200 Free Mania

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Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA

Just make it on the first 1 X 200. Hold that time on the 2×200, 3 X 200, and 4 X 200. From there, get faster on the 3X200, faster on the 2 X 200, and all out on the last 1 X 200

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The Leg Crusher

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Ryan Sprang
Head Coach
Nittany Lion Aquatic Club

Here was a set we did on Friday April 26th to crush the legs:
– 1 minute vertical kick, last 15 seconds all out kick in streamline
– 100 kick @ 1:40 strong with board
– 2 x 25 @ :30 12 UW Dolph kicks blast then swim smooth
– 2 x 50 @ :55 – 10 seconds all out wall kick, flipturn, then swim the 50 mini/max (maximum speed with minimum number of strokes)
– 2 minutes vertical kick, last 30 seconds all out kick in streamline
– 200 kick @ 3:20 strong with board
– 4 x 25 @ :30 12 UW dolphin kicks blast then swim smooth
– 4 x 50 @ :55 – same as the 50’s above
– 3 minutes vertical kick – last 45 seconds all out kick in streamline
– 300 kick @ 5:00 strong with board
– 6 x 25 @ :30 12 UW dolphin kicks blast then swim smooth
– 6 x 50 @ :55 – same as the 50’s above
– 4 minutes vertical kick, last 1 minute all out kick in streamline
– 400 kick @ 6:40 strong with board
– 8 x 25 @ :30 12 UW Dolphin kicks blast then swim smooth
– 8 x 50 @ :55 – same as the 50’s above

 

Nittany Power Set

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Ryan Sprang
Head Coach
Nittany Lion Aquatic Club
 
Here is a tough power set 6 of our swimmers did on Thursday April 21st: (all swims were prime stroke or alternating between 2 strokes)
6 x 50 @ 1:30 on Power Tower (25 swim against resistance, 25 easy kick on back with assistance)
2 x 50 @ 1:00 strong, no Tower
6 x 15 meters blast @ 1:00 on Power Tower (blast to 15, easy kick back)
2 x 25 @ :30 Fast, no Tower
1 x 100 @ 2:00 EZ
4 x 50 @ 1:30 on Power Tower (same as above)
4 x 50 @ 1:00 strong, no Tower
4 x 15 meters blast @ 1:00 on Tower
4 x 25 @ :40 FAST, no Tower
1 x 100 @ 2:00 EZ
2 x 50 @ 1:30 on Power Tower (same as above)
6 x 50 @ 1:00 strong, no Tower
2 x 15 meters blast @ 1:00 on Tower
6 x 25 @ :50 FAST, no Tower
1 x 100 @ 2:00 EZ

 

Breaststroke challenge set

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Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA

We did this set recently in SCM as a group challenge.  Everyone starts off with a 200 breast @3:30 on the first round.  Swimmers that make it and continue to make the interval keep doing a 200 breast as the interval descends.  If a swimmer misses an interval (let’s say 3:00), then on 2:50 that swimmer goes 150 breast/50 free.  If he makes it on 2:50, he does the same on the next round on 2:40.  If he misses it again, then he would do 100 breast/100 free on 2:30.  We continued until the last swimmer could no longer make the 200 breast on the interval.  Potentially, the set could be done until everyone is doing a 200 free which would lengthen the set by a few rounds.

Cycle IMs

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Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA
 
For the 32 cycle IM swim, swimmers did 8 cycles fly, 8 cycles breast, and so on…

Editor’s note: Our goal for this year is to provide coaches around the world with a free new idea or set EVERY DAY this year! Can you help us reach that goal? Please send submissions to swimmingwizard@gmail.com.
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The Chase Down Set

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Brian Clark
Chico Aquajets and Durham Dolphins

600 Free//8:00  open turn at 500 and get your time
500 Free/6:40  open turn at 400, get time, plus beat your 500 split from the 600
400 Free/5:20 open turn at 300, get time plus beat 400 split from 500
300 free/4:00 open turn at 200, get time plus beat 300 split from 400
200 Free/2:40 open turn at 1:00 get time, plus beat 200 split from 300
100 Free/1:40 open turn at 50, get time, plus beat 100 split from 200
50 Fast beat split from 100

Editor’s note: Our goal for this year is to provide coaches around the world with a free new idea or set EVERY DAY this year! Can you help us reach that goal? Please send submissions to swimmingwizard@gmail.com.
 

He has a great perspective on swimming

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Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA

I had the privilege to listen to all-time great swimmer Aaron Peirsol speak to our Virginia Swimming athletes at our annual awards banquet yesterday.  His story is a compelling one, and I think many swimmers would benefit from hearing it.  I would highly recommend giving his podcast interview with former Stanford swimmer Rich Roll a listen.
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"Just Make It" Set for Triathletes

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Ken Axford
PEAK Multisport, LLC

USAT Rocky Mtn’ Region Talent Identification Coordinator

Times in long course meters, adjust as needed for SCM or SCY, and various abilities.
“Just Make It”

– 500 gradual WU  (ok to vary strokes but mostly free)
——–
3 x:
– 50 kick (choice) / 50 swim on 2:00
——–
– 9 x 50 (descend 1-3, 4-6, 7-9) on :50
– 150 easy
——–
10 x 200’s on:
– 3:00
– 2:55
– 2:50
– 2:45
– 2:40
– 2:35
– 2:30
– 2:25
– 2:20
– 2:15
*if you miss an interval by 2 seconds or more, take a 1-2 minute break then pull steady aerobic until the set is finished.
———
200 CD (back and free) 

Backstroke Challenge Set for Underwater Kicking Habits

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Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA
 

The purpose of this backstroke set is for athletes to challenge themselves to hold near race pace while performing an increasing number of dolphin kicks off each wall.  In this case, on the first round swimmers were aiming for a time within 3.0 seconds of their 200 race pace (as shown on their pace cards) while doing at least 6 kicks off each wall for each of the two 50s.  If they were successful at that, they tried to hit the same pace while doing 8 or more kicks.  Third round… 10 or more kicks. Continue until nobody in the group can hit that pace while doing that many kicks.  Swimmers who fail to hit the target pace with a specified number of kicks simply tried to hit that number of kicks again on the next round.  For a shorter more demanding set, lower the +3.0 time standard to something faster.
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The Alpe d’Huez Set

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Coach Doug Allen

800-600-400-200 drop the interval by:02 each base hundred
200-400-600-800 hold the prior 200 interval each base hundred

Editor’s note: Our goal for this year is to provide coaches around the world with a free new idea or set EVERY DAY this year! Can you help us reach that goal? Please send submissions to swimmingwizard@gmail.com.

 

Sprint/Power Workout with Coach Josh Udermann

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Josh Udermann
Head Site Coach
Woodburn Mid-Valley Aquatics

This is our workout from recently—the focus was sprint/power.  Our senior group enjoyed the main set.  We had two groups going, one on parachutes and the other with fins and then they switched.

Editor’s note: Our goal for this year is to provide coaches around the world with a free new idea or set EVERY DAY this year! Can you help us reach that goal? Please send submissions to swimmingwizard@gmail.com.

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Back and Breaststroke Set

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Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA

Our swimmers seemed to really like this set.  One thing sets it apart from many of the sets we do — the interval.  Typically, I write a highly structured practice with everything tightly interval-controlled.  This set had every swim @ ~:20 rest.  This allowed the swimmers to feel less interval pressure and the freedom to just do a good job, pay attention to the clock, and challenge themselves rather than feeling dragged along by the set.

1st round backstroke, 2nd round breaststroke with changes to the drills so they were suitable for br.

Editor’s note: Our goal for this year is to provide coaches around the world with a free new idea or set EVERY DAY this year! Can you help us reach that goal? Please send submissions to swimmingwizard@gmail.com.

Floating and Sculling During Warmup with NRG

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Raymond Keown
NRG Swimming Inc.

Floating is such an underrated skill.  Most do not spend enough time on it, or forget about it as the athletes get older.  Improving our ability to float our bodies is critical to developing speed.

Sculling is also a skill that really helps develop our ability to hold the water and move it more effectively.  This can also get lost in the the training cycle as the season moves on.

We have committed to finding time for both in the middle of warm-up each day.

After some basic warm-up right now we are going …

8×25 Float Scull w/ snorkel @1:00

The basics are simple…
You start by floating over the T for :10 in as streamline a position as possible with as little movement as possible.
At the whistle, you start sculling your arms.
There is no push off the wall, you are not allowed to use your legs at all & must maintain the body position throughout the length.
We will vary the type of scull we use each day, but this is the basic set.

Afterwards, we will finish warm-up with some sprints & underwater work.

Editor’s note: Our goal for this year is to provide coaches around the world with a free new idea or set EVERY DAY this year! Can you help us reach that goal? Please send submissions to swimmingwizard@gmail.com.

Using cycle count…

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Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA

This set was a follow-up to yesterday’s set where we determined what our cycle count was.  Now, we put it into action trying to hold one cycle less than the determined cycle count.

Editor’s note: Our goal for this year is to provide coaches around the world with a free new idea or set EVERY DAY this year! Can you help us reach that goal? Please send submissions to swimmingwizard@gmail.com.

Learning to find our cycle count…

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Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA

Editor’s note: Our goal for this year is to provide coaches around the world with a free new idea or set EVERY DAY this year! Can you help us reach that goal? Please send submissions to swimmingwizard@gmail.com.

Knowing your stroke or cycle count is a  simple yet effective way to consistently monitor your technique and efficiency.  We used the following set to determine our true cycle counts.