Effectiveness of the power dry-land training programmes in youth swimmers

Abstract

The aim of the study was to evaluate the effects of the dry-land power training on swimming force, swimming performance and strength in youth swimmers. Twenty six male swimmers, free from injuries and training regularly at least 6 times a week, were enrolled in the study and randomly assigned to one of two groups: experimental (n=14, mean age 14.0 ± 0.5 yrs, mean height 1.67±0.08 m and mean body mass 55.71 ±9.55 kg) and control (n=12, mean age 14.1 ± 0.5 yrs, mean height 1.61±0.11 m and mean body mass 49.07 ±8.25 kg). The experimental group took part in a combined swimming and dry-land power training. The control group took part in swimming training only. The training programmes in water included a dominant aerobic work in front crawl. In this research the experimental group tended to present slightly greater improvements in sprint performance. However, the stroke frequency insignificantly decreased (-4.30%, p>0.05) in the experimental group and increased (6.28%, p>0.05) in the control group. The distance per stroke insignificantly increased in the experimental group (5.98%, p>0.05) and insignificantly decreased in the control group (-5.36%, p>0.05). A significant improvement of tethered swimming force for the experimental group (9.64%, p<0.02) was found, whereas the increase was not statistically significant in the control group (2.86%, p>0.05). The main data cannot clearly state that power training allowed an enhancement in swimming performance, although a tendency to improve swimming performance in tethered swimming was noticed.

Keywords: ergometer; strength; tethered force; youth swimmers.

Figure 1

The ergometer applied during the experiment.

Figure 2

Shoulder-strength values during isometric test (IS) determined for the experimental and control group during initial and final evaluations

Figure 3

Swimming performance in 25 m front crawl at the beginning of the protocol (Pretest) and after six weeks of training (Post-test) for the experimental and control group

Figure 4

Mean and standard deviation values for stroke frequency (SR) and distance per stroke (SD) in the 25 m front crawl at the beginning of the protocol (Pretest) and after six weeks of training (Post-test) for the experimental and control groups

Figure 5

Tethered swimming force over periods of 10 seconds (TS) during the swimming test at the beginning of the protocol (Pretest) and after six weeks of training (Post-test) for the experimental and control groups