thought they were 35 second 50's. my bad...
in that case, yeah, all drills, all short sprints, all novelty skill work.
"Count Scrofula" <
[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "diablo" <
[email protected]> wrote in message
news[email protected]...
> > Mike, i thought that was a great piece, and offered Katie some sound
> advice.
> >
> > My only point would be that the training methods you described for her group, (aerobic
> > threshold, lactate production and lactate tolerance no less!), are way out of their league i
> > imagine.
> >
> > I would probably be doing a fairly lengthy warm up daily, (1000-1200
> yards)
> > which will cover your aerobic needs, The remainder of the time i would
> spend
> > on drills, short sprints such as builds and breaks and then ancilliary skills such as turns and
> > starts, with relays games and novelties mixed
in.
> > from what i gather of the general summer league programs, you have no
need
> > to be doing anything but this type of work.
>
>
>
> Even that sounds like too much, at least on the warmup end...if the bulk
of
> the team would be happy with 35 second 25 frees, a thousand will take
about
> an hour!
> >
> >
> >
> > "Mike Edey" <
[email protected]> wrote in message
> >
news[email protected]...
> > > On Sat, 14 Feb 2004 16:57:15 -0800, Katie wrote:
> > >
> > > > Hi everyone! This is my first post so please be kind. I recently
got
> a
> > > > job as head coach for a summer swim team and am very excited about
it.
> I
> > > > was an assistant for a different team last year but have never been
a
> > > > head coach before. I'm enthusiastic about this job and want to give
> it
> > > > my best effort; I've been swimming for twelve years and it's a sport that is very close to
> > > > my heart. I'm here to ask for some advice:
any
> > > > tips from coaches, swimmers or even parents of swimmers would be
most
> > > > appreciated. Thanks so much!
> > >
> > > I was in a similar position not too long ago. I'd had a lot of
> experience
> > > as an athlete, and some informal coaching, but I hadn't had anything
to
> do
> > > with summer swimming whatsoever. There was only a little culture shock
>
.
> > > At any rate I did have some good resources to work with, and a great
> club
> > > filled with people who, oh my, actually _liked_ swimming. That group
of
> > > people are the biggest reason I have anything to do with the sport -
it
> > > wasn't that long ago that my own experiences & baggage (not to mention
> the
> > > politics, the bickering and all the rest of the ****) had pretty much driven me from the pool
> > > entirely. That being said there are a few
points
> I
> > > found valuable - I hope they may be of use to yourself:
> > >
> > > -Keep a log book. Keep _everything_ in the log book. Workouts as
> planned,
> > > workouts as accomplished. Attendance. Meet results & splits. Notes for newsletters. Executive
> > > meeting notes. Meet entry deadlines &
reminders.
> > > Notes regarding behavior & disciplinary problems (best to get another person to initial those
> > > too, just in case). This book will be your
> bible,
> > > don't leave home without it. A water resistant cover is important.
> > >
> > > -Talk to your parents. Swim club parents, regardless of experience,
> _love_
> > > to talk about their kid. Talking about their kid is simply the best &
> most
> > > efficient way to win a loyal supporter. It doesn't take a big group of kids to find a
> > > substantial number of capable/industrious parents so
make
> > > sure they're working with you.
> > >
> > > -Technique, technique, technique. Here the summer club season (for
those
> > > making provincials) runs about 15 weeks. There's no way you're going
to
> > > get in enough fitness work in that time to better improvements from technical development or
> > > growth. Strength and fitness are important,
but
> > > should be secondary goals. Hammer home the important technical
points -
> > > streamlines, breathing patterns, starts & turns, clean pulls & relaxed recoveries, stroke
> > > length+rate.
> > >
> > > -Planning. be sure that your workouts cover most of the energy systems
> on
> > > a regular basis. Here our summer club swimmers race every weekend in
> june
> > > & july and the culture expects pb's pretty much every weekend. You
might
> > > then want to consider swimming some aerobic work every day, some
> threshold
> > > work a couple times a week, some lactate production a couple times a
> week
> > > and (maybe) some lactate tolerance once a week. Use that big swack of aerobic work to practice
> > > turns & skills/drills. You might need to introduce your kids to the concept of 'appropriate
> > > intensity' - most
> will
> > > prob be familiar with '50fr race pace' & 'jumping off the
bottom/warmup'
> > > and little else.
> > >
> > > -KISS. 95% of your kids, 95% of the time, need to hear the same things
> as
> > > the rest of the group. Over & over again. This means you'll end up repeating the same advice
> > > 90% of the time. Don't try to get to fancy,
or
> > > spend too much time trying to mold little Johnny, the 45sec
> 50freestyler,
> > > into an Olympic contender by tues. Just because you might know how
you'd
> > > like your kids strokes (or mental skills or race plans or fitness
goals
> > > or....) to change doesn't mean they'll have to skills & background to
> make
> > > those changes. Pick a few points you'd like to work on, establish
_one_
> > > phrase to identify each one, attempt _many_ descriptions (verbal,
> visual,
> > > kinesthetic) for each. Spend some time trying to 'close the feedback
> loop'
> > > - to associate the 'feel' of the stroke/skill with the visual identification. Video work is
> > > ideal for this, but not usually
practical.
> > > How creative can you be in your attempts to close the loop? Please
share
> > > exercises you find useful
> > >
> > > -Talk. Many coaches are more then happy to offer advice, you just have
> to
> > > ask. Well that's not entirely true - it helps _enormously_ if you have
a
> > > clear, succinct question to ask. Eric Raymond wrote a great paper "How
> to
> > > ask questions the smart way" (
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html) which, while
> > > originally intended to ease the pain of seeking advice from the
resident
> > > techy, offers great advice for obtaining useful information from those
> who
> > > might not feel any great obligation to share with you.
> > >
> > > -Enjoy successes. There are so many ways to be successful at the
pool -
> > > the only hard part is recognizing & appreciating them. As a swimmer
it's
> > > easy to get hung up on a race that was a little dissapointing, time
> wise,
> > > and neglect the great turns or adherence to race plan, or focus, or
> start,
> > > or reaction time, or streamlines, or break outs, or transitions, or
> kick,
> > > or breathing pattern, or body position, or stroke form, or approach,
or
> > > turns, or aggressiveness, or graciousness, or cheering, or team
> leadership
> > > or workout attendance, or attention to stretching, or warmups, or warmdowns, or good use of
> > > the pace clock, or attention in workout, or 'water bottle attendance', or ....
> > >
> > > As a coach the same applies - you're there to help aid the growth & development of a group of
> > > children, both as athletes & people. Should
> this
> > > same group of kids swim fast on weekend X so much the better, but
that's
> a
> > > side benefit. Just as there's many ways to be a better swimmer there's many ways to be a
> > > better coach. Don't neglect the countless ways you
can
> > > be a better role model/manager/director/counsellor. How many ways did
> you
> > > succeed today?
> > >
> > > --Mike
> >
>