Improving Swimming Performance Utilizing Video Analysis
If this article had been written even five years ago, the potential benefits of this emerging technology would have been limited to a small, select group of elite athletes and coaches intent on recruiting or producing potential Olympians or similarly vetted standout performers. Today, however, the benefits of videographic analysis are within the reach of every athlete aspiring to enhance performance, reduce injury, or simply seeking to enjoy a fit and active lifestyle.
Effective analysis is a blend of both art and science. To illustrate, consider a common medical procedure, coronary angiography. Gathering data regarding blood flow and obstructions in arteries supplying the heart is only the starting point. The doctor (coach) interpreting that data is the real dealmaker in the process. Based upon that analysis, the recommended treatment might be a prescription, an angioplasty and stent, a bypass surgery, or just a morning bowl of Cheerios.
Decision making is the art portion of the process. In a technology-driven world dominated by mounds of raw quantitative data, the qualitative interpretation of that information is what truly matters. Could a lesser trained pilot have glided that damaged plane down into the Hudson like “Captain Sully”? The best pilot (coach) leads to the best outcome.
The quality of the coach reviewing a piece of videotape is paramount to the success of the endeavor. Making truly expert analysis, at affordable cost, available to athletes of all ages and abilities represents a quantum leap in applied technology.
Of course, quality of equipment does matter when performing videography. For an excellent discussion of equipment and formatting, refer to Video Analysis and Applications in Sport, by Scott Riewald, PhD in the Spring, 2009 issue of Olympic Coach.
A fully loaded Mercedes transports its passengers with the ultimate of style and elegance. A Chevy or Honda will also reliably get them to their destination. Just as photo editing software can turn vacation snapshots into pictures respectable enough to wow the neighbors, modern cutting-edge equipment, such as Dartfish, makes even ordinary home video, in most cases, usable for analysis. While accessing the best video equipment available is always advisable, a coach or athlete with less sophisticated gear should never be dissuaded from submitting amateur video for review to a well-qualified coach with state of the art analytic software.
Every athletic endeavor, irrespective of the athlete’s ability, has dignity and value. Most athletes are performing for an audience of one. There aren’t any recruiters camped out by their front doors. All training, irrespective of how lofty or modest the goals or accomplishments, is worthy of respect and support. Video analysis can be an important adjunct in enhancing every athlete’s experience.
In summary, the quality of the coach who performs the analysis is paramount to the success of videography performed outside the structured rigidity of a research laboratory, state-of-the-art analytic software, such as Dartfish, can usually enhance even the most basic amateur video into useable data, expert analysis is now available and affordable to virtually every athlete or swim club, and, finally, every athlete is “worth it”.
Scientific research has documented that video analysis can be an important adjunct to enhancing athletic performance. Once again, what separates science from anecdotal testimonials is the ability to reproduce the experiment with other test subjects, and the ability to compare data between test and control groups.
The quantitative data in a research project is objective, and the numbers or results speak for themselves. The results of this science may be suspected by the researchers in advance, but only the data themselves can lead to quantitative conclusions. The art of the process comes into play when qualitative interpretations by the researchers speculate on the meaning of the data, adding the “how” and “why” to the “what” of the testing. The more experienced and knowledgeable the interpreters, the more likely it is that the conclusions derived from the data can be applied to practical, individual use.
The sports science staff of USA Swimming conducted a research project at the 2000 Olympic Trials. In Chapter 4, Race Analysis, of their 2000 Trials Project, they analyzed the results of each heat in the various trial events, comparing certain parameters between the finalists (top eight), semi-finalists (second eight), and the remainder of the trials qualifiers in each event. Several variables were measured in each event, including velocity, stroke rate, and stroke length values.
For purposes of this paper, it isn’t important whether the top finishers in the 200 m freestyle had statistically significant differences in any of these values from the rest of the field, or whether the top finishers in the 100 m butterfly had a different stroke rate than the consolation heat, or for that matter if their splits were positive or negative. What is important is that the differences, when present, were measurable, and not simply the subject of conjecture.
For readers interested in the actual results of the study, and an introduction to the scientific method, this reference would be an excellent jumping-off point into the world of clinical research. Fast forwarding for a moment, take a few minutes to contemplate the significance of adding the “hows” and “whys” to the raw data.
For example, if non-finalists had a faster stroke rate than top finishers, would they be physically capable of slowing down their turnover rates, but compensating for the fewer strokes taken by increasing the distance covered per stroke? Further, since all of the swimmers at the Olympic Trials could be considered “elite”, would the same conclusions be valid if applied to younger age-group swimmers, or swimmers with “AA” times, or slower “B” times, or 40 year old recreational triathletes?
In another article, Keisuke Okuno et al studied the Stroke Characteristics of Male Swimmers in Free Style Events of the 9th FINA World swimming Championships 2001 Fukuoka, and published their results in Biomechanics and Medicine in Swimming IX by Jean-Claude Chatard in 2003. They measured the stroke velocity, stroke rate, and stroke length, comparing these values between one standout performer and the rest of the elite field.
Once again, it is less important that the fastest swimmer exhibited significant differences in the research parameters, which the authors attributed to high propulsion efficiency (stroke technique and body position in the water), than the fact that the videotaping of the athletes was able to capture and measure the differences. This reference would be an excellent starting point for additional background for those readers familiar with scientific or statistical evaluation.
Finally, Christophe Schnitzler, et al, in Variability of Coordination Parameters at 400 m Front Crawl Swimming Pace, published in 2009 in the Journal of Sports Science and Medicine, (put link here) added an index of coordination, heart rate, and several other measurable variables to the parameters already discussed in previous references, thereby contributing valuable information regarding the relationship between maintaining coordination while dealing with increasing fatigue among well conditioned swimmers.
This article will provide additional access to the pertinent literature for readers desiring an immersion into the scientific literature. For the rest of the readers, these articles should provide sufficient documentation that videography is a valid and productive tool in measuring performance and differentiating between test subjects.
Before moving on to a proposal for the future direction of research regarding the value of video technology, another reference to the field of medicine is in order. The Hippocratic Oath directs physicians to “first do no harm”. This admonition is equally applicable to coaches armed with video images and high-tech analytic software when applying raw data to individual athletes. One size clearly does not fit all when drawing conclusions on how to best enhance each swimmer’s unique abilities.
Quoting Budd Termin, the head men’s swimming coach at the University of Buffalo in a Dartfish case study, “Athletes get it once they can see it”. A more complete explanation would be that athletes get it when they view themselves through the corrective lenses provided by an experienced coach.
After reviewing hundreds of research articles in professional journals dealing with virtually every aspect of swimming mechanics and training techniques imaginable, it is clear to this author that when strengths and flaws are brought to the attention of individual athletes, positive adaptation is facilitated by this visual reinforcement.
Unfortunately, there appears to be more longitudinal research data available regarding the swimming proficiencies of various fish species than long term data following large numbers of randomized human swimmers. Therefore, rather than continuing to cite additional research papers, which are readily available on line for so many technical aspects of aquatic training, the balance of this paper will be devoted to a proposed format for gathering and compiling data for statistically significant groupings of swimmers.
The next generation of research, in this author’s opinion, should ambitiously attempt to capture the ongoing results of swimmers utilizing video enhanced analysis (interpreted by well-credentialed coaches), and comparing changes in their periodic performances with a control group of similar swimmers not participating in this adjunctive teaching aid.
Control group data could likely be derived through access to a large database, such as the age and gender formatted competition times produced by USA Swimming, in order to subset athletes into statistically comparable clusters of competitors. For example, 11-12 year old girls with “A” times swimming the 100 m freestyle and using video review by expert coaching as a training enhancement could be tracked at quarterly intervals, and changes in their race times could be compared to swimmers utilizing only traditional on-deck coaching supervision.
Large sample sizes would likely be sufficient to randomize other factors contributing to changes in performance, such as height, weight, growth spurts, frequency and intensity of training, and quality of club-based coaching. Such a project would no doubt require the support of a large swimming organization or commercial entity. The experimental design would parallel the basic structure of medical studies in many respects. Are there any PhD candidates reading and interested?
To summarize, through the power of the internet one of the perks previously enjoyed only by elite athletes, the competitive edge gained by the input of elite coaching, is now widely available to every swimmer with access to video equipment desiring an improved workout or competition experience. Dedicated swimmers (which would include anyone willing to dive into cold water at 6 AM before work or school) should consider participating in this enhanced coaching experience.
Author’s trivia note: Coach Abigail, who appears regularly in The Athlete Village, swam in the 2000 Olympic Trials and therefore contributed to the database for the research article cited in this paper.