Weekly Swim Sets: Thursday, 5th November 2015

This week’s swim sets continue the off season theme of simplicity and technique. Wednesday’s session involved counting strokes, not all that popular at 6:30 in the morning, but counting strokes and concentrating on that count helps keep a swimmer’s mind on their stroke. For Thursday’s session I turned my attention to the initial catch with two classic drills – sculling and doggy paddle.

Wednesday, 4th November 2015 – Endurance Swim Session

Wednesday, 4th November 2015 - Endurance Swim Session

Wednesday, 4th November 2015 – Endurance Swim Session
Warm Up
300m Front crawl
2x 25m Front crawl – hard – on 10s rest
50m Front crawl – steady; count strokes – on 10s rest
3x 50m Front crawl – reducing stroke count – on 10s rest
100m Front crawl – steady
3x 50m Front crawl – maintain low stroke count – on 10s rest
800m
Main Set
4x 200m Front crawl – steady – on 30s rest
50m Front crawl – hard; count strokes – on 20s rest
1,800m
Main Set 2
4-8x 50m Front crawl – easy – on 20s rest
25m Front crawl – best effort – on 20s rest
2,100m – 2,400m
Cool Down
200m Choice – easy
2,300m – 2,600m

After an initial warm up I had the squad swim a relaxed 50 counting their strokes for the rep. With a baseline established I then asked them to try and reduce this number over a further three 50m reps. A low stroke count is not a target in and of itself, but working to reduce that count focusses attention on what’s happening in the water. Throughout the main set I had swimmers checking their count over hard 50m reps to ensure they didn’t lose control of their stroke. The aim wasn’t to be as low as possible, but to keep the stroke count stable as effort increased and ensure that each stroke counted.

Thursday, 5th November 2015 – Endurance Swim Session

Thursday, 5th November 2015 - Endurance Swim Session

Thursday, 5th November 2015 – Endurance Swim Session
Warm Up
400m Front crawl
2x 50m As 25m front scull, 25 front crawl on 10s rest
2x 50m As 25m doggy paddle, 25 front crawl on 10s rest
100m Front crawl
2x 50m As 25m front scull, 25 front crawl on 10s rest
2x 50m As 25m doggy paddle, 25 front crawl on 10s rest
100m Front crawl
1,000m
Main Set
3-4x 200m Front crawl – steady – on 30s rest
2x 50m As 25m doggy paddle, 25m front crawl on 15s rest
2x 50m Front crawl – building – on 15s rest
2,200m – 2,600m
Main Set 2
2x 50m Backstroke on 15s rest
2x 50m Backstroke kick on 15s rest
2x 50m Backstroke – catch up – on 15s rest
100m Backstroke on 20s rest
4x 50m Backstroke – easy – on 15s rest
50m Backstroke – building – on 15s rest
3,000m – 3,400m
Cool Down
200m Choice – easy
3,200m – 3,600m

Some classic catch drills to start the session and to break up the main set. Front sculling to help develop feel for the water and give a sense for the initial point of the stroke; then doggy paddle to follow this through to the catch itself. We finished the long session with more work on backstroke.

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