Category Archives for 2 hours

Swimming – A Training Programme

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NOVA Centurion 1 HOUR SESSION (8pm 25 NOV 08)

T1/T2 NOVA 1 HOUR SESSION         (8pm 25 NOV 08)

Swim 4 x 50 FC     @ 1.00/1.15
as     25m                FIST        (Hands in fists drill)
25m         CUP        (Catch Up)

Swim 3 x 50m BC     @ 1.00/1.15         High REC

Kick    2 x 100m     @ 2.00/2.15
as 25 FC, 25 BC

Tumble on kick & tight streamlining & perfectly executed turns & transitions

550m

MAIN SET

6 x 100m    @ on 1.30  PB + 15  Hold SC Inc: last 25m
1 x 200m IM    @ 3.30
Slow FLY
Fast BC, BR & FC.

Last 25m FC to be same as last 25m on 100s

100m     Easy     BC

2nd Repeat 4 x 100m

3rd Repeat 2 x 100m

900m + 700m + 500m = 2100m

SWIM DOWN

2 x 50 FLY            @ 2.30
2 x 50 FLY Kick on back    @ 1.30
2 x 50 FC MAX

300m

TOTAL  550m + 2100m + 300m = 2950m

A slice of session plans – competitive – age groups

From jamie’s year.

Is it OK to change your mind over a session you had planned?

How I involve swimmers in the planning process? What’s the benefit of this?

Get them to complete a goal sheet or assessment sheet and from this consider personalising the plan, either adapting what they would do as part of a squad or think about a individual set and scheme of work. They buy into something if they feel responsible for it – this kind of intrinsic motivation is more powerful than extrinsic motivation.

When I change my mind.

I hadn’t appreciated that most of my swimmers would be taking part in a massive internal gala the following weekend and they naturally wished to practice starts and turns rather than drilling on specific strokes. I was more than happy to accommodate so after a warm up we worked on starts, turns, streamlining and transitions for all strokes from the deep end and shallow end.

Expecting a group of seven swimmers to turn up for a session that was earmarked for BK I found I had only one swimmer. Looking at his notes I knew this would be a great chance to work on his dive and BR so that is what we did.

Working with a group of young adolescent swimmers who were having problems with the rigid sessions being delivered by the former coach and knowing that fins would engage them we did a programme geared around dolphin kick and drills into FLY.

The aim is not always to get the planned result from the session, but to get a result or the best result from the session you end up taking. This might change because of the mix of swimmers or additional info: such as a event coming up or once in a while the need to shut close the pool for emergency repairs resulting in a need to do something else.

Content to push the training group hard whenever I took them to cover for someone else I was surprised to learn that half of them had just come from an hour long land based training session so were not only warmed up … but actually pretty tired out too! The session I had for them that included an 800m warm up then 1600m VO.

Swimmers have goal sheets that invited them to assess their strengths, weaknesses and goals.

They discuss this with me and this will then be reflected in the kind of sessions they do. They are asked to remind their coach of their individual ambitions/plans which may simply mean a swimmer ding more arms only work, or working on a combination of strokes or specific drills with a set that all can follow.

 

Nova Centurion Squad Session (Early season – October)

Nova Centurion Squad Session October 08 2 HRS

Just like you to an outsider the set on the white board is cryptic. But you use the same language.

Just like you there are clear periods within the programme of intensity or drilling, slowing right down and using snorkels and fins.

Bill operates with an A1 sized portable white board held together with duck tape which he props up somewhere poolside that is convenient for 4-6 lanes to see.

Self-regulation is key with a squad of adult athletes.

The set is given to them in three parts, sometimes four: Warm Up, Main Set (sometimes in 2 parts) and Swim Down.

Whilst Warm Ups are self-regulated, the coach will pick up on anyone who isn’t swimming as required – i.e. even pace when required to go for a low stroke count and a smooth swim. The main set is also self-regulated with Bill keeping an eye on everyone with two stop watches running on splits & stroke counts while he pays attention to ONE swimmer for the entire session.

This was a tolerance set, so not full on, as they are SEVEN weeks into this cycle.

Some will still not be anaerobically fit enough for something heavier.

The are given plenty of recovery time.

The trainee coaches … were advised that returning in TWO WEEKS time we would see that they will have adapted and the programme will be far, far more tough.

Observing a swimmer during the warm up achieving a stroke count between bursts of 21.8, or around 16 per 25m and impressed by his silent, smooth, controlled, fluid, easy, gentle, crafty & probing style I picked this lane to work with.

This lane was made up of three swimmers: Andy Mayor (200m Fly, Scottish International, Ex. Newcastle City), Sam Hynde (Paralympian) & Rachel George.

The parting note to his trainee coaches from Bill Furniss was ‘Application of Knowledge is crucial.’

WARM UP

500 FR

with 1 x 10m BURST each 100m

400 (4 x 25 IM Fins) Speed Rotate 25s

300 kick 25 Max 75 Easy

200 Fly – FR (25s) Acc 5 in FLY, May 5 out Turns FR

200 Loosen Choice

Having briefed the swimmers Bill Furniss then briefed his trainee coaches thus:

The things you will say in order to help your swimmers meet the objectives that have been set might be:

Try to reduce kick on 1st 50m

Try to increase kick on the 2nd 50m

Increase stroke rate on the last 25m/15m

Achieve your negative split

but

‘Don’t swim to destruction.’

i.e. swimmers have to control & trust their pace, turning the pace up or down as required so that they know exactly what they are doing and what they can achieve.

MAIN SET

5 x 100 @ 1:40 FPP FR

2 x 150 ICS REC 2 3 MINS

4 x 100 FPP No. 1

2 x 150 All FR

3 x 100

2 x 150

2 x 100

2 x 150

1 x 100

2 x 150

All 100s are NEG SPLIT with +ve stroke rate for last 50/25m required.

Swimmers were told how to swim it and are advised that they will be picked up if they don’t achieve the negative split. This was our job.

Is anyone interested in the Stroke Rates achieved by these THREE swimmers???

On the first set of 5 x 100 this is what we got:

Andy Mayor’s stroke count drifted from 36.2, to 34 to 40.

Whilst increasingly his stroke rate Coach felt he could do more with his kick in the last 25m/15m. Coach later felt that Andy was still settling into his new club but would need to ‘tune in.’

Rachel did as required with a stroke rate picking up from 35, to 37 to 43 over the 100m with the kick coming in for the last 15m. Used to Bill she has done this kind of set many times before.

Sam is Paralympic medalist. He wasn’t please with himself, or me, to be advised that his stroke rate went from 54 to 42 to 52 … i.e He swims at S6 and has next to no kick, I’d liken it to swimming with a pull-bouy and a single foot in a fin.

On the second set of 4 x 100 we got this: