Tag: Dolphin Kick

Loved this kick set today.

Posted on by rdwoodruff

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.

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Competitive Kick Set

Posted on by rdwoodruff

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.

Poor Man’s Power Tower Dolphin Kicks

Posted on by rdwoodruff

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.

Backstroke Challenge Set for Underwater Kicking Habits

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA
 

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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Middle Distance IM Set from Nittany Lion Coach Ryan Sprang

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Ryan Sprang
Head Coach
Nittany Lion Aquatic Club

1 round of:
{4 x 75 @ 1:00/1:05 (A/B interval) 50 fly 25 free strong
{1 x 200 IM @ 2:45/2:55 (A/B interval) fast fly, smooth ba/br/fr with good technique
2 x 25 @ :25 12 UW dolphin kicks blast, then smooth free
2 rounds of:
{4 x 75 @ 1:00/1:05 back strong
{1 x 200 IM @ 2:40/2:50 fast fly/ba, smooth br/free w/ good technique
4 x 25 @ :25 12 UW dolphin kicks blast (done after the 2 rounds above)
3 rounds of:
{4 x 75 @ 1:05/1:10 breast strong
{1 x 200 IM @ 2:35/2:45 fast fly/ba/br, smooth fr
6 x 25 @ :25 12 UW dolphin kicks blast
4 rounds of:
{4 x 75 @ :55 free strong
{1 x 200 IM @ 2:30/2:40 all fast
8 x 25 @ :25 12 UW dolphin kicks blast

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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Killer Kick Set for a 20yd pool

Posted on by rdwoodruff
Ryan Woodruff

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One of our coaches came up with this kick set for use in our 20-yard diving well.
Green is underwater.
Blue is descend
Red is Fastest Possible Average

Good Stuff

Cone Kicks for Underwater Power

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Ryan Woodruff
 
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I stole this idea from somewhere– I just can’t remember where. Cone kicks are performed by placing a medium-sized traffic cone over the front end of the swimmer’s streamline (make sure the cone is not big enough to come down over the swimmer’s face).   This serves two purposes:
1. Keeps the streamline intact
2. Provides extra resistance to the swimmer’s kicking effort.
4 rounds of:
4 x 25 Underwater “Cone Kicks” @ :40
1x 100 easy swim perfect technique, fast turns, and 4+ dolphin kicks @1:20
4 x 25 Underwater kicks without cones @ :30
1 x 100 same as above

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Double Underwater 50s for short course kicking power

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Ryan Woodruff
 
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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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Streamline Sticks

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Ryan Woodruff
 
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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

Cougar Aquatic Club Workout

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Pat Collins

Cougar Aquatic Team
www.cougaraquatic.com


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.

The entire pre-set was done on simply 15 secs rest after the leader of each lane would touch. Distance per stroke / cruising speed was expected.
Main Set: Our fastest two lanes did the first two 250s on 3:00 and then the four on 2:50. We have a black line across the middle of our pool at the 12.5 where we expect each swimmer to kick to minimum. The five 250s with no fins were then also done on 3:00, expecting near race-pace on them.

WARM UP (1800)
600 free long/loose
400 Rev. IM d/k/s
16x25s kick on side on :30, :35, :40
6x50s descend w/fins on :40, :45
100 EZ
PRE-SET (1000) 15 secs rest in between each
Technique – DPS
150 – 100 fly/50 bk
150 – 100 bk/50 br
150 – 100 br/50 fr
150 – ALL FREE
400 IM – DPS – perf tech
MAIN SET (3300) varying intervals
2x250s fr/bk w/ fins working UWK
4x250s fr/bk w/ fins working UWK
5x250s free – no fins
50 EZ @ 1:30
500 free for time
COOL DOWN (300)
300 EZ
TOTAL: 6400

A Kick Set That Burns

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Ryan Woodruff

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

 

Vertical I.M. Transitions

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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.

Underwater Power Set

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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

Freestyle Set After the Main Set

Posted on by rdwoodruff

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

Kickin’ with Wiken #5

Posted on by rdwoodruff

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.

7 x 100 @ 2:10 IM Cycle
      -Kick, build each 50 to strong kick
1 x 200 @ 4:50 IM
      -Kick for Time, in SL (1 stroke/turn)
3 x 100 @ 2:10 IM Transitions
      -Kick, build each 50 to strong kick
1 x 200 @ 4:30 IM
     -Kick for Time, in SL (1stroke/turn)
1400 yards, 31 minutes

Kickin’ with Wiken #2

Posted on by rdwoodruff

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.

No Board/in Streamline on back, 1 stroke max into wall
3 x through:
    4 x 100 @ 2:00   
       75Flutter/25 Dolphin, 50/50, 25/75, 0/100
    4 x 25 @ :45 Fly Swim
    ½ Way – 15M ↓H20 kick into sprint swim
    1 x 50 @ 1:00 Easy FR Swim

1650/36 minutes



Flyin’ at Heartland

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Workout notes:
 -Only had 90 minutes on this particular day so things were a bit more condensed than normal. Was fortunate enough to have a couple of college guys back to train with my best 14 & under flyer. The goal was for her to do the set without breaking stroke and preparing for a great 200 fly without doing a TON of fly.
-The Short fins set was the speed work for the day, with the mindset of finishing a 100 fly really fast (fins were there to ensure holding stroke after the main set, aside from generating max speed). The underwaters were a hypoxic recovery and a mental challenge to use a whole body kick after the 100s on both rounds.
 – This was a good workout for the guys and an awesome challenge she rose up to on that day (not a typical daily workout, we were going into winter break, I believe there was no full day of school afterwards so she could recover fully). She channeled this memory about a month later into a PR in the 200 fly by about 5 seconds. 
Warm-up:
5:00FR Swim @ 1:00 Rest
8 x 25 @ :30 IM Order by 2s, fast in the deep end
(IMO by 2s: 1-2:Fly 3-4:BK …. Essentially Odds: EZ/FAST Evens: FAST/EZ)
2 x Wall Series (SEE BOTTOM OF THIS BLOG POST)

Main Set: 

2x through…
1 x 250 @ 3:20
1 x 200 @ 2:40
1 x 150 @ 2:00
1 x 100 @ 1:20
1 x 50 @ 1:00
1st Rd: finish each swim with 25 fly (example: 250 = 225FR 25Fly…. 50 = 25FR 25Fly)
2nd Rd: finish each swim with 50 fly

1 x 50 @ 1:40 Easy Swim

Repeat all of that again.

+ 1:00 Rest to put on short fins..

2x
3 x 100 @ 1:40 50FR/50Fly
-Negative Split
4 x 25 @ :45 Underwater dolphin kick

Warm-down:
200FR 100IM Drill 
Wall Series: “Stolen” from Tom Beck at GOAL, modified to current form. Finish each warm-up with this mini set:
The following 7 steps are one time through, we finish each warm-up session twice through…
1. Streamline for distance* (goal; reach mid pool & beyond without propulsion)
2. From 1st red float back to start wall, submerge for underwater accelerator dolphin to wall, last few yards should be sprint. (swim back out to about 10 yards out)
3. FR race pace turn
4. 2 Reverse tucks from a horizontal & stationary position (working on quick knees & shoulders on open turn)
5. Fly or BR open race pace turn
6. Back race pace turn**
7. Accelerator at surface into choice race finish 
*The second round the streamline for distance is from the blocks. No kick, just gliding.
**The second round we substitute the BK turn on the 2nd round with a BK/BR crossover turn.

Cyclone Kick Set

Posted on by rdwoodruff

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

Heavy 50s

Posted on by rdwoodruff

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.