Challenging Set for Back or Breast.

Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA

The day we performed this set, we had only 2 swimmers per lane, which allowed us to have very individualized intervals.  We did this set in a SCM pool (our normal training location) using our SCY best times. Most of our swimmers were able to make their goal by 7-8 seconds and were able to push themselves pretty hard on short rest. This set could be used for freestyle or butterfly as well, we were just looking for some back and breast work.

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Ascending/Descending 75s

Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA

We did this set recently and for whatever reason we got some surprisingly good results.  I was even encouraging swimmers to slow down as they ascended the odds, and they put up some impressive times by the end.

The up arrow means to ascend the time on the odds (start fast, finish slower) and the down arrow means descend the evens (start slow, finish fast).

Groove Set for Breaststroke

Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA

The idea is to use this set to get your stroke feeling technically sound and in flow. Use before a race or before a challenging breaststroke set and adjust the number of repetitions as needed/desired.

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Gotta Hit Those Walls

Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA

So much of performing good turns in short course fly and breaststroke swims comes from spacing the cycles out correctly.  The key is that swimmers hit the wall at the conclusion of a full cycle, and not on a short stroke or a long glide.  This set is simple but demands exactly that.

6 x 25 Breast @ :35 — Hit the wall correctly at specified cycle count or it doesn’t count (take :20 extra rest and then continue
100 ez free
6 x 25 Breast @ :30 — same instructions as above
100 ez free
6 x 25 Breast @ :25 — same instructions above.
100 ez free
200 Breast  odd 25s at min cycle count, even 25s 15m speed drill, 10m long and smooth strokes

Sometimes You Gotta Split the Group

Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA

Split into two groups – breaststrokers and non-breaststrokers

 
Breaststroke group
3 x through
600 breast 50 drill/150 swim @11:00 (1:50)
3 x 200 @4:00
#1- 50 strong br/150 fr B3
#2 – 100 strong br/100 fr B3
#3 – 150 strong br/50 free B3

Non-breaststrokers
2 x through
3 x 50 fly @:50/1:00 descend
200 back @3:00/3:20
2 x 50 fly same
2 x 200 back descend same
1 x 50 fly fast
3 x 200 back same
1 x 500 free B5 @7:00/7:30

Breaststroke and Backstroke with Coach Brookover

Chris Brookover
YBCC Phoenix – Head Coach
Director of Competitive Swimming 

Another set that turned out really well.

Breast
1×400 3kick 1 pull @ 5:30
3 x 8 x 25 @:40 Drill
1- 3 second 7 squeeze
2- Brst pull / Free Kick
3- Catch isolation
6×150
75 FR @ 1:10  75 Brst @ 1:30
6×125
75 FR @ 1:05 50 Brst @ :55
6×100
75 FR @ 1:00 25 Brst @:25
BACK
1X500 KICK @ 7:00
3 x 8 x 25 @:40 Drill
1- 6 SECOND SIDE TO SIDE
2- R ARM,  L ARM
3- SPIN DRILL
6×150
75 FR @ 1:10  75 BK @ 1:20
6×125
75 FR @ 1:05 50 BK @ :50
6×100
75 FR @ 1:00 25 BK @ :25

How to Do an Awesome Breaststroke Pullout

Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA

Did some drawing before teaching our youngsters the basics of breaststroke pullouts today.  The mention of food at the bottom is a timing device I learned from Martyn Wilby during my time at the University of Florida.

PUSH OFF THE WALL…”Apples, peaches, pumpkin pie”…PULL DOWN…”Strawberry Shortcake”…KICKOUT AND SWIM!

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Backstroke Parachutes Set with Back/Breast Follow-up

Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA

This workout goes back to 2009.  It was written for SCY for an athlete who was an Trials-caliber backstroker and IMer.  The focus was on underwater kicking and backstroke strength.  The “yellow” parachute was rather small and the “1st black buoy” refers to 15m mark from the opposite end of the pool.

Choose your weapon — back or breast

Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA

LCM.  Wanted to get some good swimming of both of these strokes in today.  Being within the best+30 goal on the 200s wasn’t a problem for most, and the conscientious ones were able to be within 20 for the most part.  Rest intervals allowed for good flexibility on lane assignments and stroke choices.  Swimmers had to stick with either stroke for a round before switching.

Choose Your Descend with Coach John Ravestein

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

We did this yesterday, I liked it because it gave the kids some freedom of what they wanted to descend but the intervals were still hard enough that they couldn’t slack on the other part. I also played a game to see if I could pick which one they descended based on their effort. You can also have them pick it before they start to give them ownership of the set.

10x50s on :50

     Odds- fly, Evens- IM

     Desc 1-5

     You pick to either desc the fly or IM

Rest 1:00

8x100s on 1:25

     Odds- back, Evens- IM

     Desc 1-4

     You pick to either desc the back or IM

Rest 1:00

6x150s on 2:20

     Odds- breast, Evens- IM no Free

     Desc 1-3

     You pick to either desc the breast or IM

Rest 1:00

4x200s on 2:45

     Odds- Free, Evens- IM

     Desc 1-2

     You pick to either desc the free or IM

200 ez