Tag: Age Group

Age Group Taper Speed Set with Coach Nicholas Wooters

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Nicholas Wooters
Head Coach, Director of Competitive Swimming at The Bay Club

PSRP Panthers
Bay Club Redwood Shores
Redwood City, CA

We have a championship meet for our age groupers this weekend. We are going to go through a small (VERY SMALL because they are age groupers) quick taper (3 days) leading into this weekend. Here is what we did today to focus on race specifics/race details in short speed burst situations.

Our main set was 3,450yards with intervals that kept things moving along but were not very challenging.
3x
200 smooth
8×50
#1-#2 = blast the breakout (to 12 1/2)
#3-#4 = blast the finish (final 12 1/2)
#5-#6 = blast both  (1st and last 12 1/2)
#7-#8 = whole 50 fast

1×50 smooth
1×100 FAST from the blocks

3x
    100 smooth
    8×25
        #1-#2 = blast the breakout (to 10)
        #3-#4 = blast the finish (final 10)
        #5-#6 = blast both  (1st and last 10)
        #7-#8 = whole 25 fast
    1×50 smooth
    1×50 FAST from the blocks

 

Age Group Kick Set from Results H20 and Coach Josh Sinclair, Queensland, Australia

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Josh Sinclair
Head Coach
Results H2O Swimming
Queensland, Australia

This is a kick set that we did on Saturday… It is a 2km kick set that works on hypoxic, balance and body position and quality.   When doing kick sets I like to always ensure it is challenging and engaging to the individual, so rather then just kick to a cycle or for distance I get them to hold under their pace 200, the “I don’t like kick” kids held pace 200 +5 or +10 and the “I hate kick” kids wore short Finz.

Age Group IM Set from Australia

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Josh Sinclair
Head Coach
Results H2O
Queensland, Australia

Below is an IM Set I use with our JX (Junior Excellence) squad.  Ages range in this squad from 9-12.  The idea behind this set was to get the kids to control and build the 125’s with some fast swimming in between.

!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=”//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js”;fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,”script”,”twitter-wjs”);

  !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=”//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js”;fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,”script”,”twitter-wjs”);//assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = “//popuri.us/assets/js/twitterwidget.js”; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, ‘script’, ‘popuri-jssdk’));

Active Rest set for Age Groupers

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Greg Johnson
Head Age Group Coach
Greater Pensacola Aquatic Club

Here is a little active rest freestyle set that I did with my advanced age groupers (BB-AAAA). I was surprised that they were MUCH faster at the end than at the beginning. We took a minute rest between each set of distances

Active Rest Freestyle

2 x { 1 x 250 smooth @ 3:30}      { 1 x 300 RACE ! @ 3:30} 

4 x { 1 x 150 smooth @ 2:20}      { 1 x 200 RACE ! @ 2:20}

6 x { 1 x 50 smooth @ 1:10}      { 1 x 100 RACE! @ 1:10}

!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=”//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js”;fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,”script”,”twitter-wjs”);

  !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=”//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js”;fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,”script”,”twitter-wjs”);

Age-group Breaststroke Set from Caradon Swim Club

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Keith Haynes
Head Coach
Caradon Swim Club

Below is a Breaststroke set I ran this evening with my age group swimmers – although I think age group is different in the US, so 11 – 14 year olds. They said they really liked it and that it was easy! Outrageous.
I love doing descending work with this age group, as when it comes to a race situation they really understand the concept of applying more effort throughout a race to maintain speed even though they are getting tired. Just like when we do descending work in training!
Clearly I was too generous with the turnaround times, but I will get them back on Tuesday and Friday. So adjust turnaround times to suit your swimmers capabilities or where they are in their training programme…
1 x 100 as 50 F/S – 50 BK                                             on 2.00
4 x 25 BR/S          Descend 1 – 4 to sprint speed                      on 45
2 x 100 as 50 F/S – 50 BK                                             on 2.00
4 x 50 BR/S          Descend 1 – 4 to sprint speed                      on 1.30
3 x 100 as 50 F/S – 50 BK                                             on 2.00
4 x 75 BR/S          Descend 1 – 4 to sprint speed                      on 2.15
3 x 100 as 50 F/S – 50 BK                                             on 2.00
4 x 50 BR/S          Descend 1 – 4 to sprint speed                      on 1.30
2 x 100 as 50 F/S – 50 BK                                             on 2.00
4 x 25 BR/S          Descend 1 – 4 to sprint speed                      on 45

1 x 100 as 50 F/S – 50 BK                                             on 2.00

!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=”//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js”;fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,”script”,”twitter-wjs”);

  !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=”//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js”;fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,”script”,”twitter-wjs”);

Kick and Speed set for Age Groupers

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Greg Johnson

Greater Pensacola Aquatic Club
Here’s a sprint/pace set I tried for my top-level age groupers (10-13). My thought was to get them kicking fast, making their legs tired and breathing hard, and then challenge them to try to hold 2nd 50 goal 100 pace at the end.
2 x (round 1=prime stroke, Rd 2=Fr)
K 3 x 25 FAST @ :35
1 x 50 swim @ 1’00
K 3 x 25 FAST @ :30
2 X 50 SWIM @ 1’00 (both faster than #1)
K 3 x 25 FAST @ :25
3 x 50 swim @ 1:00 (all 3 faster than 2 &3 above at around 1/2 goal 100)

IM Set with Lucas Ferreira of Gwinnett Aquatics

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Lucas Ferreira

SCM

I thought I had seen a set just like this or at least very similar when I came up with this set, but looking over the site I couldn’t find it, so here it goes:


We did this with our top middle schoolers (11-14). We swim SCM, and intervals listed are for our top group. The set was adapted all the way down to 6 different intervals and distances (although this group probably got the most amount of rest, since they can respond to it with faster swims).

6×50 IM Cycle (smooth strokes, great walls) – 1:10
4×100 IM descend                                      – 1:45
6×50 IM Cycle (smooth strokes, great walls) – 1:10
4×200 IM descend                                      – 3:30
6×50 IM Cycle (smooth strokes, great walls) – 1:10
4×300 IM descend                                      – 5:15
6×50 IM Cycle (smooth strokes, great walls) – 1:10
400 IM RACE from start!

Goal was to swim the 50s really efficient, and work the IM transitions from flags in to the breakout, then hit the longer IMs. We had plenty of great swims through the set, and by the end the kids threw down some of their best ever practice 400IM times!

!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=”//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js”;fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,”script”,”twitter-wjs”);

  !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=”//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js”;fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,”script”,”twitter-wjs”);

"Sneaky "400IMs

Posted on by rdwoodruff
Greg Johnson
Head Age Group Coach
Here’s a great way to make your 10-13 year old age groupers conquer some solid 400 IM work (without groaning and whining…until the end):
6 x
    2 x 50 fly @ 50
    1 x 100 Bk @ 1:30
    2 x 50 Br @ 50
    1 x 100 Fr @ 120
Odd rounds swim order as listed above.  Even rounds flip flop the 100s and 50s 
    1 x 100 fly @ 1:40
    2 x 50 Bk @ 45
    1 x 100 Br  @ 1:40
    2 x 50 Fr  @ 40

Age Group I.M. Workout

Posted on by rdwoodruff
Greg Johnson
Head Age Group Coach
Greater Pensacola Aquatic Club
I tried this on a small group of 10-13 year olds. Most of them ‘A’ swimmers.
25 FLY
50 BK/BR
75 BK/BR/FR
50 BK/BR
25 FLY
All on :30 per 25. It gave them enough rest to work turns.
50 FLY
75 BK/BR/FR
100 IM
75 BK/BR/FR
50 FLY
All on :25 per 25. This made them have to go fast
75 FLY/BK/BR
100 IM
125 FAST FREE !
100 IM
75 FLY/BK/BR
All on :30 per 25. I made them race each one
Now you take them back down the pyramid, starting with the 50 fly. End with a 25 ez (or sprint!) and you’ve got a mile of IM work.

Age Group IM Set

Posted on by rdwoodruff
Lucas Ferreira
Gwinnett Aquatics

SCM
Here’s an IM set our top Age Groupers (all in Middle school) did a couple weeks ago, that even surprised me on how well it worked:

4×100 FR IM Descend 1:40

4×25 FLY DPS 0:30

4×50 Drill, IMO 1:05

0:30 Rest

4×100 FR IM, make it 1:30

4×25 FLY DPS 0:25

4×50 Dr / Sw, IMO 1:10

1:00 Rest

4×100 IM RACE! From dive! 2:30


Notes: FR IM means we do Fr/Bk/Br/Fr. As you can see, we take care of the fly as well. We train SCM, and those intervals were designed with specific swimmers in mind (they really had to push to make the harder interval on those 100s). I had other lanes in different intervals, and I adjusted the sets so that everyone was together for the last 4×100. That worked out great, since we could get in ‘heats’ to really race! Many kids posted their fastest 4 100 IMs ever in our odd 25.2m pool at the end of the set. To me, that makes any set a successful one.

One lane kick set

Posted on by rdwoodruff
Coach Erik Wiken
Situation:

I have our highest age groupers, but there is a range in kicking ability from the newest of the group (1:50, All out FR kick with board) to most experienced (1:20, the same). We also have a transition period where we are limited in space for a short period of time (15 Minutes), there are four different groups in the water, every day. Yesterday we did this with 11 in one lane (pool is 12.5 yards of shallow water). If your pool is all shallow, you can comfortably fit 20 age groupers in one lane. Granted, the next lane might prove to be a bit small for the duration of the kick set..

The purpose of this set was to get our swimmers to kick in a neutral body position using the snorkel without worrying about boards, turns slowing us down, missing intervals and getting in some wall work too. The time periods are such that there is no time to screw around and I would recommend keeping things short, any increase would be in the hard flutter over time.

(25 minutes) 5 Times through the following cycle all with snorkel, me with my whistle:

(1:20 for each round, 3 rounds per cycle + 50 swim = 5:00 per cycle)

20 seconds moderate flutter (for kick technique focus, ie “gaining knowledge”)
20 seconds hard flutter (“application of knowledge”)
20 seconds streamline jumps (Snorkel off! What age grouper doesn’t like streamline jumps?)
20 seconds rest (put your snorkel back on)
1 x 50 Moderate Swim @ 1:00 (Snorkel optional. all swim an entire 50, same direction, back to their spot on the wall)

go! Go! GO!

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Greg Johnson

Head Age Group Coach

Greater Pensacola Aquatic Club

Just a tough, straightforward set (intervals based on freestyle for senior swimmers). We adjusted for the age groupers by giving them 6 rounds (odd rounds free, even IM). Got them breathing pretty hard.
8 x (no rest between rounds)
4 x 25 @ 20
2 x 50 @ 40
1 x 100 @ 1:15

Age Group Set from Gwinnett Aquatics

Posted on by rdwoodruff
Lucas Ferreira
Gwinnett Aquatics
Here’s a set we did with our top Age Groupers (11-14) that worked really well:

(SCM)
4 rounds:
5×100 FR – 1:20 / 1:30 / 1:40
10×25 RACE – 0:40
– IM order per round, dive on Odds
Two things were important to make this set as good as it was for us:
1) The 100s were right at the kids’ cruise interval (they had to work decently hard to get 2-3sec of rest only, nearly much playing wall tag the whole way). I would adjust those intervals likewise for a different group of kids or if we were swimming SCY.
2) Each kid had goal times for the 25s. Those were about 1sec faster than what they need to hold to make their goal 100s of each stroke this season, so they had to work pretty hard to make them.
It was a great way to get plenty of hard aerobic work, with a lot of fast swimming in the middle!

A Few Favorites

Posted on by rdwoodruff
Dan Harrigan
1976 Olympic Bronze Medalist- 200 Back
Former Coach, Penn State University

Dan counts the great Dick Jochums as his mentor.  Here are a few of Dan’s favorite sets:
10 x 100 free (yds)on 1:15 count strokes for each lap. Each 25 take one less stroke.
This will tend to make you kick more toward the end of each hundred.

10 x 200m back swim/kick by 100s on 2:45 (or an interval that gives you little time to rest, maybe 5 to 10 seconds.)

15 x 100 free on descending intervals (meters):

first five on 1:15

next five on 1:10

last five on 1:05

Medley and Free Sets for Success

Posted on by rdwoodruff
Great mixed Medley/Fs sets that work well with all swimmers (times adjusted accordingly)
1600 IM as
50 Fs, 50 Fly
100 Fs, 100 Bk
150 Fs, 150 Brst
200 Fs, 200 IM
150 Fs, 150 Fly
100 Fs, 100 Bk
50 Fs, 50 Brst
Focus on good technique, especially towards end of set
20 x 100 Fs as
8 @ 1.20
6 @ 1.15
4 @ 1.10
2 @ 1.05
Work distance per stroke, turns & finishes
8 x 150 as (twice through)
# 1 – All Fs
# 2 – All Kick
# 3 – IM (Leave out Form stroke)
# 4 – All Form
20 x 50 Fs Jump Outs as
10 @ 50
6 @ 45
4 @ 40
Individual Pressure Swims;
Pick swimmer for ‘Pressure swim’ and give him/her 10/15 minutes to prepare. Leave poolside whilst others continue with session. Bring ‘competitior’ out and get all other swimmers out of pool to support him/her. Swimmers then has to race and be within 1% of best time. If they make the time, all swimmers swim down and leave early. If the swimmer fails, they ALL do 1000m Max for time. Great for teamwork/team building.

A Halloween Set during Adaptation Week (for age groupers)

Posted on by rdwoodruff
Clare Labowitch
Head Coach Darwin Swimming Club
Northern Territory, Australia
5k Pre-Halloween Excursion to the Dark Side (10-15 sec RI throughout)
Warm Up
4 x 100 two headed monsters (a variation of top and tail, this has two swimmers stroking with a kicker hanging on to each of their feet)
8 x 50 ghost slider + stealth free (max uw s/l on side, keep upper body very still, lead with one arm other by side,smooth breakout into no splash free with high elbow recovery)
6 x 50 scare tactics (with fins – 25 uw dolphin 25 max sprint)
Pre-Set
600 vampire chase 2 swimmers begin 20m in front of three other swimmers with fins who work as a pursuit team to catch them – once caught roles are rotated. The third swimmer in the line is the catcher which forces the swimmers to work together)
6 x 50 scramble home relay(swimmers s/l under floating mat then swim to and climb over, best they can, a fitness ball to get to the end).
Main
2[6 x 200 medley mashups (change around medley order/distances and even leave out a stroke for each repeat)
    4 x 50 carrying the weight (dolphin kick on back holding up medicine ball)
Cool down
4 x 50 zombie crawl (25 on back swimming feet forwards; 25 swim freestyle backwards)

A Set from Down Under

Posted on by rdwoodruff
Clare Labowitch, Darwin Swimming Club
Northern Territory, Australia
I am an unashamed magpie when it comes to collecting swim sets and often mix and match different components. My squad is an age group one.
We are in an endurance phase at the moment the what follows is the first of two Wednesday morning aerobic endurance sets which the swimmers handled particularly well.
Warm Up 10 sec RI
400 free; 300 Claytons IM (25 fly 50 free, 25 back 50 free etc); 200 backstroke; 4 x 50 main stroke – stroke count D1-4 on 60
Main – Quality Endurance
2 x [ 4 x 200 free on 2:45 + 10 x 50 form on short rest cycle] as
                200 free + 1 x 50 form
                200 free + 2 x 50 form
                200 free + 3 x 50 form
                200 free + 4 x 50 form 
What I appreciated about the main was that the swimmers set their own cycle for the 50s and all of them challenged themselves
Fins
20 x 50 as 1-3 technique 4 pace

Age Group Habits

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Abby Woodruff, North Carolina Aquatic Club
coachabby@ncacswim.org

Here's an age group practice emphasizing good habits with some fast
100's freestyle at the end:

600 (100 Free – 50 Breast)

8 x 100 (25 Fly – 50 Back – 25 Free) on 2:00

#1:  5 dolphin kicks off each wall
#2:  6 dolphin kicks off each wall
#3:  7 dolphin kicks off each wall
#4:  8 dolphin kicks off each wall

10 x 50 with fins on 1:00

Odd:  UW dolphin kick as far as possible, then sprint fly or back to wall
Even:  Streamline dolphin kick on back

3 x 300 Free – breathe every 3, no breaths off wall – on 5:00/5:15/5:30

2 x 100 Free on 1:40/1:50/2:00 Free FAST

2 x 300 Free – breathe every 3, no breaths off wall – on 5:00/5:15/5:30

4 x 100 Free on 1:50/2:00/2:10 Free FAST

1 x 300 Free – breathe every 3, no breaths off wall – on 5:00/5:15/5:30

6 x 100 Free on 2:00/2:10/2:20 Free FAST

100 Easy