TY - JOUR
T1 - Quality Versus Quantity Debate in Swimming
T2 - Perceptions and Training Practices of Expert Swimming Coaches
AU - Nugent, Frank J.
AU - Comyns, Thomas M.
AU - Warrington, Giles D.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Editorial Committee of Journal of Human Kinetics 2017.
PY - 2017
Y1 - 2017
N2 - The debate over low-volume, high-intensity training versus high-volume, low-intensity training, commonly known as Quality versus Quantity, respectively, is a frequent topic of discussion among swimming coaches and academics. The aim of this study was to explore expert coaches' perceptions of quality and quantity coaching philosophies in competitive swimming and to investigate their current training practices. A purposeful sample of 11 expert swimming coaches was recruited for this study. The study was a mixed methods design and involved each coach participating in 1 semi-structured interview and completing 1 closed-ended questionnaire. The main findings of this study were that coaches felt quality training programmes would lead to short term results for youth swimmers, but were in many cases more appropriate for senior swimmers. The coaches suggested that quantity training programmes built an aerobic base for youth swimmers, promoted technical development through a focus on slower swimming and helped to enhance recovery from training or competition. However, the coaches continuously suggested that quantity training programmes must be performed with good technique and they felt this was a misunderstood element. This study was a critical step towards gaining a richer and broader understanding on the debate over Quality versus Quantity training from an expert swimming coaches' perspective which was not currently available in the research literature.
AB - The debate over low-volume, high-intensity training versus high-volume, low-intensity training, commonly known as Quality versus Quantity, respectively, is a frequent topic of discussion among swimming coaches and academics. The aim of this study was to explore expert coaches' perceptions of quality and quantity coaching philosophies in competitive swimming and to investigate their current training practices. A purposeful sample of 11 expert swimming coaches was recruited for this study. The study was a mixed methods design and involved each coach participating in 1 semi-structured interview and completing 1 closed-ended questionnaire. The main findings of this study were that coaches felt quality training programmes would lead to short term results for youth swimmers, but were in many cases more appropriate for senior swimmers. The coaches suggested that quantity training programmes built an aerobic base for youth swimmers, promoted technical development through a focus on slower swimming and helped to enhance recovery from training or competition. However, the coaches continuously suggested that quantity training programmes must be performed with good technique and they felt this was a misunderstood element. This study was a critical step towards gaining a richer and broader understanding on the debate over Quality versus Quantity training from an expert swimming coaches' perspective which was not currently available in the research literature.
KW - coaching philosophy
KW - high-intensity training
KW - high-volume training
KW - long term athlete development
KW - mixed methods
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85021698158&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1515/hukin-2017-0056
DO - 10.1515/hukin-2017-0056
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85021698158
SN - 1640-5544
VL - 57
SP - 147
EP - 158
JO - Journal of Human Kinetics
JF - Journal of Human Kinetics
IS - 1
ER -