Julian Nagi, Team Nagi Triathlon Coaching & Swimmer Reborn Swim Coaching
I’ll never forget the first time I saw some video footage of myself swimming underwater. To say I was shocked would be an understatement. I didn’t believe it was me and thought the coach had mistakenly showed me another swimmers footage! That weird claw thing I was doing with my left hand when pulling will forever live in my memory.
What this clearly showed me as a young swimmer was the huge disparity between what I thought I was doing and what I was really doing. In my head I thought I was moving through the water like the great Alexander Popov. In reality there were quite a few areas that could have been a lot better. As a high-level swimmer I felt frustrated that this hadn’t been picked up previously by my coaches. But what I came to realise when I started using video analysis myself is that there are some things that are difficult to pick up with the naked eye and only become visible when you slow the stroke down and can see the full stroke underwater.
The immediate power of swim video analysis was not lost on me because as frustrated as I felt at the time it was also easy to correct some of my faults. As I have come to learn, the reason for this is because nearly all of us are highly attuned to visual learning. Once we see what we are doing wrong it makes the process of correction extremely fast. Then it’s just a simple process of repetition over time to achieve the desired result.
But first you must realise that you can’t always trust what your brain is telling you!
“But first you must realise that you can’t always trust what your brain is telling you!”
The biggest problem I see with swimmers today is that they make way too many assumptions about what they are doing right & wrong. This largely comes from the amount of misinformation and poor coaching advice that is currently out there. It pains me to see the path many swimmers are taken down, sometimes through no fault of their own.
Unfortunately, being able to filter what is right or wrong for you is a very tricky task and that’s why the best investment any swimmer can make is to get a one-to-one swim video analysis session with a qualified swim coach. This takes the guess work out of it so you can make progress rather than playing the guessing game. Being able to see yourself swim from all angles, above, below and from the side can quite literally be a revelation for many swimmers.
The goal of any coach should be to help you find the right way as fast as possible and that’s what I focus on at my Swimmer Reborn clinics. Quality swim video analysis negates the need for endless/costly weekly swimming lessons because the changes can be made on the day and then I make sure you have the right plan to follow to embed these changes. This is the tailor-made approach that I give to all swimmers I work with, so they don’t have to keep coming back for more and more sessions all the time.
My goal is to give the swimmer all the tools they need to help them to swim in a way that suits their body, improves efficiency and most importantly feels good. During a swim video analysis session a coach can filter out what the swimmer doesn’t need to think about and simplify the areas that will give them the biggest bang for their buck. Then it can open up a whole new world of swimming enjoyment and progression.
During a swim video analysis session a coach can filter out what the swimmer doesn’t need to think about and simplify the areas that will give them the biggest bang for their buck.
One thing I’ve really enjoyed over the past 20 years of coaching is working with athletes who already have triathlon coaches from all around the world. For many reasons a lot of coaches simply don’t have access to swimming pools, or the swim might not be their area of expertise. That’s where I can integrate into the team to provide the support athletes need to get their swim technique on track. I can give the coach all the relevant feedback/data/video footage they need so they know what needs to be integrated into their athlete’s swim program. As coaches we all rely on other specialists from time to time and I am always more than happy to work with their coaches to help them achieve success.
About the author
Julian Nagi is the founder of Team Nagi Triathlon Coaching & Swimmer Reborn swim coaching. He has coached athletes at all levels from beginner to pro for over 20 years. He is a specialist swim and long course coach & has been a Swim Smooth certified coach for over 10 years. A former Ironman athlete himself who now devotes all his time to developing his team of athletes around the world, his London based squad of swimmers & work one to one with swimmers from all over the country. Sport & food are his passions, and you are just as likely get a good restaurant recommendation as well as great coaching advice when you work with him.
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Email: caroline@trainxhale.com