Technique Again

Earlier this week I wrote about the importance of practising technique and today I got another reminder of that.

Usually on a Sunday I would be looking to get out for a good long paddle on the river. However, today I gave up the chance to do some long steady work and instead replaced it with a session dedicated entirely to technique, I find that sort of trade can be hard for many triathletes to make. As I wrote about earlier in the week, we are big on getting out, working hard and suffering, however, we often struggle to take time off from working hard and focusing instead on the skills and techniques critical to doing our sport quickly.

In most sports technique play a part. Poor technique can mean we are being inefficient or at risk of hurting ourselves. In the disciplines of swimming and running technique can have a huge impact on efficiency and speed. In cycling too skills are massively important, particularly when it comes to bike handling. Watch Sagan descend a mountain in a Grand Tour and see just how much benefit can come from being a skillful cyclist. Similarly we have all seen those swimmers who never train and look unfit, but can still swim remarkably quickly due to their good technique. That's not to mention the speed that can be gained by being able to transition quickly. All up, strength, fitness and determination will get a person a long way, but without the skills to go with them, they will always fall short of their full potential.

The technique work I did today was with a coach, which was a great way to get some outside, objective input to what I was doing wrong. It was just what I needed. The advice I got from the coach should help me solve some problems that have been persisting for quite some time and will hopefully bring an associated increase in speed. It was definitely a worthwhile use of time.

The improvements I got from today's coached session are a good example of why it is worth regularly concentrating on technique. Yes, I missed the opportunity to go out and work hard, but I instead I got some invaluable advice on what I am doing wrong. The improvements that this advice will bring will easily outweigh any benefits I would have got from going out and doing yet another hard session.

The trick will now be putting this guidance into practise and getting the associated improvements. That is my challenge for the next few weeks before I catch up with the coach again for an update on how things are going. I am hoping that this regular catch up with a coach to focus specifically on technique, as well as a session per week to specifically work on recovery/technique work will see those improvements come.

And really that is all the trick there is to it. Technique is important in all sports, but all it takes to improve it is spending a bit of time regularly focusing on it. That time might be spent with a coach, or by yourself working on a particular focus area, but the important bit is that the time is spent.