By Chris Webb on SwimSwam
The problem with the term “dryland” is that it encourages us to think of training outside the water as a separate activity. Swimming happens in the pool. Dryland happens somewhere else.
In reality, there should be no separation.
Everything a swimmer does should contribute to becoming a better swimmer. The work performed outside the water should support what happens in the water. When those two environments become disconnected, training loses its purpose.
Athletic development is a process. The distinction between dryland strength & conditioning and athletic development matters because athletic development shifts the focus away from strength and fitness workouts and towards the athlete and begins long before strength training enters the picture.
Before athletes learn to lift, they should learn to move. Running, jumping, balancing, throwing, catching, landing, twisting, and changing direction create the movement vocabulary that supports future performance. These fundamental skills are not a distraction from training. They are the training.
Unfortunately, many young athletes now arrive in organized sport with significant movement deficits. They have had fewer opportunities to explore movement, play freely, and develop physical competence. As coaches, we can no longer assume these qualities exist. We have to teach them.
One of the most common mistakes in swimming is thinking that technique problems are always technique problems. A swimmer may understand exactly what they need to do but lack the physical capacity to do it. They may know how to maintain body position but lack the dynamic postural strength to hold it as fatigue accumulates. They may understand how to connect the catch to body rotation but, lack the ability to transfer force effectively.
No amount of technical instruction can fully compensate for physical limitations.
The body must be prepared to execute the skill when that skill is required.
This is where athletic development becomes essential. The work done outside the water provides the foundation upon which technical and tactical development can occur. It should help swimmers become stable, coordinated, and resilient. More importantly, it should give them the physical capacity to express their skills under pressure and fatigue.
Too many traditional dryland strength & conditioning programs are built around isolated body parts. Athletes perform endless repetitions for shoulders, abdominals, or legs without considering how those parts work together. The body does not function that way in the water or on land. Train movements, not muscles.
Swimming requires the coordinated action of the entire system. Force must be transferred efficiently from the hip to the shoulder, and from the shoulder to the opposite hip, simultaneously. Posture must be maintained during movement. Stability and mobility must coexist.
This is why dynamic postural strength and stability sit at the center of any athletic development program. Before athletes can produce force effectively, they must first control their body position. Many of the technical faults coaches observe late in races are actually manifestations of physical limitations. The athlete simply lacks the capacity to maintain the positions required for efficient movement.
Perhaps the most important principle of all is context.
No exercise has value in isolation. Despite what Instagram gurus tell you. No workout has value in isolation. Everything must fit within a larger process. The work being done today should support what is coming tomorrow and build upon what has already been done. Athletic development, swimming training, competition schedules, recovery, and growth all interact with one another.
With context, training becomes preparation.
Before introducing any exercise, coaches should ask a simple question: Are we making our swimmers better, or are we simply making them tired?
The answer often reveals the difference between purposeful training and what we see on social media.
Much of my thinking on athletic development was shaped by Vern Gambetta, whose work challenged coaches to think beyond isolated workouts and view training as an integrated process. Over nearly three decades of coaching, those ideas have continued to evolve through experience, observation, and working with swimmers at different stages of development. They have also formed an important foundation of the GAINswim approach for the last fifteen years.
The terms dryland and strength & conditioning will probably remain part of the swimming vocabulary for years to come, but I believe it only tells part of the story. What we are really doing is developing athletes.
The exercises may change. The methods may evolve. Gurus will come and go. The objective remains the same: to develop adaptable athletes who understand their bodies, move efficiently, remain resilient, and possess the physical capacity to express their skills in the water.
The goal is not to create swimmers who are good at dryland.
The goal is to create athletes who swim fast.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: Beyond Dryland: A Philosophy of Athletic Development for Swimmers
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