Fly Me To the Moon

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Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA

Editor’s Note: The Swimming Wizard’s goal is to publish at least one set, practice, or idea EVERY DAY for all of 2016! To keep it interesting, we need your help! Click here to help us achieve that goal by submitting one of your sets!

SCM. This fly set seems long at first glance, but the concept is to swim fly in relatively short chunks to get a fair amount of rest and keep stroke integrity high.



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No Biggie

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Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA

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Check out the Wizard’s Store for books and tools to help make you a better coach.

Editor’s Note: The Swimming Wizard’s goal is to publish at least one set, practice, or idea EVERY DAY for all of 2016! To keep it interesting, we need your help! Click here to help us achieve that goal by submitting one of your sets!

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Stroke Set with Brian Clark, Chico Aquajets

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Brian Clark
Chico Aquajets

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3x the following:
100 Free             1:20      1:40         2:00      
75 back              1:10      1:20         1:30       
75 fly                  1:20      1:30         1:40      
50 Breast            50         1:00        1:10       
first time through and first column is swim, 2nd is drill/swim on 100 and 50, swim/drill/swim on 75’s, 3rd time is kick.

4×200 Free/2:45        
1×100 Breast/1:50      
3×200 Free/2:45 pull and descend 1-3, mildly
2×100 Fly/1:40 (25 right/25 regular/25 left/25 regular, please)
2×200 Free/2:45, fast in and out of turns 
3×100 Free/1:25 
1×200 Free/2:45 negative split
4×100 back/1:35 descend 1-4
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Race Pace with Coach Jake Magnan of Green Mountain Aquatics

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Jake Magnan
Green Mountain Aquatics/Saint Michael’s College
Burlington, VT

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Editor’s Note: The Swimming Wizard’s goal is to publish at least one set, practice, or idea EVERY DAY for all of 2016! To keep it interesting, we need your help! Click here to help us achieve that goal by submitting one of your sets!

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Early Taper Set

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Ryan Woodruff
 
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Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA

This set is meant to help swimmers build confidence with some race pace work that is not extremely taxing coupled with good technique practice.
2 rounds of:
(Fins paddles and snorkels for 1st round, no equip for 2nd rd)
3 x 100s @ :10 rest
       25 kick on right side/25 kick on left side/50 catchup and over kick
3 x 75 @:10 rest Smooth free with 4+, 6+, 8 + dolphin kicks each 25

Main Set (2 rounds)
3 x 50 at P200 free @ 1:00, :50, :40 (timed to a foot touch, strive to be 8 or fewer cycles each 25)
200 easy @3:00
3 x 25 at P100 free @ :50,:40,:30 (timed to a foot touch, really work underwaters)
100 easy @ 2:00
1 x 50 all out from a dive, timed to hand
1 x 600 easy, take your time, do some bk and free, include some drill. No interval.

20 x 50 @ 1:00 swimming golf
Descend golf score 1-4 and then change strokes

6x 50s warm down set ( first one is sprint by 1/3s on :30 rest. Last 5 easy).

Have you read these books that can help make you a better coach?

Editor’s Note: The Swimming Wizard’s goal is to publish at least one set, practice, or idea EVERY DAY for all of 2016! To keep it interesting, we need your help! Click here to help us achieve that goal by submitting one of your sets!

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Aerobic Power and IM Transitions with Coach Mathieu Leroy

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Mathieu Leroy
Chartres, France

If you want to download this workout in PDF form, click here.

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Editor’s Note: The Swimming Wizard’s goal is to publish at least one set, practice, or idea EVERY DAY for all of 2016! To keep it interesting, we need your help! Click here to help us achieve that goal by submitting one of your sets!
 

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Pace and Hold

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Ryan Woodruff
 
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA

Editor’s Note: The Swimming Wizard’s goal is to publish at least one set, practice, or idea EVERY DAY for all of 2016! To keep it interesting, we need your help! Click here to help us achieve that goal by submitting one of your sets!

The purpose of this set is to work some race pace for one of the strokes in IM while holding the technique of the other strokes together under fatigue.  The instructions for the 200s were to hold 80-85% effort.  We did this right after a moderately tough fly set, thus no fly in this set.

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HVO = High Velocity Overload

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Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA

Editor’s Note: The Swimming Wizard’s goal is to publish at least one set, practice, or idea EVERY DAY for all of 2016! To keep it interesting, we need your help! Click here to help us achieve that goal by submitting one of your sets!

HVO = High Velocity Overload (concept from Bill Sweetenham), an all out 25y swim from a dive. Cone on return 25 set at 10m from wall. 

12 Books Every Swim Coach Should Read

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Ryan Woodruff

Reading books and articles from outside my areas of expertise have helped make me a better coach. Here are some of my favorite non-swimming books that I recommend you check out, in no particular order.

Note: All links in this article are Amazon affiliate links, meaning that clicking on the link for the book titles and purchasing the book will kick some loose change to the Swimming Wizard without costing you a penny extra.  Thank you for your support!

  1. Bowerman and the Men of Oregon by Kenny Moore. Bill Bowerman is to American distance running what Doc Counsilman is to American swimming; an innovator, a standard-setter, and a legend.  This book is written by a former runner of his and will inspire you to be a better coach.
  2. Make It Stick; The Science of Successful Learning by Peter C. Brown, Henry L Roediger III, Mark A. McDaniel. Ultimately, as coaches we are teachers. This book will improve your understanding of how to make the material you are teaching “stick” so that your athletes can effectively put it into practice.
  3. The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle. This book examines how to become a master coach by maximizing the development of the innate abilities of those under your instruction.  It really made me think about how I coach
  4. Inside-Out Coaching: How Sports Can Transform Lives by Joe Ehrmann. If you have ever doubted your purpose as a coach or questioned why do this in the first place, Ehrmann will transform your coaching by explaining how you can transform the lives of your athletes.  I have read this book at least 4 times and plan to read it again.  Should be required reading for anyone going into youth coaching.
  5. When Pride Still Mattered by David Maraniss. There is perhaps no bigger legend in American coaching than Vince Lombardi.  This tome peels back the layers to examine the complex man behind that legend.
  6. Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable by Tim Grover. An inspiring read from the personal trainer to Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Dwyane Wade. I am currently reading this book to my team, chapter by chapter. It will make you uncomfortable by challenging your notion of your capabilities . Read it to find out if you are a Cooler, a Closer or a Cleaner.
  7. Queen Bees and Wannabes by Rosalind Wiseman. For all who coach young women, this book will open your eyes to what it is like to be young and female.  Especially recommended if you have a daughter of your own.
  8. The Hard Hat; 21 Ways to Be a Great Teammate by Jon Gordon. Great teammates don’t just impact you today; they impact you for the rest of your life. Also recommended by Jon Gordon:
  9. You Win in the Locker Room First – 7 C’s to Building a Winning Team and
  10. The Energy Bus – 10 Rules to Fuel Your Life, Work, and Team with Positive Energy
  11. Wooden by John Wooden.  Who better for the Swimming Wizard to recommend than the Wizard of Westwood?
  12. Sacred Hoops by Phil Jackson.  I admired Jackson’s calmness on the sidelines through all of his success in the NBA. Great read for any coach who wants to be a better teacher, mentor, and person.

 

Butterfly Bonanza

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Ryan Woodruff

Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA

I love our weekly Friday Fly Day sets.  Every week, the swimmers know to expect something that is going to make them better at everyone’s “favorite” stroke.

On the 200s, swimmers perform a set number of high-quality butterfly cycles and then swim freestyle to the next turn. The # of cycles progresses each 25 – i.e. our best flyers would do 5,6,7,8,5,6,7,8 cycles of fly on the successive 25s of the 200.

On the 25s, the focus is squarely on “finishing habits,” especially not breathing in the final 10m and hitting the wall on a full stroke.

The 100 serves as kicking practice with body awareness and giving the shoulders a rest from swimming fly.

Back to Breast Transition and Race Pace Set

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Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA

The emphasis on this set was swimming at 400 IM race pace for breaststroke while under some fatigue from backstroke. 

https://swimmingwizard.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/0b1d9-12568271_1038230319572680_988406563_n.jpg

Editor’s Note: The Swimming Wizard’s goal is to publish at least one set, practice, or idea EVERY DAY for all of 2016! To keep it interesting, we need your help! Click here to help us achieve that goal by submitting one of your sets!

We Love Buckets

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Ryan Woodruff

Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA

We did this set SCM, using small (approx 1 gallon volume) buckets towed behind swimmers on the blue parts of the set.

Editor’s Note: The Swimming Wizard’s goal is to publish at least one set, practice, or idea EVERY DAY for all of 2016! To keep it interesting, we need your help! Click here to help us achieve that goal by submitting one of your sets!

https://swimmingwizard.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/c8ceb-12479160_553514624818620_27356219_n.jpg

Specific Endurance Training with Coach Keown of NRG Aquatics

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Raymond Keown
Head Coach
NRG Aquatics
Langhorne, Pennsylvania

Here is a nice set that we use to allow a variety of athletes to train together, and get some specific endurance training at the same time.  This set is LCM:

150 free @color paces (see note) @:10 rest + 50 RACE! (see note) } rd- A= 5x@3:00, B= 4x@3:20, C= 3x@3:40, D= 2x@4:00
100 free @color paces (see note) @:10 rest + 50 RACE! (see note) } rd- A= 5x@2:15, B= 5x@2:30, C= 5x@2:45, D=5x@3:00
 50 free @color paces (see note) @:10 rest + 50 RACE! (see note) } rd- A= 5x@1:30, B= @5x@1:40, C= 5x@1:50, D= 5x@2:00
5×50 RACE! A= @:45, B= @:50, C= @:55, D= @1:00

*Colors= Long Events- hold RED, Mid-range Events- hold pink, Short Events- hold white
*Race=   Long Events- free hold p800, Mid-range Events- Prime hold p400 (IM), Short Events- Prime hold p200

Swimmers are assigned the appropriate send-off, color & stroke.  Athletes are intermixed based on ability.
We had 2x lanes of each interval.
The A interval was mostly the Long Event swimmers.
Typical rest ranges were- Long Events- goal of :20 rest or less, Mid-range- goal of :15 to :30 rest, Short- :20 to :40 rest.

We did this tonight and it was fantastic & intense, with athletes hitting their paces.

This is how we tend to break sets up for specific training.

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Broken Swims with Individual Technical Focus

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Lukas Mundelsee
SG Schwimmen Muenster
Germany

Psychology tells us that people are more motivated if they have the chance to be involved in decision making processes. I think it is a good idea to apply this principle to a certain degree to our swim practices. In this set the swimmers could choose on which they focus in particular for a block of 3 broken 400s. They liked it and I felt they are more motivated to really concentrate on what they have chosen on their own compared to if I had chosen a focus for them. ([P400]+4” means they should swim 4 seconds slower per 100m than their 400m race pace).
 

 

Earn Your Trophies With This One

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Josh Sinclair
Head Coach
Results H2O
Queensland, Australia

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Editor’s Note: The Swimming Wizard’s goal is to publish at least one set, practice, or idea EVERY DAY for all of 2016! To keep it interesting, we need your help! Click here to help us achieve that goal by submitting one of your sets!

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Power IM Splits

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Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA

This IM set emphasizes hitting race pace for one of the four strokes in each swim.  The swimmer simply had to make that pace and keep the total time under the specified limit, which was about 25 seconds slower than the swimmer’s best time.

https://swimmingwizard.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/8bf2f-12716764_1671429109781215_669784291_n.jpg

The Swim Your Name Set

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Richard Heselton
UK

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Kick Set from the UK

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Richard Heselton
UK

6×50 fr kick @ 1:00
200 fr rec
Repeat set 4x or 5x, decreasing the interval 5 seconds each time.  When an athlete can no longer make the interval, they put fins on to finish the set.

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