Friday the 13th IM Set with Coach Clarke Nyman

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Clarke Nyman
Eagle Swim Team

Props for this set goes out to Carl Barr from Mariner Swim Club, as he came up with the concept.  This is now a staple set for Eagle Swim Team in Peak Season.  It’s great that it falls on Friday the 13th this year, just adds to the tears collected.  
[ALL from a dive RACE] [rest interval is climb out and step up]
[#1]   1×100- 25 Fl/Bk/Br/Fr
[#2]   1×125- 50 Fl/ 25 Bk/ 25 Br/ 25 Fr
[#3]   1×150- 75 Fl/ 25 Bk/ 25 Br/ 25 Fr 
[#4]   1×175- 100 Fl/ 25 Bk/ 25 Br/ 25 Fr
[#5]   1×200- 100 Fl/ 50 Bk/ 25 Br/ 25 Fr
[#6]   1×225- 100 Fl/ 75 Bk/ 25 Br/ 25 Fr
[#7]   1×250- 100 Fl/ 100 Bk/ 25 Br/ 25 Fr
[#8]   1×275- 100 Fl/ 100 Bk/ 50 Br/ 25 Fr
[#9]   1×300- 100 Fl/ 100 Bk/ 75 Br/ 25 Fr
[#10] 1×325- 100 Fl/ 100 Bk/ 100 Br/ 25 Fr
[#11] 1×350- 100 Fl/ 100 Bk/ 100 Br/ 50 Fr
[#12] 1×375- 100 Fl/ 100 Bk/ 100 Br/ 75 Fr
[#13] 1×400- 100 Fl/ 100 Bk/ 100 Br/ 100 Fr
(Fly around #7 or #8 can be edited to single arm combos for those swimmers weaker in this stroke, to prevent shoulder injury and quality of the stroke)
… if it wasn’t Friday the 13th and you want more Breast and Free work, it could also be done this way
[ALL from a dive RACE] [rest interval is climb out and step up]
[#1]  1×100- 25 Fl/Bk/Br/Fr
[#2]  1×125- 25 Fl/ 25 Bk/ 25 Br/50 Fr
[#3]  1×150- 25 Fl/ 25 Bk/ 25 Br/75 Fr 
[#4]  1×175- 25 Fl/ 25 Bk/ 25 Br/100 Fr
[#5]  1×200- 25 Fl/ 25 Bk/ 50 Br/100 Fr
[#6]  1×225- 25 Fl/ 25 Bk/ 75 Br/100 Fr
[#7]  1×250- 25 Fl/ 25 Bk/ 100 Br/100 Fr
[#8]  1×275- 25 Fl/ 50 Bk/ 100 Br/ 100 Fr
[#9]  1×300- 25 Fl/ 75 Bk/ 100 Br/ 100 Fr
[#10] 1×325- 25 Fl/ 100 Bk/ 100 Br/ 100 Fr
[#11] 1×350- 50 Fl/ 100 Bk/ 100 Br/ 100 Fr
[#12] 1×375- 75 Fl/ 100 Bk/ 100 Br/ 100 Fr
[#13] 1×400- 100 Fl/ 100 Bk/ 100 Br/ 100 Fr

I.M. Fartleking

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA

Fartlek = continuous swim. Start off with the fly instructions, then when wrench bangs on side of pool, sprint fly into turn and sprint 25 back. Then follow back instructions. Repeat for Bk-Br and Br-Fr transitions.

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Practice Splitting 200s

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Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA

We did this set recently on a day where most of my group was at a high school meet.  This allowed me to get splits on all 6 people for each 50 of each 200.  I recorded the splits on a dry-erase board, and after each 100 easy we reviewed their splits.  Increasing their speed within each set of 3 amplified the learning curve.  We learned a lot doing this set.

Two Kinds of Pain

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA

I needed some swimmers to do distance freestyle pace.  Others to do some fast stroke work.  22 swimmers in 5 lanes with 1 coach… how to manage?  Parallel sets that allowed me to go back and forth timing the two groups.

A photo posted by SwimmingWizard (@swimmingwizard) on Jan 4, 2017 at 5:29pm PST

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Dryland Pictionary

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA

In order to keep dryland fun, competitive, and highly interactive, one thing we have done recently is have “Pictionary Dryland.”  We divide the group up into 3 teams of 6-8 people, each group with a whiteboard and dry erase marker.  I used this Pictionary word generator website for the clues,and show it to one artist from each team.  All 3 teams try to solve for the same word simultaneously.  The winning team gets the satisfaction of watching the other two teams do a dryland exercise (30 squats, 20 push-ups, etc.) immediately after that round.  Continue doing rounds of Pictionary and dryland exercises as long as you want.

An extra-awesome thing has started to happen… Sometimes, a few members of the winning team will do the dryland exercise with the losing team. Coach is mighty proud when that happens!

Distance Freestyle Set with Coach Andy Figgins in Scotland

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Coach Andy Figgins
East Kilbride Swim Team
Scotland

A set for my distance group, was done about 8 weeks out from Nationals

3 x (4×400 free                        BBM = Heart Rate Beats Below Max

       (4×100 free all on 1.30
Set 1 400s aerobic on 5.00 
           100s 40/50 BBM
Set 2 400s descend on 5.15
            100s 20/30 BBM
Set 3 400s best ave on 5.30
            100s best hold
All the best for 2017

The Best Things I Read, Watched, Listened To, & Experienced To Become a Better Coach in 2016

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA

In 2016, I tried to do a lot of reading, listening, watching and learning.  I am always trying to find ways to be better coach (and human being).  Here is my annual list of the highlights from my search.

I stumbled upon the eponymous Chris Ritter podcast, where Chris interviews swim coaches about their philosophies and lessons learned.  Though I haven’t listened to them all, I enjoyed the ones with Matt Kredich and Tony Batis.  I haven’t yet ponied up for the Coaches’ Corner, but there is a free 7-day trial you might want to check out.

Though it wasn’t from 2016, Admiral William H. McRaven’s excellent speech to graduates at the University of Texas in 2014 was new to me.  I sat my swimmers down and made them watch it.  They loved it.  See the transcript here or watch the video.

A few of my favorite reads on the technical side of swimming were Jake Shellenberger’s post “Arizona Drill with Weight Belts” and his book “Power & Towers & Swimming.”  I wrote in-depth about his book here and highly recommend it.

I had a rich experience at the barely 24-hour-long NC State Wolfpack Speed & Power Camp in Raleigh.  I wrote more extensively about it here.

This article by Paulo Coelho was a good reminder that there is reward in the struggle and we need to prepare our athletes to overcome challenges by giving them challenges.

Though it was a bit snarky in my opinion, I enjoyed “An Open Letter to the Athlete We Must Stop Recruiting” by Becky Carlson and found many pointers for high school athletes who are beginning their college search.

Tim Ferris’ Podcast “The Magic and Power of Placebo” with Erik Vance got me thinking more about the psychological aspect of performance. His interview with Jocko Willink (“Don’t count on motivation, count on discipline.”) was also excellent.

Rich Roll’s Podcast with Ryan Holiday (“Ego is the enemy”) was one of my favorites, as was his interview with Anthony Ervin just weeks before Ervin shocked the world in Rio.

Joe Rogan’s interview with Steven Kotler taught me more about how to increase the likelihood of “flow states” for peak performance. 

Though it has nothing to do with swimming, I was inspired by Daniel James Brown’s The Boys in the Boat, a true story of nine men and their pursuit for Olympic rowing Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

Two of our Olympians had inspiring stories that I wasn’t aware of until after the games.  Kathleen Baker’s medal represented more than the best race of her life according to Joe Posnanski, and Pat Forde enlightened me to the incredible story behind Cody Miller’s rise to Olympic fame.

Last but not least I have to recommend Michael Brooks’ book Developing Swimmers.  This is the best “How-to” book for club coaching that I have ever come across. I have loaned my copy to two of my assistant coaches already.

In case you didn’t see them last year, here are my lists from 2015, 2013, and 2012.

Let me know what I missed!!!