When training on land swimmers usually stood still and mainly used arms. This method has its pros and cons. The swimmer can easily see his movements but the body position is wrong and the swimmer has to use completely different muscles to keep the arms in their proper positions than is the case in water.
When the mirror was in the water it was usually placed at the end of pool or on the bottom. Counsilman fixed the mirror to the wall at the end of the pool. The problem was that as a swimmer you could use the mirror only when you approached the wall and then only for a very short time. Backstroke swimmers, of course, could not use it at all.
Sometimes the mirrors placed on the bottom of the pool are visible and often give a good view of your stroke. The biggest problem with mirrors is the cost since if you are really serious about mirrors then you need plenty of them. One mirror is of no help at all.
Help Your Partner
We have to admit that Counsilman had many good ideas for developing swimmers´ technique. No wonder he had so many good swimmers. One of his ideas was "partner teaching" which again he introduced in his first book. Expert in sport pedagogy Muska Mosston called this method "reciprocal style". In swimming the method is based on underwater evaluation and individual feedback and thus seems to solve both of the difficult problems in teaching technique. The swimmers worked in pairs so that while one was swimming the other one was underwater evaluating the movements and afterwards giving feedback. Counsilman said that this method also had an extra benefit: it forced the swimmers to think. This method no doubt is beneficial and it also often brings a welcome break to a monotonous training session. I think that this method deserves to be used more, at least with more mature swimmers.Listen To Your Eyes
I have presented here so far a review of the methods which are to be found in swimming literature. By these methods their authors have tried to make our lives by the swimming pool easier. Surprisingly, however one method has not been studied by anyone. I have checked all the major swimming books, see booklist, and did not find any trace of it.The method of using your eyes to evaluate your stroke, but without mirrors, has somehow been forgotten. There are two possible reasons for this. First, everyone is doing it all the time and hence it is why it is not worth mentioning. Second, although it is very obvious, authors have not understood the idea or the value of this method, which in fact combines the strengths of self evaluation in the "feel method" and evaluating your stroke with your eyes with mirrors and partners. The strengths of this method are that you obtain a clear picture of your underwater stroke and thus you get immediate feedback as often as you want. You only have to keep your eyes open.
Several paths have led me to this method. One of them is found in Muska Mosston´s book on teaching styles. Let us recall some of these: the command style, the practice style, the reciprocal style, the self check style, the problem solving style etc. The first two are often used in swimming coaching. Counsilman used the reciprocal style help your partner and also the self check style but based on feel. In Mosston´s book evaluation is based on mostly on vision.
- According to Mosston, the self check style should be used in the following way. The teacher gives an instruction and demonstrates the movement and then he gives the pupil one or two criteria which the pupil evaluates with his eyes. Teacher's task is to teach the pupil to evaluate his own movements. Of course he can assist in evaluating if the task is too difficult for the student or try to make the task of evaluation easier. Thus the question is no longer: "How can I teach better" but "How can I teach the student to learn better". Emphasis is on learning rather than on teaching and the learner is more responsible for his own progress.
- Another source to this "Listen to Your Eyes Method" is Masters swimming. When I train my own technique I hardly ever have a coach by the pool watching me. Which is why I have to do both the evaluation and the feedback myself. Because I am an expert I do not have any problems finding the criteria. I just have to keep my eyes open. I have realized two things. Goggles are not only good for protecting my eyes from chlorine irritation. I can also see my own arms and hands through them and I can move them at will. I do not have to have mirrors. I can also evaluate my arms and hands without them. It is interesting to remember that in the Munich Olympics of 1972 no one used goggles and in Councilman's book which was published in 1977, none of the swimmers in the pictures wore goggles. To my understanding goggles did not start to spread in the swimming community until after 1975. Could it be that the most distinguished authors in the field of swimming were swimmers during the nineteen fifties and sixties when goggles were not commonly used and that this explains why they do not teach the use of vision underwater.
- Third reason for using our eyes instead of the sense of touch comes out of the research on learning. Motor learning expert Schmidt says in his book: "Chief among exteroceptive information sources, of course is vision." It is very efficient in evaluating and guiding movements and in memorizing movements. Our senses are there to be used. We only have to decide which one to choose so why should we not choose vision only.
