CSSC this year took some short breaks for the holidays. This was capped off by 4 days off from Sunday - Wednesday for the Christmas Break. After the break I did a long aerobic practice that didn't have much intensity. Had some feel for the water with a long kick set and some sculling. Followed by tonight's workout where went back to work. The swimmers looked great even with the break (well most of them at least).
I think some people get scared with short breaks. At the age-group level though, a short break so they can focus on holidays, celebrations, and family are good. They're still young, so they keep much of what they have developed over a short break.
Our senior swimmers are different. They tapered for their winter meet, and they had their breaks and their easier practices, and now the break is the time to develop the foundation again (which they might have missed in the early fall due to absences; lack of focus coming off of a two week break; or a newly developed sense of dedication after their winter championships).
We plan short breaks into our seasons. This year the Christmas Break I had in mind for awhile, even though we didn't finalize it with the Head Coach until November. I knew that I had a new game plan this year (in previous post), and I knew how the days off were going to land so that I could get good results with the designed breaks.
Breaks are good for young people. Going too long can be not good, but breaks coordinated by coaches are typically planned out and are good. We are a year round sport, so the kids, parents, and coaches all need a break from time to time. Know that they will come, and don't be scared that they are going to be detrimental to the athlete if they are designed by the coaching staff.
Friday, December 28, 2012
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Backstroke Propulsion
The other night while working on backstroke I went to a drill I haven't used this season. It is a drill prograssion where one part of the drill is also described in Bryan Dedeaux blog as well, and one I have used throughout my time coaching.
The Drill Progression begins with the swimmer just kicking on their side. Concentrate on the lead arm. Be sure the lead arm is straight and submerged and at a very slight downward angle. It is a backstroke kick on the side, so the eyes remain up at the sky at all times. We do this for about a 100 with the left arm.
Then, we move to holding the position, but followed with an underwater pull which the hand remains below the body, and be sure they are "Setting Their Elbow" and then pulling the water. The remains below the body due to no rotation. The finish of the pull is followed by an underwater recovery back to the side kick position. We did this with the left arm for about a 2 x 100's, making corrections and reminders after the first 100.
The next step is to have the swimmer do the same motion, but this time begin a hip rotation about half way through the pull. Emphasize that most of the pull is done on the side kick position and then the finish is done with a rotation that allows the shoulder to rise on the finish of the pull. After a short glide the swimmer will then rotate back and perform an under water recovery. We would do this for 2 x 100's with the left arm.
I then would go through the whole process with the right arm. I would conclude the whole progression with some 100's of regular backstroke on a slow interval as the focus is on a powerful pull. I always listen to the swimmers on the wall as they chat amongst themselves, and the direct feedback they give me. This process led to many of them feeling like they could feel themselves pressing more water. They added comments that made me realize that they were improving their Distance Per Stroke. Even the complaint about their stroke count being off and having to do a flip turn too close to the wall, helped me conclude that they were improving DPS and feeling the water better on backstroke.
The Drill Progression begins with the swimmer just kicking on their side. Concentrate on the lead arm. Be sure the lead arm is straight and submerged and at a very slight downward angle. It is a backstroke kick on the side, so the eyes remain up at the sky at all times. We do this for about a 100 with the left arm.
Then, we move to holding the position, but followed with an underwater pull which the hand remains below the body, and be sure they are "Setting Their Elbow" and then pulling the water. The remains below the body due to no rotation. The finish of the pull is followed by an underwater recovery back to the side kick position. We did this with the left arm for about a 2 x 100's, making corrections and reminders after the first 100.
The next step is to have the swimmer do the same motion, but this time begin a hip rotation about half way through the pull. Emphasize that most of the pull is done on the side kick position and then the finish is done with a rotation that allows the shoulder to rise on the finish of the pull. After a short glide the swimmer will then rotate back and perform an under water recovery. We would do this for 2 x 100's with the left arm.
I then would go through the whole process with the right arm. I would conclude the whole progression with some 100's of regular backstroke on a slow interval as the focus is on a powerful pull. I always listen to the swimmers on the wall as they chat amongst themselves, and the direct feedback they give me. This process led to many of them feeling like they could feel themselves pressing more water. They added comments that made me realize that they were improving their Distance Per Stroke. Even the complaint about their stroke count being off and having to do a flip turn too close to the wall, helped me conclude that they were improving DPS and feeling the water better on backstroke.
Saturday, December 22, 2012
New game plan this season
So, normally I treat the short course season as a single long training season. I find myself lost in this planning as I had a championship meet in the middle of a training cycle. I look at my last three seasons and I feel like I have done well with these seasons, but come a little short on the results between WAG and Coastal Champs.
Now I am trying a new plan of attack for my training cycle. I made the fall season into a 16 week training cycle, and now I have an 11 week winter training cycle that will end with the Coastal Champs meet. In this approach I have scheduled a holiday break and what I plan to do with that schedule with days off. I think the shorter cycle allowed me to focus on the difficulty which is the winter season.
The cycle again begins with stroke work and aerobic development. Then there is a perfect fit to do the main work between meets, so that the swimmers will be prepared to swim well at our last meet before coastal champs, and then fine tune for the coastal champs meet. The coastal champs meet also falls in perfectly for the HS swimmers to begin HS meets and become unattached for the spring, and turn their focus to the HS season.
Always looking for a better way to prepare and develop my group, and I am excited about this new approach. I feel like I am more in the game, and not wondering if I should be doing something else or if my plan back in August still seems to be going well.
Now I am trying a new plan of attack for my training cycle. I made the fall season into a 16 week training cycle, and now I have an 11 week winter training cycle that will end with the Coastal Champs meet. In this approach I have scheduled a holiday break and what I plan to do with that schedule with days off. I think the shorter cycle allowed me to focus on the difficulty which is the winter season.
The cycle again begins with stroke work and aerobic development. Then there is a perfect fit to do the main work between meets, so that the swimmers will be prepared to swim well at our last meet before coastal champs, and then fine tune for the coastal champs meet. The coastal champs meet also falls in perfectly for the HS swimmers to begin HS meets and become unattached for the spring, and turn their focus to the HS season.
Always looking for a better way to prepare and develop my group, and I am excited about this new approach. I feel like I am more in the game, and not wondering if I should be doing something else or if my plan back in August still seems to be going well.
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Propulsion / Drag
How do we create speed in our swimmers? It is the combination of Propulsion (positive force) and Drag (Negative Force). What is really going to propel you forward though? It is Propulsion. It is what a swimmer does under the water that creates propulsion. Drag is a negative aspect. It is improving the part of the stroke that reducing the amount of water that is going to slow you down. If you don't know how to push water well, there isn't as much water to slow you down, so decreasing drag isn't going to make you any faster.
So developing a swimmer, where do we begin? Well, through swim lessons, hopefully they picked up the basic ideas of pushing water, or creating propulsion. I like to begin with developing strokes reducing the amount of drag. Here you will create good muscle memory of what most people recognize as stroke technique. A swimmer doesn't get really fast by doing this, but swimming can become much easier for the swimmer (a big goal of all swimmers; make it easy). During this time, you'll always talk about catching and pushing water back, but the emphasis remains reduing drag. This phase though, you emphasize the main aspect of propulsion all the time; the Kick.
As the swimmer has made swimming easier, then you will begin to develop better propulsion in the arm pull (for breaststroke: the scull). Here is where you will see the swimmer get faster. As they get faster, now the move through more water, and drag becomes important to take more effeciency in the stroke. So, cleaning up technique is always good to do, even when you get to the point where creating propulsion becomes the emphasis.
Basically, what goes on under the water is more about creating the speed than what goes on above the water. I learned this early on, as I began coaching only fixing the stroke technique, and less on the propulsion aspect. My talented swimmers still got fast, and swimming became easier for all of my swimmers, but to get those hard workers fast I had trouble. I figured this out a couple years into coaching and it changed the level of my swimmers.
So developing a swimmer, where do we begin? Well, through swim lessons, hopefully they picked up the basic ideas of pushing water, or creating propulsion. I like to begin with developing strokes reducing the amount of drag. Here you will create good muscle memory of what most people recognize as stroke technique. A swimmer doesn't get really fast by doing this, but swimming can become much easier for the swimmer (a big goal of all swimmers; make it easy). During this time, you'll always talk about catching and pushing water back, but the emphasis remains reduing drag. This phase though, you emphasize the main aspect of propulsion all the time; the Kick.
As the swimmer has made swimming easier, then you will begin to develop better propulsion in the arm pull (for breaststroke: the scull). Here is where you will see the swimmer get faster. As they get faster, now the move through more water, and drag becomes important to take more effeciency in the stroke. So, cleaning up technique is always good to do, even when you get to the point where creating propulsion becomes the emphasis.
Basically, what goes on under the water is more about creating the speed than what goes on above the water. I learned this early on, as I began coaching only fixing the stroke technique, and less on the propulsion aspect. My talented swimmers still got fast, and swimming became easier for all of my swimmers, but to get those hard workers fast I had trouble. I figured this out a couple years into coaching and it changed the level of my swimmers.
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Recognizing the accomplishments
With my group, I hype up our Winter Age-Group Championships. We attend the meet in Vegas, which is a destiny location, and it can get kids excited by just being able to say, "You're so close to be able to make it to Vegas."
As a coach that emphasizes a meet, I need to recognize that there some in the group that don't make the meet, or just barely miss it. It is disappointing, but it becomes a point where the swimmer can show their resolve. How do they react to the disappointment during the next season. This defines a swimmer, and the swimmer who can bounce back from disappointment can be the ones who learn perserverence the best (It will be needed later on in their swimming career).
At the same time though, as a coach it is good to demonstrate what they have accomplsihed during the season. Sometimes a swimmer only looks at the missed goal rather than what they accomplished. This recognition of accomplishment can be used to help them get through a disappointment.
An accomplishment can be time improvement from one season to the next. It can be the courage do be able to do a new more challenging event that they had never done before. It can be an improvement of their worst stroke or skills that they knew were part of their practice goals for that season.
I set meets as goals to be able to provide the carrot. It works great, as many times there are those few kids who make the meet or barely miss the meet, which at the beginning of the season, it didn't look like they had a chance.
It is so important though to realize the accomplishments and be prepared to work even harder the next season.
As a coach that emphasizes a meet, I need to recognize that there some in the group that don't make the meet, or just barely miss it. It is disappointing, but it becomes a point where the swimmer can show their resolve. How do they react to the disappointment during the next season. This defines a swimmer, and the swimmer who can bounce back from disappointment can be the ones who learn perserverence the best (It will be needed later on in their swimming career).
At the same time though, as a coach it is good to demonstrate what they have accomplsihed during the season. Sometimes a swimmer only looks at the missed goal rather than what they accomplished. This recognition of accomplishment can be used to help them get through a disappointment.
An accomplishment can be time improvement from one season to the next. It can be the courage do be able to do a new more challenging event that they had never done before. It can be an improvement of their worst stroke or skills that they knew were part of their practice goals for that season.
I set meets as goals to be able to provide the carrot. It works great, as many times there are those few kids who make the meet or barely miss the meet, which at the beginning of the season, it didn't look like they had a chance.
It is so important though to realize the accomplishments and be prepared to work even harder the next season.
Sunday, December 2, 2012
What I do at meets.
So, all over the country swim meets are ran differently. I have worked in Central and Southern California. This may not apply to everyone.
What I try to get my swimmers to do at meet in regards to checking in with the coach. Before the race I ask for my swimmers to come tell me their heat and lane. Coaches have a psych sheet which only has the place which they are seeded in the event, and not the actual heat and lanes.
When I first started and I didn't have a lot of swimmers at meets, this wasn't that important. I could find my athletes, or check it myself, as I had plenty of breaks throughout the meet. At these meets, sometimes I didn't seat in the coaches area, as I really didn't need to always be looking at the pool. Once I figured out that I could hear how and what coaches said to their swimmers; I always sat in the coaches area to learn.
Now that I have a lot of swimmers at meets, the heat and lane helps me not only be sure I watch a particular heat, but allows me to plan: when to talk to swimmers; when to take a bathroom break; when to get grab something to eat or drink; or just when to sit back and take a deep breathe. With a lot of swimmers in various age-groups you may have a period of time that you are non-stop for a long time.
Before a race, I also try to give some reminders. Many times swimmers want a lot of explanation, but sometimes it is very simple. Many times the reminders are the same as every meet because they are important reminders for a particular race. My group is also learning and trying new events a lot, and providing strategies help them realize what we want to see. As they get more experience, creating a strategy for them becomes less, as they have learned the strategy of a race.
After a race, I try to tell them to cool down (warm down) first, but many times this goes in one ear and out the other. They are trained though to come talk after the race. I provide feedback. I try to include some positive feedback and some criticism. Sometimes, I am so fed up with saying the same thing over and over again, I have done more criticism than positive. When a swimmer is having a rough meet (a lot of swims with added times) I'll drift to more positive feedback, and just make quick comments about the errors. Sometimes if I can tell that they are being to hard on themselves, we'll have the talk about a race being in the past, and not to allow that race affect the next.
Talking to swimmers is hard at times, as a coach can be non-stop busy, but trying to keep a swimmer around until their is a quick break to have a talk with them is needed at times. We have to try to read our swimmers, and figure out what they need to be told. Coaching young kids and the more advanced age-grouper provides plenty of really good meets, but there are also some that are going to be dissapointing. Swimmers need to learn how to navigate through the hard times, and they aren't going to figure it out on their own. Coaches guide them the best they can to learn how to deal with dissapointment. It is one of the crucial lessons to learn to be successful in swimming, and actually, a great lesson for whatever they pursue.
I love swim meets. I am always excited to see what my swimmers are going to do. I hate bad meets, but I know they are going to happen. Great meets are amazing to watch your swimmers take lessons they have learned and apply it, and have success from them. The procedure I do is daunting to do and takes a lot out of me, but it has worked out well for my athletes.
What I try to get my swimmers to do at meet in regards to checking in with the coach. Before the race I ask for my swimmers to come tell me their heat and lane. Coaches have a psych sheet which only has the place which they are seeded in the event, and not the actual heat and lanes.
When I first started and I didn't have a lot of swimmers at meets, this wasn't that important. I could find my athletes, or check it myself, as I had plenty of breaks throughout the meet. At these meets, sometimes I didn't seat in the coaches area, as I really didn't need to always be looking at the pool. Once I figured out that I could hear how and what coaches said to their swimmers; I always sat in the coaches area to learn.
Now that I have a lot of swimmers at meets, the heat and lane helps me not only be sure I watch a particular heat, but allows me to plan: when to talk to swimmers; when to take a bathroom break; when to get grab something to eat or drink; or just when to sit back and take a deep breathe. With a lot of swimmers in various age-groups you may have a period of time that you are non-stop for a long time.
Before a race, I also try to give some reminders. Many times swimmers want a lot of explanation, but sometimes it is very simple. Many times the reminders are the same as every meet because they are important reminders for a particular race. My group is also learning and trying new events a lot, and providing strategies help them realize what we want to see. As they get more experience, creating a strategy for them becomes less, as they have learned the strategy of a race.
After a race, I try to tell them to cool down (warm down) first, but many times this goes in one ear and out the other. They are trained though to come talk after the race. I provide feedback. I try to include some positive feedback and some criticism. Sometimes, I am so fed up with saying the same thing over and over again, I have done more criticism than positive. When a swimmer is having a rough meet (a lot of swims with added times) I'll drift to more positive feedback, and just make quick comments about the errors. Sometimes if I can tell that they are being to hard on themselves, we'll have the talk about a race being in the past, and not to allow that race affect the next.
Talking to swimmers is hard at times, as a coach can be non-stop busy, but trying to keep a swimmer around until their is a quick break to have a talk with them is needed at times. We have to try to read our swimmers, and figure out what they need to be told. Coaching young kids and the more advanced age-grouper provides plenty of really good meets, but there are also some that are going to be dissapointing. Swimmers need to learn how to navigate through the hard times, and they aren't going to figure it out on their own. Coaches guide them the best they can to learn how to deal with dissapointment. It is one of the crucial lessons to learn to be successful in swimming, and actually, a great lesson for whatever they pursue.
I love swim meets. I am always excited to see what my swimmers are going to do. I hate bad meets, but I know they are going to happen. Great meets are amazing to watch your swimmers take lessons they have learned and apply it, and have success from them. The procedure I do is daunting to do and takes a lot out of me, but it has worked out well for my athletes.
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