Tag: Woodruff

Competing on Technique in Backstroke

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Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA

Yesterday I posted that we were using the classic backstroke drill balancing a cup on the forehead. Today, we added a competitive component.

50m backstroke (LCM) race with a cup…winner is the person who goes the fastest without having the cup fall at all. Everyone else does 20 squats after the 50. We had 2 swimmers per lane go at a time, so they were racing 8 swimmers across in our 4 lanes. Most swimmers were able to make it without losing the cup, but it was interesting to see who pushed the envelope in terms of speed.

For the second competition, we split into two groups, and we tried to see which group could have more people make it an entire 50 LCM without losing the cup. 14 out of 17 made it the whole way successfully. Got me thinking about what other kinds of “technique competitions” we could have…got any ideas you would like to share?

Tempo Trainer Set for 1/2 of the Group

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Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA

We have enough Tempo Trainers for half of our top group to use them at the same time, so I devised this two-station set.  The set in red is designed to use the Tempo Trainers to challenge their ability to hold Distance Per Cycle at  race speed.  The set in blue encouraged long, kick-driven strokes.

Editor’s note: This set first appeared on this blog on August 28, 2017

Kick, Fartlek, and Descend

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Ryan Woodruff

Head Coach

Lynchburg YMCA

Kick Set (last 25 of every repeat is MAX UW- at least 12.5 yards)

Slower kickers should drill or swim the first part of each repeat to keep up

No kicking with board, no br kick

Options: face down fly, face down flutter, side fly, side flutter. Snorkel is o.k.

4 x 25 @ :30

3 x 50 @:55

2 x 75 @1:20

1 x 100 @1:45

100 smooth swim @1:30

4 x 100 intervals same as above

3 x 75

2 x 50

1 x 25 all out all UW kick

100 smooth swim @1:30

Wrench Bang Fartlek Set

6 rounds (4:30 per round)

2 x {Round 1 – free, Round 2- No free, Round 3- weakest stroke}

:30 scull

WRENCH BANG

1:00 drill (athlete’s choice of stroke)

WRENCH BANG

1:30  smooth swim with CRAZY FAST turns & underwaters

WRENCH BANG

Sprint between 25 and 50 yards (do one great turn and one great finish)

Start next round all together

Main Set

20 x 150 free

(paddles and/or buoy optional on all descending parts)

1 @1:35/1:40/1:45

5 descend @ 1:45/1:50/1:55

1 @1:35/1:40/1:45

4 descend @ 1:45/1:50/1:55

1 @1:35/1:40/1:45

3 descend @ 1:45/1:50/1:55

1 @1:35/1:40/1:45

2 descend @ 1:45/1:50/1:55

1 @1:35/1:40/1:45

1  @ 1:45/1:50/1:55

Editor’s Note: This set was originally published to the blog in July 2016

Kick Set with a Kicker

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Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA

This kick set will be a bit of a challenge if done correctly.

10 x 100 kick choice, but all same stroke, descend 1-10, pay attention to clock

#1-4 @ :10 rest

#5-7 @ :20 rest

#8-10 @ :30 rest

200 ez swim with fast turns and 4+ underwater kicks

6 x 100 kick @ :20 rest, goal is for all 6 to be faster than #8 from the first set

Editor’s note: This post was originally published to this blog in August 2017. Check out our scrollable archives below for more hidden gems!

Really Hard IM Set

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Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA

9 x 800 @ 13:00

#1 – straight 800 IM
#2 – done as 2 x 400 FRIM
#3 – done as 4 x 200 IM
#4 – done as 2 x 400 FRIM
#5 – straight 800 IM faster
#6 – done as 2 x 400 FRIM
#7 – done as 4 x 200 IM
#8 – done as 2 x 400 FRIM
#9 – straight 800 IM – all out effort

Descend 1 – 5 – 9

FRIM = Free IM (Free, Back, Breast, Free)

Editor’s note: This set was originally posted to this blog in July 2012

Short Axis Throwdown

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Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA

LCM
3 x 100 @ 1:30 25 sprint fly/75 free B3
1 x 300 5 cycles fly/5 cycles breast @ 6:00
3 x 150 @ 2:10 50 sprint fly/100 free B3
1 x 200 5 cycles fly/5 cycles breast @ 4:00
3 x 200 @ 2:50 75 sprint fly/125 free B3
1 x 100 5 cycles fly/5 cycles breast @ 2:00

100 easy free

20 x 50 fly, breathing 1 up/1 down
Put cones or markers on bottom 10m from the finishing wall. No breathing after the cone. Try to keep time consistently strong on all 20.
4 @ 1:00
3 @ :55
2 @ :50
1 @ :45

Editor’s note: This set was originally published to the blog in July 2012

Goal-based Quality Set for Age Groupers

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Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA

This a good set for a group of 14 & unders who have improved a bunch over the course of a season. The main idea: have them swim repeat 100s with the goal being to beat their best time from the before the start of the season. The purpose is to show them how far they have come and to build their confidence heading into the championship season.

? X 100 @ 2 minutes rest (at least)

Print out a list of your group’s best 100 times prior to the start of the season or after the first meet and post it to the wall. Each swim performed under that time counts as a point for the group. Give them a point total to shoot for as group (maybe a clever incentive too) and then watch them destroy it!

Important: Do this with a group that has already seen great improvements, or have them do only 100s of the strokes in which they have improved.

Find Your Sweet Spot

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Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA

This set was adapted from SwimSmooth.com‘s Ramp Test
The Sweet Spot Test Set
Using a Tempo Trainer
12 x 50 LCM @ 1:20
Begin at a tempo you know you can hold (if you are doing freestyle, try something between 1.50 and 1.80). Hold that tempo as precisely as possible for the entire 50m. Have a friend or a coach count your cycles and record that info. On each subsequent 50, lower your tempo by
.10 until you reach a tempo that you are unable to hold. After that failure point, take your tempo back up to near where it started, and bring it down again. Also make note of your effort level on a scale of 1-10.
At the completion of the set, you should have a range of tempos, cycle counts, efforts, and times. Look for effort levels in the 8 or 9 range. If you are well-conditioned, these should roughly approximate 200 pace. The range of data that you find will be your “Sweet Spot.” Train in and around this sweet spot as often as possible to improve your ability to sustain this pace or even to improve upon it.
This post originally appeared on this blog on May 26, 2010.

IM Cycles Set

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Ryan Woodruff, Lynchburg YMCA

The purpose of this set was to promote Cycle Count awareness while doing some strenuous IM work. For the 150, on the first 50 swimmers did 5 cycles fast fly, then 5 cycles fast backstroke on the second 50 and so on…

For the 300, it became 10 cycles for two 50s. For the 450, it was 15 cycles for three 50s.

On the 200s IM, counting the cycles and seeing how they varied from round to round was a great learning experience — our swimmers improved their understanding of how the strokes affect each other within that event.