Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA Swim Team, Lynchburg, Virginia
In most competitive swimming situations, there is a defined endpoint to our effort. The race is a certain distance, the set is a certain number of repeats, etc. Introducing a bit of uncertainty is an interesting experiment in motivational psychology.
I write this on the board:
2-3x through:
? x 50 all out effort, off the blocks @ ~2:00
1 x 150 EZ
Swimmers pick a stroke and stick with it for the full set. Every 50 is timed. The swimmers don’t know how many we will do. I watch the group and keep an eye on their effort, their results, and the overall energy in the squad. When those start to flag, I throw a wrinkle into the instructions, such as:
- Beat your time on the previous 50 to make this 50 your last one. If you fail, do one more.
- Find a partner. Now, beat your time from the previous 50 so that your PARTNER can be done. If your partner fails to go faster, you do one more 50.
- Pick an individual and give them a goal time substantially faster than what they have been going. Announce it to the whole group. If they make it, the group is down with the 50s. If not, pick another teammate for the next one.
- Write down a goal time on the back of the dry erase board for one person. Tell the group that if that one person makes the time, everyone is done with the dive 50s.
There are all kinds of ideas you can introduce here – get creative! Just make sure they are evoking the right response – more effort, more togetherness, more motivation!
The Swimming Wizard 