An 11 year old after half an hour of struggling to follow through my instructions and drills to fix her breaststroke kick asked me ‘why aren’t my legs friends?’
An 11 year old after half an hour of struggling to follow through my instructions and drills to fix her breaststroke kick asked me ‘why aren’t my legs friends?’
Phase | Activity | TRT/Rest | Dist: | Dur: | Total |
W/U | 2 x 200m as:
1 x 200m FC as 1 x 50m Kick, 1 x 150m Swim (rest after 200m) |
15” after each 200m | 400 | 12 | 12 |
MAIN | 4 x 50m @ FC 80% Effort | 1:45 | 200
/600 |
7 | 19 |
4 x 50m @ BC 80% Effort | 2:00 | 200
/800 |
8 | 27 | |
2 x 100m as:
1 x 100m FC ‘Zip it Up’ Drill 1 x 100m BC ‘Slomo’ Drill |
3:00 | 200
/1000 |
6 | 33 | |
4 x 50m @ BR 80% Effort | 2:15 | 200
/1200 |
9 | 42 | |
2 x 100m as:
1 x 100m BR ‘3 kicks, 1 Pull’ 3K1P 1 x 100m FC ‘Catch Up’ Drill |
3:00 | 200
/1400 |
6 | 48 | |
S/D | 200m + (‘til end) CH Easy, long, smooth, silent swimming | 200
/1600 |
6 | 54+ |
Based on a diluted version of the B Fitness Session (itself a diluted version of the A1 Competitive session).
5 x 50m FC swam in o:56 so 1:45 Turn Around Time about right.
4 50m BC on 1:17 so 2:00 about right too
6 minutes was gained for resting during the session but there was exactly this margin left when they got to the S/D.
Phase | Activity | TRT/Rest | Dist: | Dur: | Total |
W/U | 2 x 200m as:
1 x 200m FC as 1 x 50m Kick, 1 x 150m Swim (rest after 200m) |
15” after each 200m | 400 | 8 | 8 |
MAIN | 4 x 75m @ FC 80% Effort | 1:30 | 300
/700 |
6 | 14 |
4 x 75m @ BC 80% Effort | 1:45 | 300
/1000 |
7 | 21 | |
2 x 100m as:
1 x 100m FC ‘Zip it Up’ Drill 1 x 100m BC ‘Slomo’ Drill |
2:15 | 200
/1200 |
5 | 26 | |
4 x 75m @ BR 80% Effort | 2:00 | 300
/1500 |
8 | 34 | |
2 x 100m as:
1 x 100m BR ‘3 kicks, 1 Pull’ 3K1P 1 x 100m FC ‘Catch Up’ Drill |
2:30 | 200
/1700 |
5 | 39 | |
8 x 25 CH Sprint | 1:00 | 200
/1900 |
8 | 47 | |
S/D | 200m + (‘til end) CH Easy, long, smooth, silent swimming | 4:00 | 200
/2100 |
8 | 55+ |
This is a diluted version of the A1 plan for the same evening session. Distance covered is reduced to 2100m from 2700m. The Warm Up and Swim Down are reduced from 600m to 400m and 300m to 200m respectively.
Potentially increase the length of S/D given this age group and the need and benefits of a longer swim down.
TRT for the 4 x 75ms was increase by 15 seconds for each stroke.
Splits only available for the FC 1:15 so unsure how or whether to adjust the rest/
They were 3 minutes slower out of the warm up and gained more time on the BR 4 x 75m
By the last 15 minutes with the 8 x 25m CH sprints they were 6 minutes off schedule.
These were swum in 0:23 for FC.
However, there was enough margin to do a swim down in the 7 minutes remaining.
Phase | Activity | TRT/Rest | Dist: | Dur: | Total |
W/U | 2 x 200m as:
1 x 200m FC as 1 x 50m Kick, 1 x 150m Swim (rest after 200m) |
15” after each 200m | 400 | 10 | 10 |
MAIN | 4 x 50m @ FC 80% Effort | 1:30 | 200
/600 |
6 | 16 |
4 x 50m @ BC 80% Effort | 1:45 | 200
/800 |
7 | 23 | |
2 x 100m as:
1 x 100m FC ‘Zip it Up’ Drill 1 x 100m BC ‘Slomo’ Drill |
2:30 | 200
/1000 |
5 | 28 | |
4 x 50m @ BR 80% Effort | 2:00 | 200
/1200 |
8 | 36 | |
2 x 100m as:
1 x 100m BR ‘3 kicks, 1 Pull’ 3K1P 1 x 100m FC ‘Catch Up’ Drill |
2:30 | 200
/1400 |
5 | 41 | |
8 x 25 CH Fast | 1:00 | 200
/1600 |
8 | 47 | |
S/D | 200m + (‘til end) CH Easy, long, smooth, silent swimming | 4:00 | 200
/1800 |
8 | 55+ |
Based on a diluted version of the A1 Competitive Session Plan
This session went to plan, and even accommodated the two or more breaks to rest and chat that they like to take half way through. By the time of the 2 x 100ms we were 5 minutes off the schedule, but had exactly this level of margin in the S/D.
I could build in a 2 mins and 3 mins rest – but they will pick the moment to take this not me!
From this session plan for A1 Competitive three other sessions plans are worked up to cover a six lane Pool: A2 (Competitive), B Fitness and C Fitness. These are printed off in 24pt for the poolside, excluding Distance, Duration and Total.
Phase | Activity | TRT/Rest | Dist: | Dur: | Total |
W/U | 3 x 200m as:
1 x 200m FC as 1 x 50m Kick, 1 x 150m Swim (rest after 200m) |
15” after each 200m | 600 | 12 | 12 |
MAIN | 4 x 75 @ FC 80% Effort | 1:15 | 300
/900 |
5 | 17 |
REST | 1 | 18 | |||
4 x 75m @ BC 80% Effort | 1:30 | 300
/1200 |
6 | 24 | |
2 x 100m as:
1 x 100m FC ‘Zip it Up’ Drill 1 x 100m BC ‘Slomo’ Drill |
2:15 | 200
/1400 |
5 | 29 | |
4 x 75m @ BR 80% Effort | 1:45 | 300
/1700 |
7 | 36 | |
REST | 1 | 37 | |||
4 x 75m @ FLY ‘Single Arm Drill’ 70% Effort | 1:45 | 300
/2000 |
7 | 44 | |
2 x 100m as:
1 x 100m BR ‘3 kicks, 1 Pull’ 3K1P 1 x 100m FC ‘Catch Up’ Drill |
2:30 | 200
/2200 |
5 | 49 | |
8 x 25 CH Sprint | 0:30 | 200
/2400 |
4 | 53 | |
S/D | 300m + (‘til end) CH Easy, long, smooth, silent swimming | 4:00 | 300
/2700 |
6 | 59+ |
For the A1 Competitive swimmers the splits were:
4 x 75m FC 1:07/1:08 giving them 7/8 seconds rest. Increase the TRT next time to 1:20 ?
4 x 75m BC 1:12/1:10 giving them 18/20 second rest. More than enough. So reduce?
4 x 75m BR 1:19/1:22 giving them 23/26 seconds rest. Reduce this or about enough?
4 x 75m Fly ‘Single Arm’ 1:22 giving them 23 seconds rest.
In both cases the 2 x 200m was rolled into a 400m without a rest. Necessary as they were getting behind on this session after 25 mins.
For a 2600m swim this came in at exactly 60 mins.
They did a 200m, not a 300m Swim Down.
Masters Thurs 21 DEC 2017 A (COMPETITIVE) COACH COPY
Phase | Activity | Target | TRT/Rest | Dist: | Dur: | Total |
W/U | 3 x 150m as:
FC 1 x 50m Swim, 1 x 50m Pull, 1 x 50m Kick, BC 1 x 50m Swim, 1 x 50m Pull, 1 x 50m Kick, BR 1 x 50m Swim, 1 x 50m 3 Kicks on Arm Pull, 1 x 50m Kick, |
15” Rest after each 150m | 450 | 10 | 10 | |
MAIN | Race Pace Set 1
6 x 75m FC @ 200m FC pace Try to develop your underwater kick throughout the set. |
1:03 | 01:15 | 450/900 | 9 | 19 |
Recovery 1
200m FC 25m Kick on Side, 75m Breathe every 5 |
05:00 | 200/1100 | 4 | 23 | ||
Race Pace Set 2
6 x 75m BC @ 200m pace |
1:10 | 01:30 | 450/1550 | 10 | 33 | |
Recovery 2
200m FC 25m Kick on Side, 75m Breathe every 5 |
05:00 | 200/1750 | 4 | 37 | ||
Race Pace Set 3
6 x 75m BR @ 200m pace |
1:18 | 1:45 | 450/2200 | 12 | 49 | |
Recovery 3
200m FC 25m Kick on Side, 75m Breathe every 5 |
05:00 | 200/2400 | 4 | 53 | ||
4 x 25m IM Order Sprints: 1 x 25m of each: Fly, BC, BR, FC | 0:45 | 100/2500 | 4 | 56 | ||
S/D | 200m CH Easy, Long, Smooth swimming | 02:30 | 200/2700 | 4 | 60+ | |
TOTAL | 2500m |
Not helped by having one swimmer in the lane being joined by three others after she had completed the warm up. We began to make up time but cutting back the rest of the Race Pace Set in turn for 75m FC to 01:15 from 01:30, for 75m BC to 01:30 from 01:45 and for BR to 01:45 from 02:00.
I have found that there are Masters who want to add rest, and Masters who want to cut back on rest. I do rather think that they ought to go with the sessions prepared for them. I would worry that they not working hard enough on these Race Pace Sets if they can get away with less rest.
The programme also lost Recovery 3 so that could get it all done in an hour.
I have
Phase | Activity | TRT/Rest | Dist: | Dur: | Total |
W/U | 3 x 150m as:
FC 1 x 50m Swim, 1 x 50m Pull, 1 x 50m Kick BC 1 x 50m Swim, 1 x 50m Pull, 1 x 50m Kick |
30” Rest after each 150m | 300 | 10 | 10 |
MAIN | 6 x 50m FC @ Strong, Firm, Steady Pace 75% | 01:30 | 300/600 | 9 | 19 |
100m BC as 1 x 50m Hesitation Drill, 1 x 50m Easy Swim | 03:00 | 100/700 | 3 | 22 | |
6 x 50m BC @ Strong, Firm, Steady Pace 75% | 01:45 | 300/1000 | 11 | 33 | |
100 BR 1 x 50m Extended Glide Drill, 1 x 50m Easy Swim | 03:00 | 100/1100 | 3 | 36 | |
6 x 50m BR @ Strong, Firm, Steady Pace 75% | 2:00 | 300/1400 | 12 | 48 | |
100 FC 1 x 50m Zip It Up 50 Drill, 1 x 50m East Swim | 03:00 | 100/1500 | 3 | 51 | |
4 x 25m CH Sprints
Hold technique. Steady, Firm and Fast |
1:00 | 100/1600 | 4 | 55 | |
S/D | 200m Easy Swim | 05:00 | 200/1800 | 5 | 60 |
TOTAL | 1800m |
Somehow a generous 10 minutes for the Warm Up drifted to 17 minutes. They were happy to trim 15” of each of the above turn-around time. So FC 50m to 01:15 from 01:30, BC 50m to 01:30 from 01:45 and BR 50m (reduced to x4 repetitions) to 01:45 from 02:00.
Phase | Activity | TRT/Rest | Dist: | Dur: | Total |
W/U | 3 x 150m as:
FC 1 x 50m Swim, 1 x 50m Pull, 1 x 50m Kick BC 1 x 50m Swim, 1 x 50m Pull, 1 x 50m Kick |
30” Rest after each 150m | 300 | 11 | 11 |
MAIN | 3 x 50m FC @ Strong, Firm, Steady Pace | 01:45 | 250/550 | 9 | 20 |
BC 1 x 50m Hesitation Drill, 1 x 50m Easy Swim | 03:00 | 100/650 | 3 | 23 | |
3 x 50m BC @ Strong, Firm, Steady Pace | 02:00 | 250/900 | 10 | 33 | |
BR 1 x 50m Extended Glide Drill, 1 x 50m Easy Swim | 04:00 | 100/1000 | 4 | 37 | |
3 x 50m BR @ Strong, Firm, Steady Pace | 2:15 | 250/1250 | 12 | 49 | |
FC 1 x 50m Zip It Up 50 Drill, 1 x 50m East Swim | 03:00 | 100/1350 | 3 | 52 | |
2 x 25m CH Sprints
Hold technique. Steady, Firm and Fast |
1:00 | 100/1450 | 2 | 54 | |
S/D | 200m Easy Swim | 05:00 | 200/1650 | 5 | 59 |
1650m |
This is the programme with adjustments made to suite the reality in the pool. Not a competitive group, but happy to be set some targets.
Phase | Activity | Effort | TRT/Rest | Dist: | RunT | Dur: | Total |
W/U | 1 x 100m FC | 50% | 2:30 | 100 | 100 | 2:30 | 2:30 |
1 x 100m FC as 1 x 50m FC kick, 1 x 50m FC swim
1 x 100m BC as 1 x 50m BC kick, 1 x 50m BC swim |
60% | 2:45
2:45 |
200 | 300 | 5:30 | 8 | |
MAIN | 2 x 150m FC | 70% | 3:30 | 300 | 600 | 7 | 15 |
2 x 100m FC | 80% | 2:30 | 200 | 800 | 5 | 20 | |
4 x 50m FC | 90% | 1:15 | 200 | 900 | 5 | 25 | |
4 x 25m FC | 100% | 45 | 100 | 1000 | 3 | 28 | |
1 x 200m CH Easy | 50% | 5:00 | 200 | 1200 | 5 | 33 | |
2 x 150m CH not FC | 70% | 3:45 | 300 | 1500 | 8 | 41 | |
2 x 100m CH not FC | 80% | 2:45 | 200 | 1700 | 5:30 | 47 | |
4 x 50m CH not FC | 90% | 1:15 | 200 | 1900 | 5 | 50 | |
4 x 25m CH not FC | 100% | 45 | 100 | 2000 | 3 | 53 | |
S/D | 1 x 200m CH Easy | 50% | 4:00 | 200m | 2200m | 6 | 59+ |
FC and CH TRT given the same. Swimmers increased these, as I have here. This would make the swim impossible to complete in 60 minutes. They stayed in the water for 65 mins. Having given them 8 minutes to complete an easy warm up this took 12 minutes as late swimmers arrived. The swim was exactly 4 minutes late all the way through.
The programme I’ll be following for the next three months. A simple check sheet for the groups I teach each week. I see between 60 and 80 kids a week, most of these in our teaching groups. Typically age 9-12, a few a little younger. We have groups 1 to 8. Grous 1-3 can swim … they can do a 25m length. These are our beginner groups. Typically I take from Grade 4 upwards, including some who have gone through to our ‘training groups’ – these are club members who want to keep swimming, but haven’t made the grade to join a competitive squad.
Teaching lessons are 30 minutes for groups 1-3, 45 minutes for groups 4-8 and an hour for training groups.
April 13th-July 20th 2015
Date wc |
Stroke/Activity |
Contrasting Activity |
Notes |
Mon 13th April |
Frontcrawl | FC Turns | |
Mon 20th April | Backcrawl | BC Turns | Stroke Count to flags.
All B/C finishes remain on back |
Mon 27th April |
Breaststroke | BR Transition
Start/Turn |
|
Mon 4th May | Starts & Turns
(Prepare for Dev galas) |
Comp Start sheets | |
Mon 11th May |
Butterfly | Diving | Dev gala 1
Tues 12th Grades 1-4 Sat 16th Grades 5-8 |
Mon 18th May |
Breast-stroke | BRS Transition | |
Mon 25th May | Butterfly | Fly Turns | |
Mon 1st June |
Backstroke | B/C Turns | |
Mon 8th June | Frontcrawl | Starts | |
Mon 15th June |
Individual Medley | IM turns/finishes | |
Mon 22nd June |
Assessments | Intro/use of pace clock | |
Mon 29th June | Starts & Turns | Prep for Dev gala | |
Mon 6th July | Breast-stroke | BRS Transition | Dev gala 2
Tues 7th Grades 1-4 Sat 11th Grades 5-8 |
Mon 13th July | Revision/Teachers choice | ||
Mon 20th July | Relays |