Beyond the Pancakes: Matt Kredich on How to Teach Athletes

In Practice + Pancakes, SwimSwam takes you across the country and through a practice day in the life of swimming’s best athletes. It breaks down training sessions, sub sets, and what every team is doing to be at their best. But why are they doing things that way? What’s the philosophy behind these decisions, and who’s driving this pain train? In Beyond the Pancakes, we dive inside the minds of coaches and athletes, getting a first hand look at why they do the things they do, and where their minds are pointed on the compass of evolution as a swimmer.

The university of Tennessee coaching staff is known for thinking outside the box. For proof, here is not 1, but 3 different practices where I can almost guarantee you’ll see something you’ve never seen before.

Practice #1

Practice #2

Practice #3

At the helm of this innovative coaching staff is Matt Kredich, who is as much a student of swimming as he is a teacher. Kredich is always gunning to learn new things and try different ideas in and out of the water, as he discussed with me in Knoxville. He thinks that the athletes are the best teachers on the pool deck, since most of the coaching staff haven’t swam competitively in years, even decades. It’s the coaches job to turn the feedback the athletes give into practical training methods that fit the athletes needs.

Kredich also discusses where UT is at in mid January, the in between time of winter training and championships season, and how to approach a day-to-day training schedule during the period.

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Ross Dant Superfan 2
5 years ago

Don’t let this distract you from the fact that ross dant went a 19.2 in a 50 free with fins

Kid
Reply to  Ross Dant Superfan 2
5 years ago

And dislocated his elbow or something

Ross Dant Superfan 2
Reply to  Kid
5 years ago

that’s because he used more than 10% of his power

SaintJoseph
5 years ago

Brilliant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

About Coleman Hodges

Coleman Hodges

Coleman started his journey in the water at age 1, and although he actually has no memory of that, something must have stuck. A Missouri native, he joined the Columbia Swim Club at age 9, where he is still remembered for his stylish dragon swim trunks. After giving up on …

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