Snake-Style Fly Set

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Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA

We have three narrow lanes for our group, so swimming fly with 20 swimmers sometimes gets hairy.  We swam this set “snake-style” to avoid collisions and 1-arm strokes. We went one direction in the first lane, came back in the second lane, and so on…

Have you checked out Bob Bowman’s new book?
The Golden Rules: 10 Steps to World-Class Excellence in Your Life and Work

Challenging Set from Coach Chris Flamion, B.R. Ryall YMCA

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Chris Flamion
B.R. Ryall YMCA Swim Team

Wanted to share a set that my assistant coach has been using for nearly a decade.   The whole set started when one of his athletes was a a meet, swam the 100 Free, hopped out and right up onto the blocks for a 500 Free.  The set is named after the athlete and he still gets asked about the set from time to time.  The athlete recently finished 14th at Trials.

We use this about 5-6 Weeks out from Championships as a bit of a gut check, and to really show the athletes where they are.  We record all the times from the set and compare them year to year.

Most of the 100s are within 3-4 seconds of lifetime, and the 500 varies heavily but normally within 20 seconds.  We do occasionally get some lifetime best in the 500s
6 Rounds:

100 Free All Out From a Dive @ 3:00
500 Best effort @ 7:00

IM Variant: We started doing variants as some of our Senior Group don’t swim the 500, or any free.  We wanted the IMers to force to sprint their worst stroke as they will rarely do it on their own.  100s were really good, most within 1 or 2 seconds, and the 400IMs were universally within 15 seconds
6 Rounds:

100 Worst Stroke @ 3:00
400 IM Best Effort @ 7:00

Sprint Variant: This was also all new this year and put the sprinters in some of the highest lactate levels I have ever seen.  50s started within a seconds of Lifetime and dropped off dramatically.  200s started within 10s and a handful held it, most faded pretty badly.
9 Rounds:
50 Free All out Dive @ 2:00
200 Best Effort @ 4:00

Parallel Sprint and Distance Sets

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Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA

We did the following parallel sets this morning.  The structure allowed me to focus on the sprinters for a few minutes, and then shift my focus to the distance swimmers, making me able to time everyone’s race pace swimming. LCM.

Distance Group
5 rounds of:
1 x 500 free B3, paddles, snorkel, buoy optional @ 7:30
3 x 100 @ 1:30
   Round 1 – descend to P1500
   Round 2 – at P1500
   Round 3 – descend to P1500 -1
   Round 4 – descend from P1500
   Round 5 – Fastest possible average

Sprint Group
5 rounds of:
3 x 35m sprints timed to the head, swim 15m easy @ 2:20
1 x 300 free B5, paddles, snorkel, buoy optional @ 5:00

We used these pace cards for determining race pace.

400 IM Set with Coach John Ravestein and TYDE

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John Ravestein
TYDE Coach – National Team
YMCA of Northwest North Carolina

Here is another 400 IM set that we are going to do tomorrow.

My kids get so tired from the fly and we have been working a ton on body position for long course swimming.
 
This set is Long Course
 
Pre set:
6x50s 4th best stroke on 1:10
1 Drill/swim
2@ desc 1-2
1×150 ON 3:00
     50 KICK FLY  W/SNORK, drop snork/100 BUILD FLY
1×300 100 back/100 breast/ 100 free on 5:00
2x150S ON 3:00

      50 KICK FLY  W/SNORK, drop snor/100 BUILD FLY

1×300 100 back/100 breast/ 100 free on 5:00
3x150S ON 3:00
      50 KICK FLY  W/SNORK/100 BUILD FLY
1×300 100 back/100 breast/ 100 free on 5:00 Desc 1-3

Hitting race pattern while fatigued.

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Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA

The primary purpose of this set was in the 4 x 100.  We are challenging ourselves to get out agressively on #1 and then hang tough through that fatigue on #s 2-4.  Most of our swimmers were able to achieve the stated objectives, but really had to work to make it happen. In my opinion, that means the bar was set at exactly the right height.

True distance set.

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA

Followed up the distance set above with some mile pace swimming.  They were able to make the 100 no problem, and we got some very good swims faster than mile pace on the 300.  200 wasn’t as good… psychologically the most difficult part?

Distance With Drills and the Freeway Set from Coach Edie Rogers

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Edie Rogers
Charlottetown Bluephins
Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada

1. Distance with drills

4 x 500 free on 7:30 SCM
#1 All open turns with no breathing for first 2 cycles
#2 Every 4th length long arm dog paddle
#3 Easy down, fast back
#4 Flip mid-length and no breathing for first 2 cycles after the flip

2. Freeway set:
Start 3 swimmers in a lane at 2 second intervals. Swim continuously for approx 400 metres or any length you like. The third swimmer must pass the 2 ahead before getting to the wall. The lead 2 swimmers must slow their pace to let this happen, the last swimmer is then the leader for the next length, and so on……

6 Motivational Tips for Swim Coaches

Prepare for meet warm-up with this fun warm-down concept

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Coach Richard Heselton
UK

I often think that the first swimming gala (meet) warm-up can be a daunting experience when the lanes get full. To prepare our junior swimmers I like to set the following swim down.

All athletes in one lane (the more the better). Set the distance 200m+.  First swimmer sets off, and the next swimmer follows but is not allowed to copy the stroke of the first swimmer, and so on. They have to swim all strokes without copying the swimmer in front. There is no overtaking or stopping at the end of the lanes allowed.
See Coach Heselton’s previous posts:
The Swim Your Name Set
Kick Set from the UK

The "X" Set for Age Groupers with Coach Dan Mascolo

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Dan Mascolo
Associate Head Coach

Cheshire Y/Sea Dog Swim Club (CDOG-CT)

In a conversation with another coach, I explained a test set that I had devised years ago that I use several times per season to both help gauge their progress throughout the season as well as to help the kids realize what kind of intervals they can actually handle at practice. I am sure that other coaches do this or something very similar.
The X-Set

5 X 100 Free @ “X”

1:00 Rest

5 X 100 Free @ “X” – :05

1:00 Rest

5 X 100 Free @ “X” – :10

1:00 Rest

5 X 100 Free @ “X” – :15

1:00 Rest

5 X 100 Free @ “X” -:20
This set has evolved over the years so now we cap the set at 5 rounds, so that you can “win” the set instead of not having a goal in front of them to strive for once they have passed their best result. I do this set with my 3 Age Group practice groups ages 9-12. Swimmers continue until they miss a send off at which point they are “X”terminated. They climb out and give the coach their results and then rejoin the group going 75’s instead of 100’s.
We start the first test each season with the same sendoff
Age Group 1 (9-10’s without Age Group Champ cuts) starts at 2:00
Age Group 2 (9-10’s with AG Champ cuts; 11-12’s without cuts) starts at 1:45
Age Group 3 (11-12’s with AG Champ cuts) starts at 1:30

After the first test we will adjust the starting time looking at how many swimmers “win” the set. Usually we will start the set :05 faster starting with the second test and keep it there for the rest of the season. We keep an all time top 5 list and kids really fight to get on that list.

Our Most Popular Post of Each Month This Year

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We have posted a new workout, set, or idea here every day this year.  Here is the most popular post from every month so far.

January: Middle Distance IM Set from Nittany Lion Coach Ryan Sprang

February: Boom Boom 75s

March: Aerobic Power and IM Transitions with Coach Mathieu Leroy

April: Sprint/Power Workout with Coach Josh Udermann

May: 200 Free Mania

June: One of the best ideas I ever had

12 13 Books Every Swim Coach Should Read

Animal Kicks from Coach Jim Steen

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Recently, I have been enjoying Chris Ritter’s Sports Performance podcast.  He has been interviewing an impressive list of coaches, and a recent one he spoke with new Pittsburgh (former U Penn) assistant Coach Marc Christian, and in it Christian spoke about a kick set his mentor Jim Steen used to do at Kenyon.

Coach Christian used this set once every 8-10 days with his sprinters at Penn.

Animal Kicks
10 x 100 kick @ :10 rest, aiming for the fastest possible overall time.  Record total times and seek gradual improvement every time the set is performed.

One of the best ideas I ever had (or maybe stole)…

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA

I probably got this idea from somewhere, but it is pretty simple so maybe I came up with it myself…

Want to use video to help your swimmers improve their technique? Great — buy an iPad and start filming.  But there is a better way…

If you coach teenagers, they probably all have a camera phone.  Have them pair up. Give them a prompt on what to work on (i.e. examine freestyle breathing technique, looking for horizontal head position) and give them 10-15 minutes to film each other and give each other feedback.  Peer Coaching!

The benefits are many:
1. Tons of feedback for EVERY swimmer in your group, something that would take an individual coach hours to do by himself.
2. A chance to use a rapid feedback loop in a way that isn’t easy to do in a normal workout.  Do it…watch it… do it again, better… watch it… do it again better still.
3. The teaching swimmer learns as well. Teaching is one of the best ways to learn.
4. Team bonding! Swimmers enjoy working together and helping each other improve.

I promise you… give this a try and you will love it.  If not, I will give you a full refund of your purchase price for this post.