Kick and Swim For Distance Set

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA

Longtime readers of this blog will know that I like to use timed swims (or kicks) for distance as a way to get some aerobic training in a slightly different-than-normal way.  The swimmers dictate the effort level, and I certainly encourage them to give it all they’ve got!

This particular set was performed LCM, and I tapped a wrench on a metal pipe at the end of the 3:00 time period (repeating every :10 for each successive group) to let them know when to stop.  Swimmers then swim easy to the nearest wall to start the next repeat.  We place kickboards along the edge of the pool every 10m so that they can pretty accurately tell how far they have gone.

KICK & SWIM FOR DISTANCE – GO :10 APART!
5x through:
1 X 3:00 CHOICE KICK FOR DISTANCE @ 4:00
       – BOARD FOR BR ONLY
       – DESCEND ACROSS ROUNDS (ALL OUT ON ROUND 5)
1 x 3:00 FREE SWIM FOR DISTANCE @ 4:00
       – DESCEND ACROSS ROUNDS (ALL OUT ON ROUND 5)

60 x 50 Friday Fly Day Set

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA

It is critical to train fly with excellent technique or it becomes what I call “butterstruggle” and is counterproductive. This set allowed is to get a decent volume of fly in while keeping it in manageable chunks. We allowed two versions of the set: The A is for our strongest flyers. The B is for our non-flyers or flyers without as much strength. Doing the set in “zipper” fashion allowed us to never half to “fly-dodge” or take one-arm strokes.


60 x 50 @ 1:00 DIFFERENT INSTRUCTIONS BASED ON A/B LEVELS
DONE IN 6 SETS OF 10, “ZIPPER STYLE” – DOWN IN LANE 2, BACK IN LANE 1 AND 3.
5x:          A                                  B         
#1        DRILL                           DRILL              
#2-3     25m FLY                      15m FLY         
#4-6     35m FLY                      25m FLY         
#7-9     50m FLY FAST              35m FLY FAST
#10      EZ FREE                       EZ FREE
FOR THE LAST SET OF 10:
ODDS: 15m FAST FLY THEN EZ FREE
EVENS: 50m FLY at P200 TIMED TO HAND TOUCH

Butterfly Stations

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA

This week we split into 3 stations for our customary Friday Fly Day.  This allowed us to use a variety of equipment and stagger our numbers to give us more space where we needed it (Station 3). We did 2 rounds through the 3 stations.

Station 1 – with Power Bags
12 x 25 Fly @ :40
descend 1-5 and 6-10, take the bags off for #11 and #12 all out
Hold consistent cycle count & breathing pattern, use the core to drive the kick.
For round 1, swimmers wore the Power Bags on their calves.  For round 2, swimmers wore the Power Bags around the ankle with the mesh hanging off their feet.

Station 2 – No equipment
18 x 25 fly @ :30
1 dolphin kick on side, 1 drill fly, 4 swim fastest possible average

Station 3 – with fins
4x:
3 x 25 Fly @ :25  Kick past 10m underwater, focus on rhythm and breath timing
1 x 50 Fast Fly @ 1:00 with a flip turn, no breath on the last 10m

After each station, do a 100 easy before rotating to next station.