From
the Desk of Coach Earhart
Men's Swimming Coach
Carthage
College
Fellow Coaches:
You’re receiving this message at the suggestion of Sergei Beliaev of
Super Sport Systems. I’d been looking at his program for awhile, but
wasn’t ready to take the plunge until after I spoke with a couple of
his fellow users. That convinced me to give it a try for a few low-risk,
high-effort guys this season. While I’ve learned quite a bit from
Sergei through numerous calls and lengthy, late-night e-mails, some of
my most enlightening moments have come from talking with fellow users.
In fact, of the coaches I’ve spoken with thus far, the loyalty to
Sergei is unreal.
That’s why I’ve created a mailing list for
3S users (or those interested in the program). If you have a question,
suggestion or idea, just e-mail it to the list. It might concern
training, or how you’ve modified the program somehow, or even how you
get your athletic director to pay for the service, (“Coaching? Isn’t
that what we’re paying YOU for?” I was asked). It’s a way to get
coaches to use the 3S system more effectively. Your e-mail will be
delivered to fellow 3S users’ e-mail box. If someone has a suggestion
or fellow question, reply to the list and everyone else benefits as
well. Ultimately, I look at it as an educational opportunity to learn
from some leading-edge, early-adopting coaches, and is especially
helpful now that we’re in season and few of us has the time to call
3-4 others to solicit their opinion.
At the same time, I’m hoping we can help
Sergei out. As mentioned, the coaches I’ve spoken with, are in awe of
the program and the loyalty is almost cultlike. One thing I’ve seen in
looking at the program is that it can be pretty intimidating to the
uninitiated or those who fear change. These include big, long sets that
we’re not familiar with (I’m supposed to give them 1x4000 free style
with one minute rest and a HR of 144-151?), the energy levels use
different names and are more nuanced than what USA Swimming has taught
us (though, when I shared them with my Bulgarian breaststroker, he said,
“This is what I know – this makes much more sense to me), and some
otherwise awkward language that might be more academic in nature than
what us non-exercise-physiologists are used to, or might be lost in the
translation back to English. Whatever the case, the ideas and
suggestions generated from such a list can only help Sergei, Dr. Gordon
and their team make the 3S product more functional to more coaches. They’ve
shown me some of the things they’ve been working on – variable
weekly training schedules, adaptations for strokers vs. freestylers,
etc., and the only thing limiting them, it seems, is the funding to roll
out more features.
This isn’t a sales pitch, SPAM, or a
CollegeSwimming.com endeavor, its an effort that I’m taking on to help
educate 3S users and 3S developers in hopes of making this tremendous
tool even more valuable to each of us.
If you’re interested in joining the list just
send an e-mail to SwimCoaches-on@carthage.edu
and you’ll be added to the list. I don’t think you need to worry
about filling up your mailbox much more, but I do think that the e-mail
you receive will be some of the most educational and informative you get
on each day.
If you have any problems subscribing, let me
know and I’ll get you added to the list,
Swimcerely,
Greg Earhart
Office: 262-551-6192 / Cell: 262-960-1770 |