Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
We used 1-gallon buckets and Aquavolo drag sox for this one.
Tag: Woodruff
Freestyle Technique, Hypoxia, and Speed
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
This one came in two parts.
Part 1:
Part 2:
50s at Mile Pace Are Not Hard…
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
…but put a bunch of ’em in a set and soon you’ll be feelin’ pretty groovy.
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Breaststroke Distance Per Stroke and Hold
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
The first part of the set helped to reinforce good breaststroke technique, distance per stroke, etc. In the second part, we try to maintain cycle count over progressively longer distances at near race speed.
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Pacing Control for Distance
Backstroke Tech & Go!
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
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It is amazing what people can accomplish with enough motivation!!!
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
This was our finish to practice today. We have done 25s underwater pretty consistently, so every swimmer knows his or her best time. The lifetime bests were written down on a dry erase board and this challenge was thrown. If you can beat your best twice, you get to go home. Amazingly, more than half of our swimmers were able to accomplish this feat. The mind is an amazing thing!
Freestyle Putting in the Work
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
Buckets and Goal 85s
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
This was in a 25m pool. The goal on the 85s was to beat your best 100y time.
The I.M. Merry-Go-Round
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
SCM. We did this IM Set recently. At the conclusion of the set I asked each swimmer two give me two scores on a scale of 1-10. The first score was for how challenging the set was (lowest score was an 8), the second was for how well they thought they did (lowest score was a 7).
Note the stroke instructions on the right were different for each of the four parts on each round. On the 16×25 of the fly round, the EZ 25 was permitted to be freestyle, but on all other rounds all 25s were of the specific stroke.
Total distance: 4,000m
Total time: 1 hour, 20 minutes
Q: Why is it called the “I.M. Merry-Go-Round”?
A: Because it looks fun, but after an hour you can’t wait for it to stop!
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Setting up for Speed
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
The first set was just a little cycle count/technique work, setting up for resisted swimming with buckets. Each round finished with a FAAAASST 50!
Kickin’ Fifties
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
FPA = Fastest Possible Average.
Crank it up!
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
This set builds toward a fast finish.
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Some of our favorite sculling positions
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
Fearsome Fly Set
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
Fantastic Fly Set. We have posted some similar sets to this one this season, it this one was particularly excellent. The three 75s really pushed a few out of their comfort zones in profound way.
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Gettin’ Groovy Breaststroke Set
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
We combined this set with a cord set to make two stations 2x through.
Unleash Your Performance By Unleashing Your Mind
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
Did some fast swimming on this one. In each set, we performed some 50s at 200 pace and then followed it up with some “all-out” 50s, unleashing our performance from the mental constraints of “race pace.”
Speed at the Start, Speed at the Finish
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
SCM. We timed the first 15m from a dive with a target time from our pace cards. The next 70m was focused on good turns, breakouts, and underwaters. With 15m to go, swimmers paused and floated/sculled at the surface. When 1 swimmer in each lane was ready, a coach yelled “Go” and they commenced a sprint to the finish.
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Buckets and No Buckets
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
OTB = off the blocks
Anything but breaststroke!
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
Swimmers had the option of doing fly, back, or free on this one.
Explanation of terms:
Deep practice = whole stroke swimming with specific technical emphasis. Dr=Drill P.T.=perfect technique. P200 = Race pace for a 200.
Resisted Underwater Kicking and Breaststroke Sets
The Freestyle Squeeze
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
SCM. This set really brought on the burn. FPA = Fastest Possible Average. JMI = Just make it. Initially, the 7 x 50 were not written on the board and then were added during the 2nd 200 scull/swim by 25. This added a surprise challenge that they excelled at.
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23 x 1
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
SCM. This set was designed to push to the brink of failure. A few of our swimmers passed that point – all were challenged. Instructions on the first 9 were to make the interval by at least 3-5 sec. The 1×100 @ 2:00 was easy.
Last set of 3 was “just make it”.
Free Get Faster Set
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
SCM. The aim of this free set was to gradually accelerate into some high effort swims.
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Breaststroke Broken & Drill
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
SCM
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Fly Sprints and Wall Kick
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
SCM. We started this set with 4 swimmers per lane (2 at each end).
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Backstroke Descending Set
Age Group Long Axis and Dolphin Kicking
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
This practice was for our group of 10-12 year-olds. We focused on long-axis efficiency and finished with an emphasis on underwater kicking. The “bang bang” refers to a coach tapping a wrench in the side of the pool to indicate when to take a stroke.
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Weak Stroke/Best Stroke IM Set
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
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Underwater Excellence
Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA
SCM. We did this kick set recently and our swimmers were very engaged. We timed the underwater 25s (we keep team records on this) and asked for an elite effort on the green parts. We ended up with several lifetime best 25s underwater and an excellent overall group effort.
The intervals on the ez Swim were deliberately large so that the last person would finish before we had to dive on the next 25.
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