The Rocket Tower

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Ryan Woodruff, North Carolina Aquatic Club
coachryan@ncacswim.org

Check out the Rocket Tower:

Sunday I was at the pool in Huntersville, NC for our Senior Champs and watched Nick Brunelli training on this beast. I had been looking at it sitting in the corner all weekend, wondering if it really was what it seemed. It’s a Power Tower on steroids, with the capability of providing assistance or resistance over 50 meters. Brunelli was eager to tell me about it when I asked. Apparently there are only 3 in existence right now–this one, one in Fullerton, CA with Sean Hutchison’s Center of Excellence group, and one at Arizona State (Brunelli’s alma mater and the home of the inventor). Brunelli said that it is vastly improved over the Power Rack, Power Reel, and Power Tower for a few reasons:

1) You can use it over 50 meters. Brunelli said it can pull him to a 21-second LCM 50 free.
2) It is made of military spec hard-anodized aluminum and FAA-Approved pulleys. The inventor is a metal fabricator in Tempe. Believe the hype when it comes to quality. The cable glides so smooth and with so little apparent friction, it makes the Power Tower look like someone’s 5th grade science project.
3) Very constant resistance and assistance. Unlike previous power training equipment, Brunelli said he feels very little “bounce” in between strokes. The forces are very smooth and steady. I am guessing this is due to the quality construction and the number of pulleys involved (I counted 15).

A few other observations:
1) The rocket on top is just for show. It houses the top pulleys, but those fins are merely for coolness.
2) The blue tube you see is the draining hose. The bucket is 60 gallons (HUGE!) yet drains easily through this and a secondary smaller tube.
3) There is an Inertia Safety Clutch built into the lower pulley system. This comes in handy if the belt happens to come off, and it can also be manually locked if you are 50m away and simply want to rest without clinging to the wall.

So I was impressed initially with the Rocket Tower. It is still in its infancy, but you can check out their website.

Twenty Ways to Do 20 x 25 – #17

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Ryan Woodruff, North Carolina Aquatic Club
coachryan@ncacswim.org

#17 – Racing A Teammate

You’ll need a teammate who is generally about the same speed as you. Do your 20 x 25 @ :30, swimming side-by-side and racing to the finish each time. The winner of #1 receives 1 point. The winner of #2 receives 2 points, and so on, all the way up to 20 points on #20. The winner of each 25 chooses the stroke for the subsequent 25, but must choose a different stroke than the length just completed AND the one before that. In other words, if you swim free on #1, back on #2, and swimmer A wins them both, then swimmer A must choose between breast and fly for #3. Done this way, there are a total of 210 points, so the first person to 106 points is the winner. For an extra wrinkle, allow each swimmer one “steal,” i.e. one occasion during the set where he can choose the next stroke even after losing the previous 25.

The Swimming Calculator

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Coach Ryan Woodruff

Ever wonder how much faster your swimmer would be if he would just fix his turns? Curious about the combination of tempos and cycle counts that will lead to the fastest time for your swimmer?

This is the tool for you.

The Swimming Calculator (click to download the excel sheet)

Toy around with it a bit and let me know what you think. I am interested to hear any suggestions, and if anyone knows how to set this up in an html format, I would love to be able to put it on the web to eliminate the cumbersome excel download.

The Swimming Calculator can also henceforth be found in the Tools for Coaches section in the menu above.

Back and Free Sprint Set

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Ryan Woodruff, North Carolina Aquatic Club
coachryan@ncacswim.org

WARMUP W/ SNORKEL – FREESTYLE

30 X 100 @ :10 REST

                #1 – 50 STREAMLINE FACE DOWN KICK/50 FISTS DRILL

                #2 – 50 KICK ON SIDE/ 50 CATCHUP

                #3 – OVERKICK AND CATCHUP

 

BACKSTROKE

50 – 3 SCULLS/3 STROKES DRILL @ :10 REST

3 X          200 SWIM RACE PATTERN (FOCUS ON UNDERWATERS AND TURNS) @ :20 REST

                4 X 25 @ :30   12.5 YDS SPIN DRILL/ 12.5 YDS EZ SWIM

 

 

POWER TOWER SET –

 

6 X 75 BACKSTROKE  @ 1:45  FAST GOING OUT, EZ COMING BACK IN

200 EZ FREESTYLE B3– NO BELT

6 X 50 BACKSTROKE @ 1:15  5+ YARDS KICK, 20 YARDS BUILD/25 EZ BACKSTROKE

200 EZ FREESTYLE B3 – NO BELT

6 X 25 ALL OUT SPRINT BACKSTROKE @ :40

200 EZ FREESTYLE B3 – NO BELT

The ? Set

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Ryan Woodruff, North Carolina Aquatic Club
coachryan@ncacswim.org

Here’s a workout for when you only have 30 minutes.

300 smooth swim for warmup

? x 50 @ :50
Using a dry-erase board, give the swimmers a different set of instructions for every 50, erasing the old instructions and writing the new one while they swim. Mix it up, changing speeds, strokes, drills, breathing patterns, etc. Don’t let the swimmers know what is coming beyond the next 50. All swims are choice unless the stroke is specified. Here’s an example:
#1- P200+5
#2- P200+3
#3- P200+1
#4- P200-1
#5- EZ free B3
#6- Free B5
#7- Free B7
#8- At count
#9- Race!
#10- At cycle count -1
#11- 25 underwater dolphin kick/ 25 sprint
#12- 25 sprint/25 underwater dolphin kick
#13- 25 race/25 ez kick
#14- Fly B 1 up/1 down
#15- Fly B 1 up/2 down
#16- Fly B 1 up/3 down
#17- Fast fly
#18- EZ breaststroke
#19- Race!
#20- At cycle count -2
#21- 12.5 fast/12.5 ez of same stroke as #20
#22- At cycle count
#23- Breast with dolphin kick
#24- Backstroke 12.5 spin drill/12.5 swim
#25- P1650
…
The set could go on for as long as you like. The changing up speeds and instructions every 50 keeps the swimmers alert and the set fresh and interesting. What other interesting instructions can you come up with?

30-60-90

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Ryan Woodruff

Here is one of our favorite core exercises. We call it 30-60-90 for each of the body angles where we pause.

Have the swimmer be seated on a physio ball and have a teammate stand on his feet. The swimmer should then streamline and hold a straight line from wrists to shoulders to hips as he moves through the different angles. We like to go for 1:00 straight shifting positions about every 3 seconds and finishing with 10 seconds holding the 30 degree position.

I.M. Sandwich

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Ryan Woodruff, North Carolina Aquatic Club
coachryan@ncacswim.org

SCY A pretty straight-forward I.M. workout. With all of the fun and interesting sprint sets, there are some things you still have to do.

1 x 800 IM @ 11:20 (1:25 base)
200 Free pull B3 @ 2:30
2 x 400 IM descend @ 5:40
200 Free pull B3 @ 2:30
8 x 100 IM descend 1-4 @ 1:25
200 Free pull B3 @ 2:30
2 x 400 IM descend, faster than previous ones @ 5:40
200 Free pull B3 @ 2:30
1 x 800 IM Fast @ 11:20
200 Free pull B3 @ 2:30

5,000 yards, 1 hour, 10 minutes

Fly On the Wall

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Ryan Woodruff, North Carolina Aquatic Club
coachryan@ncacswim.org

SCY Here’s a fantastic fly set that will get the swimmers going fast while preserving technique and motivation for the end. They will spend some time on the wall, however.
Use the Goal Pace Spreadsheet to determine P100 (100 race pace)times.

100 x 25 @ :30
For the first 96, do the following 8x:
#1-5 drill (#1 – 3R-3L-3cycles, #2 – w/br kick, #3 – w/flutter kick, #4 – clap drill, #5- triple kick drill)
#6 – Swim at P100
#7-9 Swim smooth at race cycle count
#10 – Fast swim at P100
#11 – easy kick on back
#12 – Fast swim at P100

#97 – 100 are all fast swim at P100

Configuring the 25s as I have listed above will allow the coach to stay at one end of the pool and time every race-pace 25.

The Good Morning Set

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Ryan Woodruff, North Carolina Aquatic Club
coachryan@ncacswim.org

We did this set recently just to wake everyone up, get some good aerobic yardage in, and get the juices flowing for an agressive end-of-practice kick set.

1000 free swim B3 @ 12:30 (1:15 base)
100 free pull B3 @ 1:15
800 free swim B3 @ 10:00
300 free pull B3-5-3 by 100 @ 3:45
600 free swim B3 @ 7:30
500 free pull B3-5-7-5-3 by 100 @ 6:15
400 free swim B3 @ 5:00
700 free pull B3-5-7-9-7-5-3 by 100 @ 8:45
200 free swim B3 @ 2:30
900 free pull B3-5-7-9-3-9-7-5-3 by 100 @ 11:15

5500 yards, 1 hour, 9 minutes

Gettin’ Goin’ with Rowan

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Matt Hall, Rowan Aquatic Club

This is the main set only – takes about 90 minutes.  First time through is freestyle, rounds 2 & 3 are choice stroke.

 

3 X (10 x 100 SPRINT off of the blocks)

what to do

within best time

interval

2x kick

20 seconds

2:30

2x 75 kick/25 sprint

16 seconds

2:40

2x 50 kick/50 sprint

12 seconds

2:50

2x 25 kick/75 sprint

8 seconds

3:00

2x sprint

4 seconds

3:10

200 EZ on 4:40

 

The Ohio Mile Set

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Gary Galbreath, Assistant Senior Coach, Dayton Raiders

Here’s a set I use to do with milers a couple times a month. Usually on Thursdays on weeks when we didn’t have a meet. I could predict almost to the second how fast they would be on their upcoming 1650. It didn’t work as well for LCM. On the 1st 15 Pace 100’s you want them to have 4-8 sec. rest. On the last 15 fast 100s they need to go near 500 Speed! Make sure they have a good warm-up and have their heart rates up when they start.

 
 

1 x 100 @ 1:05 Mile Pace or Faster

1 x 100 EZ @ 1:30

2 x 100 @ 1:05 Mile Pace or Faster

1 x 100 EZ @ 1:30

3 x 100 @ 1:05 Mile Pace or Faster

1 x 100 EZ @ 1:30

4 x 100 @ 1:05 Mile Pace or Faster

1 x 100 EZ @ 1:30

5 x 100 @ 1:05 Mile Pace or Faster

1 x 100 EZ @ 1:30

5 x 100 Fast @ 1:30 Try to hit 500 Goal Pace

1 x 100 EZ @ 1:30

4 x 100 Fast @ 1:30 Try to hit 500 Goal Pace

1 x 100 EZ @ 1:30

3 x 100 Fast @ 1:30 Try to hit 500 Goal Pace

1 x 100 EZ @ 1:30

2 x 100 Fast @ 1:30 Try to hit 500 Goal Pace

1 x 100 EZ @ 1:30

1 x 100 Fast @ 1:30 Try to hit 500 Goal Pace

1 x 100 EZ @ 1:30

French Toast

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Mary Young
Northwest NC YMCA Riptyde Swim Team

My daughter sent me this last year when she swam with a French team in Montpelier (MANUC) during her fall semester abroad. Harder than it looks if they push themselves. Interval should be pretty tight, then recovery interval for 100 EZ, 200 pull etc.

8 x 50 Free :35
100 EZ
8 x 50 Free 1:00 fast as you can on all 8
200 pull
4 x 100 Free 1:10
100 EZ
4 x 100 Free as fast as you can go on 15 sec rest
200 Free breathe 3,5 by 50
2 x 200 Free 2:20
100 EZ
2 x 200 Free as Fast as you can go on 15 sec rest
200 EZ

Uno Uno Ocho

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Ryan Woodruff, North Carolina Aquatic Club
coachryan@ncacswim.org

Warm-up 100-200-300-400 – 1/4 of each distance kick, 1/2 of each distance drill, 1/4 of each distance swim

3x (including the 400)

200 Fly @ 2:50 (1:25)
150 Back @ 2:10 (1:26)
100 Breast @ 1:25
50 Sprint free @ 1:00
100 Breast @ 1:20
150 Back @ 2:05 (1:23)
200 Fly hold count and build entire 200 @ :10 rest

400 free pull – paddles, buoy, snorkel

Kick set – 4 x through, all @ :25 per 25
25 fast kick
75 ez kick-dominant drill
50 fast kick
50 ez kick-dominant drill
75 fast kick
25 ez kick-dominant drill

Loosen down 500 breast descend cycles by 25 1-4 x 5

I.M. Hurtin’

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Ryan Woodruff, North Carolina Aquatic Club
coachryan@ncacswim.org

This set will bring the pain. Can you take it?

Part 1 @ 6:00
2 X 50 FLY AT P400IM @ :10 REST
100 BACK @ :10 REST
100 BREAST @ :10 REST
100 FREE

Part 2 @ 5:50
100 FLY @ :10 REST
2 X 50 BACK AT P400IM @ :10 REST
100 BREAST @ :10 REST
100 FREE

Part 3 @ 5:40
100 FLY @ :10 REST
100 BACK @ :10 REST
2 X 50 BREAST AT P400IM @ :10 REST
100 FREE

Part 4 @ 5:30
100 FLY @ :10 REST
100 BACK @ :10 REST
100 BREAST @ :10 REST
2 X 50 FREE AT P400IM @ :10 REST

The Sizzler

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Mary Young
Northwest NC YMCA Riptyde Swim Team

This workout is inspired by Matt Hall, coach of RACY

4x:
175 FR (sometimes BA) should equal best 200 time (they have 5:00 total for both 175s)
175 EZ
75 FR or BA add 10 secs to equal PB (they have 4:00 for 75 + 175 EZ)
175 EZ

Saturday Special

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Ryan Woodruff, North Carolina Aquatic Club
coachryan@ncacswim.org

Here’s a solid distance free set:
20 x 300
#1-5 Swim free, descend @ 3:40
#6-10 Pull free with paddles & buoy, descend @ 3:40
#11 – Strong swim @ 3:25
#12 – Smooth, Negative split @ 3:40
#13 – Strong swim @ 3:20
#14 – Smooth, Negative split @ 3:40
#15 – Strong swim @ 3:15
#16 – Smooth, Negative split @ 3:40
#17 – Strong swim @ 3:10
#18 – Smooth, Negative split @ 3:40
#19 – Strong swim @ 3:05
#20 – Smooth, Negative split @ 3:40

Welcome to Friday Fly Day

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Ryan Woodruff, North Carolina Aquatic Club
coachryan@ncacswim.org

Throughout this set, every time you reach the wall, perform vertical dolphin kicking until your interval comes up for an extra aerobic boost.

300 fly swim @ 6:00
Swim fly as long as you can hold your technique together (i.e. hold you count and rhythm). When you fall off, kick a 25 dolphin kick and then resume fly swimming. Continue until you have reached 300 yards total of fly swimming (it may be a 325, 350, 375 etc. total)

3 x 200 fly
#1 – 12.5 kick/12.5 fly clap drill @ 3:30
#2 – 12.5 triple kick drill/12.5 swim @ 3:00
#3 – 15m swim/~10y no breath fly swim @ 3:00

20 x 50 @ 1:00
#1 – breathe every stroke
#2 – breathe every 2nd stroke
#3 – breathe every 3rd stroke
#4 – fast swim, choice breathing pattern

The Anti-Piano Set

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Scott Dunn and Mary Young
Northwest NC YMCA Riptyde

12 x 50 “Fly”

Odds: 25 Fly controlled speed- around 15 sec for girls, faster for boys. They stop to hear time, then 25 Free.
Evens: “Phelps, not Piano”. 25 Free, 25 Fly. How often have you seen a great 90 yd fly ruined by a PIANO dropping on the swimmer somewhere around the flags? they build a strong 25, surging to the wall from outside the flags,then must “stick the landing” exactly- a la PHELPS v. Cavic.

Sub-Threshold Tempo Set

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Ryan Woodruff, North Carolina Aquatic Club
coachryan@ncacswim.org

Try this set for a little tempo and technique work. Tempos should work well for free, back, or fly.

4 x 25 at threshold tempo @ :10 rest
100 ez swim at normal cycle count
4 x 50 at threshold tempo +0.20 @ :15 rest
100 ez swim at normal cycle count
4 x 75 at threshold tempo +0.30 @ :20 rest
100 ez swim at normal cycle count
4 z 100 – 25 at threshold tempo/50 at cycle count/25 at threshold tempo @ :20 rest

The Finisher

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Ryan Woodruff, North Carolina Aquatic Club

This set makes a good practice finisher. After a long hard set, it gets them going fast, swimming hypoxically, and working together to build some team unity.

Divide the swimmers into groups, ideally a number that can all swim side-by-side for a 25. All swimmers will swim a no-breath 25 freestyle, and one swimmer will be chosen by the coach to swim FAST no breath and given a time to beat. If that swimmer achieves the time AND all other swimmers in that group make the 25 without breathing (time doesn’t matter), the group earns a point. Repeat the exercise with each group until they earn 5 points (or any number you set). When a group gets their 5 points, they are free to go. The 25s can be done from a push or off the blocks.

Time Bomb Blastoffs

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Louis Cavadini

Here’s one more modified wizard set we did last week–another version of blast-offs (See The Shallow End Kick Set)

In the deep end of the pool we did blast-offs but here is the twist: They are time controlled. The group starts together and goes to the bottom on the Coach’s “go”. They stay down for about 5 seconds and then blast up, catch a breath as they come out and then fall straight back to the bottom. We repeated this about 5 times and then took a break. We didn’t start the watch until everyone had returned to the bottom of the pool.

5x (5x :05 under deep-end blast-offs)

If I had kids that spent too much time above water after each one, I sprayed them with the hose in order for them to get back under quickly. After a couple rounds, we did the final one a bit different…adding 5 seconds per dive, going till the last person couldn’t go any longer:

1x :05 under deep-end blast-off
1x :10 under deep-end blast-off
1x :15 under deep-end blast-off
1x :20 under deep-end blast-off
1x :25 under deep-end blast-off
1x :30 under deep-end blast-off
(that’s as long as they could go)

The Submarine Set

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(you’ll spend a lot of time underwater)
Louis Cavadini

Widths underwater continuous, take a breath at walls with an open turn, then go back under. We did these in two groups, so the group that just went could catch their breath. We had lane lines in so it worked better to help prevent kids coming up in the middle of the pool:
1:00 widths underwater
2:00 widths underwater
3:00 widths underwater
4:00 widths underwater
100 EZ
10:00 widths underwater!
*The 10 minute widths under got a bit boring, might want to break it
up a bit. This set made for a great Monday morning leg workout.

Physio Ball Flutter Kicks

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Ryan Woodruff

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Here’s another abdominal exercise that we do, often for 2 sets of :30 each. Keep the ball on your lower shins, and control it using the tops of your feet. Kick from the hip with the knees straight and the hips slightly elevated for best results.