Lesson 3: Intro to HeadCoach™
HeadCoach™ is a groundbreaking tool which uses your personal swim data to provide coaching, recommendations and data analysis to help you improve your swim technique. HeadCoach™ shows up in multiple ways in your swim experience: you will see it in the goggles and in the app.
HeadCoach™ Workouts
HeadCoach™ Workouts are generated for you based on your recent swim data. Data points like your distance, stroke preferences, interval length preferences and other metrics, will be used to build and suggest three workouts that would be suited to your training style.
These guided workouts are automatically loaded to your goggles when you sync, and updated after each swim is synced to your app.
The workouts can be edited in the app so if you want to add an extra interval or change something around before you get in the pool, you can tap into the workout in the app, make the changes and save. This will then be synced to your goggles ready for your swim.
HeadCoach™ Skills
These are specific technique skills that HeadCoach™ can track your progress in.
For each skill, you will receive a score in the app in the Swim Details as well as in the HeadCoach™ section of the app. You will also find more information and coaching tips in that section.
Head Pitch
This is the angle in which you are looking up or down while you are swimming with your face in the water. The optimal range is between 30- 37 degrees; keeping your head within this range will get you the highest score.
You can access a Skill mode for this Skill in the goggles. In this Skill mode, the aim is to keep the dot within the two lines by adjusting your head position. For more information on Skill modes, read here: How do I use HeadCoach™ Skill modes?
You can also see your degrees or score as a metric in your dashboard for your last length or the current interval. See how to change your dashboard metrics here: Choosing your dashboards and metrics
Peak Head Roll
This is the maximum angle of the side to side roll of your head when breathing. The lower the number of degrees, the better.
You can access a Skill mode for this Skill in the goggles. In this Skill mode, the aim is to keep the dot within the lines when breathing. For more information on Skill modes, read here: How do I use HeadCoach™ Skill modes?
You can also see your degrees or score as a metric in your dashboard for your last length or the current interval. See how to change your dashboard metrics here: Choosing your dashboards and metrics
Time-to-Neutral
This is the percentage of your breath time that is spent returning to neutral after you inhale.
You can access a Skill mode for this Skill in the goggles. In this Skill mode, the screen shows a bar with a line in the middle. The line represents your 5-swim average score, with the aim being to return to neutral quicker than that average. Doing so means that you will see a solid bar fill up and a checkmark. For more information on Skill modes, read here: How do I use HeadCoach™ Skill modes?
You can also see your percent or score as a metric in your dashboard for your last length or the current interval. See how to change your dashboard metrics here: Choosing your dashboards and metrics
Set & Interval Pacing
This is the consistency of your pacing within a set or interval. The more consistent, the higher the score.
You can access a Skill mode for this Skill in the goggles. In this Skill mode, the aim is to keep your set or interval paces consistent. For more information on Skill modes, read here: How do I use HeadCoach™ Skill modes?
You can also see your score as a metric in your dashboard for your current interval. See how to change your dashboard metrics here: Choosing your dashboards and metrics
HeadCoach™ Skill Modes
HeadCoach™ Skills modes are in-goggle experiences which provide real-time feedback on your HeadCoach™ Skills while you're swimming. There are five ways to swim the Skill modes:
1. Swim a HeadCoach™ Workout
HeadCoach™ workouts most often have a Skill mode built in to the workout so, when swimming one of these workouts, the Skill mode will activate automatically.
2. Add a HeadCoach™ Skill mode to your custom workout in the builder.
Adding a Skill mode to a subset in the workout builder will cause it to activate automatically when you swim that workout.
3. Select a workout from the FORM library that already has a HeadCoach™ Skill mode built in.
This means that, when swimming this workout, the Skill mode will activate automatically on the relevant subset(s).
4. Accept the suggestion to switch on a HeadCoach™ Skill mode during a free swim.
If you accept this suggestion at the beginning of a swim, during a rest, HeadCoach™ will suggest that you switch on a HeadCoach™ Skill mode. You can:
- accept this suggestion, which will turn on that Skill mode until you wish to turn it off,
- select "not now" which will mean that you may see a suggestion later in your swim, or
- select "not this swim" which means you won't see anymore suggestions during this swim.
5. Activate a HeadCoach™ Skill mode manually during a pool swim:
- Once you have started your swim, press the FRONT button to pause
- Press the BACK button once till you see ‘HeadCoach™ Skills’ and press the FRONT button to select it
- By default, the HeadCoach™ Skills will be ‘Automatic', as noted by the checkmark. This means that the skill that is offered is your Top Priority skill in the app.
- Use the BACK button to cycle through each of the skills
- Press the FRONT button to select the skill you want to work on
- Press the FRONT button again to ‘Resume Swim’
HeadCoach™ Recommended Focus
HeadCoach™ analyzes your swim and provides a recommended focus based on a number of factors. You can see a detailed description here: HeadCoach™ Recommended Focus.
HeadCoach™ Limitations
HeadCoach™ is available for pool swims in freestyle only.
If you are using equipment for your swim which affects your technique or speed (e.g. snorkel or fins), this may mean that you don't receive a score for that length, interval or swim. Outlier detection is in place for these scenarios to prevent any outlier data from affecting your scores.
You can find out more on our blog or through the app.
Next Up: Lesson 4: Guided Workouts Pro Tips