Tag: Psychology

Infinity 50s

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Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA

Of course they’re not really infinite, but they might feel that way!

This one’s a mindbender. Start by doing 50s off the blocks. When coach is satisfied that the desired level of work has been achieved, the round may end and the 200 smooth commences. An even better way to end the round is to throw out a goal time for a particular swimmer to end the round for the group. Start with an outlandish number. If failure occurs, the group does another 50 and then a second swimmer gets a goal time, a bit more reasonable. Repeat until success. Carefully monitor how the team responds. Do they rally together or get negative and resentful? Use it as a team-building exercise. Coach determines how many rounds.

Threshold Slow Reveal

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA

How a coach presents a set can have large implications in how it lands for the swimmer. In this particular case, the way the set is revealed is key. This set was given to the team in parts. At first, I told them just about the 10×100 and 1 x 150. Then, after we calculate their paces, I gave them the second part and challenge them to go faster. We did the second part, then we calculated their paces and revealed the 3rd part and challenged them AGAIN to go even faster. We could keep going, but the slow reveal effect starts to go away after the 3rd part. In total, this was an excellent set for our crew in terms of pushing themselves to go faster than they thought they could.

Quality Set with a Psychological Twist

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA

LCM. This set was a pretty standard one, but the little psychological twist we added at the end made it interesting.

4x (200 all out from dive + 100 ez free) @6:30

The twist: After #3, I thought we were doing well but not as good as we could be. I asked each swimmer to find an accountability partner and tell their partner their time goal for #4. The goal was supposed to be challenging but possible, a time faster than they had gone already. Then I informed them that the partner of each individual who failed to meet his goal would do 10 burpees. This led to a little extra buzz and encouragement before the last one.

What came next pleased coach the most. Approximately half of the group achieved their goals. Several who failed apologized (“no problem, I’m getting stronger” came the reply!!!). A few even got out and did the burpees with their partners even though they didn’t have to.

Overall, the twist led to some more motivated and faster swims, and some excellent displays of team spirit.