Tag: Woodruff

Product Review: SwimmersBest Power Bags

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By Ryan Woodruff, Head Coach – Lynchburg YMCA, & Swimming Wizard Editor

I recently had my group try out SwimmersBest Power Bags. Essentially, Power Bags are a mesh sleeve with drawstring closures at each end.  They can be employed in a multitude of ways to add drag to your swim training.  SwimmersBest provided us with one pair of Power Bags to try.

We tried the Power Bag in two configurations:
1. With the top of the bag tied tightly around the ankles, letting the rest of it cover the feet and extend off of the toes.
2. With the top of the bag tied tightly around the upper calf (just below the knee) allowing the bag to cover the lower leg down to about the ankle.

They can also be used in a few different ways that we haven’t yet tried.

We did a set of 12 x 25 @ :50 in a SCM pool where I was asking them to underwater dolphin kick as fast as possible to 12.5m and then continue to kick on the surface the rest of the way.

Athlete comments:

“These are really good.  They make it a lot harder to kick – I definitely have to use my core a lot more to kick”


“With the bags over my feet, it is like three times as hard.  On the calves, it is like twice as hard.”


“Can I keep using these? I think they would really help me.”

Coaches’ Take:
I noticed that our swimmers were less likely to kick primarily from their knees and more likely to kick from the chest down.  Naturally, with the resistance, their kick tempo was a bit slower, but they definitely were working the back side of the kick much more than normal, which is an underworked part of the kick for most swimmers, in my opinion.

With the importance of underwater kicking in the sport today, resisted kicking is a critical piece of the puzzle to building a swimmer’s underwater ability.

SwimmersBest doesn’t sell directly through their own website, but you can buy PowerBags on Amazon.  They come in three different levels of resistance.  The middle level (PB40) was perfect for my Sectional-level high school kids.

We loved them so much, I have ordered a bunch more for my team.

Other Swimming Wizard Reviews:
NC State Speed & Power Clinic
Jake Shellenberger’s Book: Power & Towers & Swimming: The Guide

Broken 200s and 100s Quality Set

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA

This was a little quality set with some broken 200s and 100s that we did recently.  The first set was just a pre-set to get us ready.  “Sprint the blue” refers to the solid blue part of our lane lines that is between the backstroke flags and the wall.  Swimmers sprinted the 5 yards into and out of each wall.



The Best Things I Read, Watched, and Listened to in 2016

Parallel Pace Sets

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Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA

I like these sort of sets. They challenge our athletes to hit their pace and give them a manageable amount of active recovery. The parallel sets also give me a chance to have meaningful interaction with every swimmer in the group during the set, something that is often difficult with 22 swimmers and just 1 coach.

Three 9:00 Stations

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Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA

Three 9-minute stations: Resistance, Race Pace, and Cord-assisted Sprints. We used 1-gallon buckets on the first station to provide resistance. The second station was 18 x 25 performed differently for distance, middle distance, and sprint. The third station used cords to assist at race speed into a fast turn.

Descending Race Pace Set

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Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA

The purpose of the following pace set was a bit different than many of the others I have posted here.  Many of our pace sets are tough to complete successfully, and this sometime causes a negative “I failed” attitude.  As we get into championship season, it becomes increasing important for the swimmers to feel successful so they can be confident and mentally sharp headed into the meet. 

This set was tough because I asked them to be at faster than race pace, but the relatively low number of 50s and rising interval allowed them to be very successful.

IM Race Pace Set

Posted on by rdwoodruff

Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA

This set was intended to help us practice IM transitions.  We did the 50s fly and the 25s backstroke on the first round, with the focus being on hitting that pace on the 3rd 50, then nailing the 25s.  Second round was Back and Breast, third round Breast and Free. Swimmers then repeated it for rounds 4-6 or went stroke instead of IM.

6 rounds:
    3 x 50 descend to P200
         #1 at P200 +2-3 seconds @ 1:00
         #2 at P200 +1-2 seconds @ 1:00
         #3 at P200 @:03 rest, go straight into
    4 x 25 Fastest Possible Average @ :05 rest
    400 Smooth Free Breathe Every 3 & 4 dolphin kicks off the wall

Descend the Steps and Then Pound the Kick

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Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA

This is a kick set that I have repeated as a benchmark over the course of a season in the past.

Major Kick Set split into 3 intervals based on kicking speed
3 x 100 kick
1@ 2:00/2:10/2:20
1@1:50/2:00/2:10
1@ 1:40/1:50/2:00
200 50 catchup/50 overkick with a snorkel then REGROUP
3 x 100 kick
1@ 1:55/2:05/2:15
1@ 1:45/1:55/2:05
1@ 1:35/1:45/1:55
200 50 catchup/50 overkick with a snorkel then REGROUP
3 x 100 kick
1@1:50/ 2:00/2:10
1@1:40/1:50/2:00
1@ 1:30/1:40/1:50
200 50 catchup/50 overkick with a snorkel  then REGROUP
8 x 100
Odd ALL OUT kick @2:30
Even easy swim @2:00
 
 

Backstroke or Breaststroke Squeeze Set

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Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA

9 x (100 swim back or breast + 50 ez) @ 2:30

Swimmer picks back or breast.  The goal is to descend the 100s 1-9 without ascending a single time.  Starting time on #1 must be within 12 seconds of best time.
Penalty if  you add time on a repeat? Skip the 50 ez and do 15 pushups.
Watch them go fast on those last couple repeats!

This set could really be done any stroke, but I particularly like it for back or breast.


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Parter Pulls + Race Pace

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Ryan Woodruff
Head Coach
Lynchburg YMCA

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