Free Swimming Workouts, Sets, Ideas, and Dryland Exercises from Professional Coaches Around the World
Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA
It was challenging but well-executed. Swimmers increase their distance over the five rounds of 4:00. 4 X 25 were done with #1 from a dive and 2-4 from push. We set our standards at 15m underwater on #1 and 4, 10m underwater on 2 & 3.
Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA
Swimmers partnered up. For the first part of the set, they push their partner (who is in a streamlined position) with one hand. Then they race their partner in an all out 100 flutter kick. The 100 was handicapped based on a “best average” kick set earlier in the week, meaning that one partner got a head start over the other.
Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA
We do this set in a SC pool, but it could work in a LCM pool as well. Have swimmers partner up, with each partnership getting a stretch cord. One person wears the belt and is in the water. The other person stands on deck and holds the cord, letting it out gradually to provide resistance. It is sort of a “poor man’s Power Tower.” The person in the water does:
4 fast underwater dolphin kicks (then gets towed back to the wall) then immediately pushes off into:
6 fast underwater dolphin kicks (same)
8 fast underwater dolphin kicks (same)
10 fast underwater dolphin kicks (same)
12 fast underwater dolphin kicks (unhook the belt) and immediately push off into
1 x 25 all out sprint choice with max underwater kicking (at full speed, not necessarily max distance)
1 x 25 ez and trade places.
Repeat as many times as you wish.
Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA
Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA
We did these stations 2x through at 10 min per station. Took a little over an hour with transition time.
Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA
Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA
Follow @WoodruffRyan
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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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.
Ryan Sprang
Head Coach
Nittany Lion Aquatic Club
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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Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA
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!
Good underwater work during aerobic swimming. Last 200 gets to be pretty challenging if done with any intensity.
Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA
This set was performed across a 6-lane pool, going under the lane lines.
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Good Stuff
Ryan Woodruff
Follow @WoodruffRyan
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Ryan Woodruff
Follow @WoodruffRyan
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Use Streamline Sticks at 7yd distance from each wall. Put two at each location, effectively blocking off the entire lane. Swimmers have to kick out 7yd off the wall, swim 11yd, and then kick the final 7 yd underwater, do an open turn and do it again! Feel free to change up the underwater distance for a more or less challenging set.
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Ryan Woodruff
Follow @WoodruffRyan
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Streamline Sticks are easily among the best pieces of training equipment I have seen in my 13 years of club coaching. We use them weekly to develop the habits and skills to produce consistent underwater dolphin kicking. They force swimmers to kick a set distance off the wall and allow for circle swimming within the lane. Send me an email at swimmingwizard@gmail.com or just leave your e-mail in the comments below if you are interested in getting your hands on a Streamline Stick and maybe I’ll make a few for Swimming Wizard readers.
UPDATE: The Swimming Wizard has been overwhelmed with responses about these streamline sticks. I am planning to post a video soon that explains how they may be constructed. Thanks! – Ryan
Here’s a set I did with our Senior 1 (National) Group. I thought it went real well, kids loved it, but were dead tired.
Ryan Woodruff
Follow @WoodruffRyan
I like having our athletes kick for maximum distance in a specified amount of time. Like most teams, our range of kicking speeds is greater than our range of swimming speeds, so kicking for distance becomes an effective way to challenge each athlete when we don’t have the ability to go on 6 different intervals. When we kick for distance, I like to put markers on the edge of the pool every 5 yards so that the athletes can determine their disance kicked to the nearest yard.
5 x 3:00 kick for distance @ 4:00 (descend 1-5)
100 easy swim @ 2:00
4 x 2:00 kick for distance @ 3:00 (descend 1-4)
100 easy swim @ 2:00
3 x 1:00 kick all out @ 2:00
Ryan Woodruff
Ryan.d.woodruff@gmail.com
This set is designed to help mimic the crucial transitions in IM sets. In my opinion, much of the difficulty in IM transitions is due to fatigue in the legs. The vertical kicking mimics the fatigue from one stroke and then we swim fast!
3x:
2:00 vertical dolphin kick (hands out of the water) straight into…
1 x 100 fast backstroke (50 splits must be within 1 sec of each other)
1 x 100 easy swim
Repeat additional times doing vertical flutter kick (for backstroke) followed by breaststroke swimming. For the br-fr transition, do vertical kicking with a weight followed by freestyle swimming. Intersperse these sets with longer IM sets for maximum effect.
Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Parkland Aquatic Club
One of the pools that we train at is 6 lanes (about 12 yards wide), perfect for practicing some FAST underwater dolphin kicking. We did this set just the other day. On repeats of multiple widths, they could take one breath at each turn.
12 x 1 width @ :20
50 ez swim
6 x 2 widths @ :40
50 ez swim
4 x 3 widths @ 1:00
50 ez swim
1 x 12 widths as fast as possible
Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Parkland Aquatic Club
After a big freestyle set (6,000) for our main set today, we used the follow-up set below. Swimmers had the option to continue to swim at anaerobic pace or swim aerobically and focus on details. Color paces are based on a T30 test and Jon Urbanchek’s training tables.
SCY
6 x 100 Free @1:30
Swimmers have the option of swimming at these paces or swimming at White pace for all of them and doing 6 or more dolphin kicks off every wall.
#1 – White
#2 – Pink
#3 – Red
#4 – White
#5 – Red
#6 – Blue
Erik Wiken
Head Coach, Heartland Aquatics
This post is the fifth in a series of posts from Coach Wiken’s Senior/National Team Group. Look for more to come soon.
Erik Wiken
Head Coach, Heartland Aquatics
This post is the second in a series of posts from Coach Wiken’s Senior/National Team Group. Look for more to come soon.
1650/36 minutes
Lucas Ferreira, Ames Cyclone Aquatics Club
This is a set I did with my age groupers, but if you adapt the intervals I’m sure senior swimmers can get a lot out of it too:
SCY
The 400, 200s, 100s, and 50s kick are always 50 FR / 50 FL on BK
1×400 Kick – 8:00
4×25 UW DK @ 0:45
0:30 extra rest, fins on!
2×200 – 3:10
4×25 UW DK @ 0:45
0:30 extra rest, fins off!
4×100 – 2:00
4×25 UW DK @ 0:45
0:30 extra rest, fins on!
8×50 – 0:45
8×25, long UW DK, FAST Breakout! @ 0:45
Louis C. Cavadini
SCY
Here is a little set we did that was fun and hard
24×50 (1-12 w/fins @1:15, 13-24 wo/fins @1:30)
-25 IM rotation
-25 sprint free
Place 25lb weight room plate on the bottom of the deep end (starting end). Swim 25 IM rotation, sprint back freestyle and at the flags(deep end) dive down and pull the weight back up to the surface. We used 10lb plates for the smaller swimmers.
After that set, we did a little experimenting:
8×25 @1:00 w/fins
-kick underwater with weights (use 10lbs). They kids said it worked
best if you held the weight out like a steering wheel.
Ryan Woodruff, North Carolina Aquatic Club
ncacheadcoach@gmail.com
8 x 150 kick odd descend w/board @ 2:30 even descend w/snorkel @ 2:40
6 x 100 kick odd descend w/board @ 1:40 even descend w/snorkel @ 1:50
4 x 50 kick all w/snorkel fast @ :50
Ryan Woodruff, North Carolina Aquatic Club
coachryan@ncacswim.org
SCY
This kick set with fins (kickboard optional) will demand an intense effort, even from senior-level athletes who are good at kicking:
6x:
50 kick @ 1:00
75 kick @ 1:00
100 kick @ 1:00
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