An Interview with Bob Karl, Head Coach of Bob Karl Swim Club since 1976

Bob Karl has coached swimming for over 40 years. He has used StrechCordz® swim resistance training products since their inception. We spoke to him to find out what has changed in swim coaching and resistance training over the decades.

Tell us about what resistance and strength training you did with your swimmers when you were first starting out and what you do now?

In the beginning we didn’t do much with StrechCordz® training products. When I first started out, we worked with them on a limited basis about 20 years ago. Right now we’re using the highest strength StrechCordz product all the way through our dry-land progam.

You’ve coached a litany of decorated athletes and some of the greatest coaches of our time. What do you think separates a great coach from an average coach?

I think it’s being open-minded and having the ability to make changes to the program. It’s the ability to not follow the fad. In the 70’s cord training was a fad and then faded, but it’s back, I’ve been doing it since the 60’s. A lot of new coaches want to try the latest trends and aren’t open minded to trying what’s worked for years.

There are many exercise variations, and training tools for in-water and dry land training. Many swim coaches struggle with balancing and prioritizing exercises. What advice do you have for making sure all the swimmers get the right exercise they need?

Too much moderation is no good and overkill is no good. I think the StrechCordz® resistance training tools help you in that area where you don’t do overkill and under level of ability. I think in that area for us, it really helps us dramatically. The idea of keeping a balance between the dry-land training program, weights and the water is very critical. You have to keep a balance between your swimming and your dry-land training. I know a trainer that tried to overkill with the weight room and it didn’t achieve what he wanted it to achieve as a result his performance levels were diminished. You can’t replace swimming with just dry-land training, and you can’t replace dry-land training with swimming. It’s been proven over the years that swimmers through heavy training lose strength. The reason we do our dry-land training programs now through the season is to keep that strength building up while we are training harder in the water, so that when we do taper and rest we’re able to train that much harder. We couldn’t survive without StrechCordz® training tools knowing what we do and how we do it.

You’ve been using StrechCordz® resistance training tools with your swimmers for decades. What is it that you like most about our products?

The versatility. You can make change in a moments notice from exercise to exercise using the same cord. We’ll change over dramatically from drill to drill using StrechCordz® gear. They’re easy to maintain. There’s really no maintenance at all. You just buy them and use them.

Can you tell us a one or two exercises you use StrechCordz® gear for, and what exercises you recommend with them?

We use the heavy duty blue StrechCordz® dry land training tools. We use them three days a week, and we do two different exercises – one for triceps and one for the rotator cuff. It’s not the same as weights. You can get the same benefit without the worry of hurting yourself with a bar. The tricep exercise really helps the back end of the stroke quite a bit. Our improvement with the swimmers is just remarkable. This year alone, I’ve had a boy drop over a minute in the 500. He’s going to drop another minute this year just because of those two exercises. I just know it.