned

I’ve talked about this for years.It’s something I constantly discuss with parents, coaches, and swimmers because it’s on...
07/30/2026

I’ve talked about this for years.

It’s something I constantly discuss with parents, coaches, and swimmers because it’s one of the most overlooked principles in long-term development.

The recycling of skills and energy systems never changes.

The only thing that changes is the length of each phase.

Whether you’re working with an 8-year-old learning body position, a national-level swimmer developing specific racing skills, teaching a squat in the gym, or progressively increasing resistance training in the pool…

The process is the same.

➡️ Introduce the stimulus.
➡️ Allow time to acclimate.
➡️ Accumulate quality work.
➡️ Then Utilize it.

Every new skill/ Energy System Development follows this cycle.

Too many programs abandon a skill or Training Phase (limited Stimulus) before it’s developed—or chase constant novelty instead of clear progression and overload.

The athletes who improve the most aren’t doing magical workouts. They’re spending enough time (and allowing for movement mastery) in each phase to fully adapt before moving on.

Development isn’t about constantly changing the plan. It’s about knowing when to change it. That’s how skills become performance and how training cycles stack year after year for continual improvement.

Aerobic Power isn’t just “hard swimming.” It’s a specific physiological target.One of the biggest mistakes I see is tryi...
07/30/2026

Aerobic Power isn’t just “hard swimming.” It’s a specific physiological target.

One of the biggest mistakes I see is trying to improve everything at once.

The objective of the day should dictate the design of the set—not the other way around.

Too often we see:
• Random intervals.
• Random rest.
• Pace targets that don’t match the intended adaptation.
• Efforts that athletes simply can’t reproduce.
• Sets that become survival instead of quality.

Prescribing the correct effort is just as important as designing the right set.

Within my system, intensity is built around repeatable physiological zones:

🔵 Fast (Blue) → HR 28–30
Critical Speed. Sustainably fast.

🟣 Faster (Blurple) → HR 30–31
Above Critical Speed. Higher aerobic power with increasing fatigue.

🟪 AFAP (Purple) → HR 32
Maximum repeatable effort.

The term Critical Speed, popularized in swimming by Bill Sweetenham, sits just above Threshold. It isn’t all-out swimming—it’s the fastest speed an athlete can repeatedly sustain while maintaining technical quality.

That’s why “swim fast” isn’t a useful coaching cue.

If the prescribed effort doesn’t match the athlete’s ability, they’ll either underload the system or exceed the intended physiological target. Either way, the adaptation changes.

Every variable matters:
• Rep distance
• Rest interval
• Pace prescription
• Prescribed effort
• Total volume
• Recovery strategy

When those variables align, athletes spend more time in the physiological zone you’re actually trying to develop.

More work doesn’t automatically create better adaptations.

Better prescription creates better adaptation.

The workout isn’t the stimulus. The stimulus is the combination of intensity, density, duration, and ex*****on.

More or “fancier” isn’t always better.In training, complexity can often dilute the very thing we are trying to create: a...
07/29/2026

More or “fancier” isn’t always better.

In training, complexity can often dilute the very thing we are trying to create: a high-quality stimulus.

When movement patterns become too difficult to execute at speed and intensity, athletes spend more energy solving the exercise than producing the adaptation.

The goal isn’t to find the fanciest drill.

The goal is to find the right movement challenge that allows:
✅ High-quality ex*****on
✅ Repeatable effort
✅ Consistent overload

Movement Quality + Effort Repeatability = Expected Results

Great training creates a stimulus athletes can reproduce, progress, and build upon.

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