SLAM - Skill Learning Acceleration Methods

Dr. Anders Ericsson, a psychology professor at FSU and "the expert on expert performance," recently talked about the "deliberate" practice necessary to become an expert. One of his many important points was how athletes typically spend excessive practice time on skills that are either too easy or too hard, and very little time practicing the skills that are critical for them to progress.
  
This concept certainly applies to swimming - at all levels of performance. For example, beginning swimmers are usually practicing a skill that is too hard - swimming the "whole" stroke over a distance that is too long, instead of repeating an exercise over a short distance that allows them to focus on specific technique elements. Advanced swimmers generally practice a skill that is too easy - making countless repetitions of a technique they have already mastered without focusing on the adjustments that will get them to an expert level of technique.
 
Every swimmer wants to swim faster as soon as possible. There are skill learning acceleration methods (SLAM) that can increase the time on target skills without compromising training. SLAM helps swimmers go faster sooner by incorporating the most effective learning strategies, such as:    
  • Varied Presentation Modalities - multimedia, mirrors, static demo on land, dynamic demo in water, guidance
  • Task Difficulty Progressions - age/ability level adjustments in training course distance, skill complexity, speed, rest
  • Encouraged Cognitive Involvement - strategies to increase mental involvement in both classroom and pool sessions
  • Tracking Sensory Input - visual, kinesthetic, and auditory cues; exaggeration strategies; count aloud; report after performance
  • Continual Instructor Interventions - reminders before each swim, feedback after each swim

These acceleration strategies can make a sudden positive impact on beginning swimmers, but they are no less important with advanced competitors. For example, a drill can be designed to isolate an advanced skill, but other factors can be adjusted to help the swimmer focus - such as course distance, swimming speed, and breathing frequency.