Swim Smooth Philosophy

Swim Smooth was established in October 2004, with the DVD box set being finalised and launched on December 21st 2004. However, over 4 years of working and filming with over 1,000 individual one-to-one clients whilst in Perth, saw Paul developing and refining many new and existing freestyle swimming drills to help aid his swimmer's improvement. It is this collection of drills and techniques which Paul has carefully collated and brought together in a simple format which breaks the freestyle stroke down into its various components, e.g. body roll, catch and pull through, leg kick etc. This gives the viewer a comprehensive look at the freestyle stroke and at the same time educates you on how to improve and what to look out for with your own stroke.

Swim Smooth does not claim to be a new "concept" in freestyle technique, as to have a set way or formula for swimming for every single swimmer does not allow for any individuality. We strongly believe in, and treat, every swimmer that we coach as an individual. To this extent, freestyle swimming is both science AND art:

The science behind swimming is the biomechanics behind what should, in theory, be technically efficient in the water. However, even over the last 11 years this theory has changed dramatically. Most notably Counsilman* discussed the "S-pull shape" and "thumb-first entry", which since 1977 was believed to be de rigueur in swimming circles and yet in 1994 was 'disproven' by Rushell et al**. This method has actually since been shown to lead to impingement of the shoulder in many swimmers due to excessive internal rotation of the shoulder joint.

*Counsilman JE: Competitive Swimming Manual for Coaches and Swimmers. Bloomington, IN, Counsilman Co, 1977.

**Rushall BS, Spingings EJ, Holt LE, et al: A reevaluation of forces in swimming. Journal of Swimming Research 1994; 10: 6-30.

Whilst it is sound to have some basic structure or "text book" format from which to work, there also needs to be an element of "art" in going about your swimming technique, and certainly from a coaching perspective. By working towards a "model" of freestyle efficiency but at the same time being aware of the limitations and PROS & CONS of each way of swimming, the individual becomes better educated in what works best for them. The best example of this is looking at how pure pool-based swimming contrasts with efficient freestyle swimming in the open water, or when wearing a wetsuit, which for triathlon is obviously a very important consideration. Besides the obvious of lifting your head to sight, we have to look at higher arm recovery, higher stroke rates and a more powerful way of breaking through any surface chop or swell depending on the conditions you are presented with. If you took the world's best middle-distance freestyle pool swimmer (e.g. Grant Hackett or Ian Thorpe) and compared their strokes with the world's best surf or open water swimmers (e.g. Ky Hurst or Shelley Taylor-Smith) you would see a huge difference in their techniques. That is not to say that you shouldn't train for efficiency in the pool, you should, but you should then also look to see how you can modify or adapt yout stroke on the day of a race to best suit the conditions you are presented with.

If you always train like a pool swimmer with a beautiful long stroke with maximum distance per stroke then no doubt you will swim faster on race day if you are in a totally flat river or lake with no-one else around you, but if its choppy or there are several hundred other flailing arms all trying to get in front of you (sound familiar?) then you may have a bit of trouble.

This is exactly what both the Swim Smooth DVD box set and the Swim Smooth Clinics / One-to-One sessions teach you: train like a pool swimmer initially to gain efficiency and feeling for the water, but then look to see how you can adapt your stroke to suit the conditions you are faced with on race day. The best thing about Swim Smooth is that we educate you how to improve both in the pool AND open water and then give you a structured program detailing how to go about it in easy-to-follow steps. Simple, Structured and FUN!