New masters coach that would like to get some good Ideas to spice up my practices

Exploding swims, eg: 300 2x150 3x100 4x75 6x50 12x25 Mix up the intervals, easy, then fast. On increase as you go along, making each swim shorter and faster with more rest. ---------------------------------- The black hole, eg: Continuously: 4x200 on 3:20 4x100 on 1:30 4x50 on 40 4x25 on 18 ----------------------------------- 20x25 from a dive on 45 make sure interval is plenty of rest; this is harder than it sounds. Climb out on one side, dive on the other if circle swimming. ----------------------------------- 4x250 "IMs", do every stroke but allocate 1, 2, 3, and 4 lengths by choice of the athlete. Butterflier IMs might be 100 fly, 50 back, 25 ***, 75 free Breastroker IMs might be 50 fly, 25 back, 100 ***, 75 free The fastest IM might be 50 fly, 75 back, 25 ***, 100 free Swim fast, Greg

this was my coach's favorite set, but we swimmers hated it cause it was tiring, but I like it now cause it's good for pulling energy out of nowhere. It's called a Fartlec (I hope I spelled that right). Because we were immature high school students, we made fun of the name...but it's swedish (?) for speed, I think. Anyhow, it's a 400 yard continuous swim. The first hundred is 25 sprint, 75 easy swimming, the second hundred is the first 50 sprint, 50 easy. The third hundred is 75 sprint, 25 easy, and the last hundred is full out sprint... eh, so it's a little bit corny, but it's good for stamina and stuff like that. Hypoxic ones are good too. when swimming a normal set, you control your breathing...I think this set is quite common, but being only from one club, I wouldn't know. The hypoxic sets are just plain old swimming freestyle sets, but you breath every 4 stokes and then 6 strokes and then 8 strokes. So when you're swimming, you're only allowed to breath you've done four strokes, after that breath, you can take another one after 6 strokes, and then after that one, you can take a breath after your did 8 strokes, and then your go back down to 4 strokes. If you breath bilaterally, I think the pattern is 3, 5, 7 instead of the 4, 6, 8. You have to keep the pattern after the turn too. So, let's say you're doing a fifty: swim, taking a breath after 4 strokes, and then 6 strokes. But then you're almost to the wall, so you take let's say 3 strokes BUT DON'T BREATHE...do the flip and finish the last 5 strokes after the turn because you're only allowed to breath after 8 strokes for this breath (3+5=8), and then start back at 4 strokes and so on. Um, I know there's more interesting ones, but I can't remember, I'll post it if I do.

Ladders~Everyone I swim with LOVES ladders~~~~~~Do not...do to, do not, do to, not, to, not, to...Forgive them, they are always doing that....Do not, do to, not, to... Anyway, ladders help bust up the grind and they make it interestng. ~~~~~~~~~~~~DO so.....plllllllllllhhhhhhhhhhh Kindest regards, Tom

Ashlynn, Variety, Variety, Variety. Run multiple short sets instead of long sets full of garbage yardage. Swimming long sets gets boring as we mindlessly count laps. I prefer to swim multiple short sets of about 600-800 yards. If we happen to swim a set that I don't care for or a set that is particularly difficult, I know I just have to "gut it out" and the next set will be more fun. Vary your approach from practice to practice. We have "IM" days, Fin days, Stroke days, speed days, etc. This helps satisfy everyone's goals. Again - if I'm having a bad day or we are swimming sets that I don't like, I know the next practice will be different. Throw in a fun set or a unique set every now and then. We have done relay races with a polo ball and handicap races. Our coach gave once us a 50 sprint set with a long interval but we had to jump out of the pool and complete 10 crunches. Set long term goals. We have focus meets and prep for Y-Nationals. Swimming is more fun with a goal in mind. Our Master's coach "interviews" each new swimmer to determine their goals. We have swimmers who want to achieve a wide variety of goals. Some plan to compete in triathalons. Some are swimming purely for fitness. Some simply want to become better swimmers. Others like me, enjoy competing in meets and want to swim faster. Tailor your workouts to help individuals meet their goals and everyone benefits. Challenge your swimmers and recognize their achievements. Let the other swimmer's know when somebody achieves a personal best. Let swimmer know when their stroke count is down or their streamline is improving. Everyone enjoys a pat on the back. Good luck, Michael

Have them do varying distances of backstroke with a few IMs worked in. Freestyle is boring.

The coach of our smallish team (usually about 9 or 10 swimmers, three one-hour practices a week) has helped a few of us make it into the USMS Top 10. His practices have taken me from utterly mediocre to reasonably good at swimming--at age 50, I am doing the same or better times than I did in college, thanks to Bill White. If you want some ideas, you can check out his practices, which he posts on the day of the workout at: www.geocities.com/.../ I used to write workouts myself, and I came to conclude that every coach has a kind of idiosyncratic style--almost like workout fingerprints--which are unique to that coach. As much variety as you try to put into it, you will inevitably start repeating yourself. That's why I applaud your idea of looking for good ideas from other coaches. Check out, as well, the workouts on this forum in the Workouts section. Good luck. Oh--I should add: Don't be afraid to invent your own workouts too! Even if you are a rookie, trust your instincts! Listen to your swimmers a little, but challenge them too. You will come up with good tailored practices for your group of swimmers--then use some ideas for others now and then to add some spice and variety. But have faith in your own ideas first and foremost! And praise be to Bill White, the guru of Sewickley Swimming!

Actually, Jim T you were a little better swimmer than I was when you were younger. Anyway, your times are impressive for your age. I'm about 14 seconds off the 100 meter breastroke but maybe breastroke is harder to maintain times that are closer than when you were younger than is freestyle.

The answer is more based on the makeup of the team. Is it mostly competitive swimmers, fitness, triathletes,or a blend of many things (not uncommon in Masters)? I swim to get somewhere. Either to train for nationals, lose weight or be able to eat and drink what I want. So I grind out the yards and put in the work without a lot of fringe or fuss. If there is time to have a conversation between intervals, you aren't training, you are playing. The problem with a lot of sets is that if there ever was a reason for a particular set to be utilized, it has been lost to the ages. many of the cute sets you will see in this thread at one time meant something, but are now used just to keep people from getting bored. The fahrtlich (it's German) set is a great tool if used properly and managed from the deck by the coach. Otherwise it is just another 400 in the workout. The best thing you can do to assure an active program and swimmers that keep coming back for more is to at least pretend to be interested in everything that happens in the water during practice. Now for the coup de grace. It is the infamous "bull****" set, and is not to be used without fair warning that this name is fairly earned by acclamation. No one who completes this set will ever forget it. 21x100s in this order: 1 free 2 free 3 IM 4 free 5 free 6 IM 7 fly 8 free 9 IM 10 free 11 free 12 IM 13 IM 14 fly 15 IM 16 free 17 fly 18 IM 19 free 20 free 21 fly IM is swum on any number with a 3 or a multiple of 3 Fly is swum on any number with a 7 or multiple of 7 Fly trumps IM on the last one Have a great time with this set, it should only be used sparingly. Cheers

Hi Swimgirl, I agree with a previous post about the variety. In addition, Jim T already stated it, the way our coach (Bill White) created the weekly setup is by the following format: Monday - mostly freestyle, longer distance Wednesday - Mostly stroke/IM Friday - Mostly sprint A couple of things that I like to do is: Golf game. (distance per stroke exercise) do 2 sets of 4x50. Count your stroke on each 50 and check your time. Add the 2 together. On the next 50 do the same, but make the sum smaller, etc. On the second set, the sum of the last 50 needs to be smaller than the last 50 of the 1st set. The interval is based on the abilities of the swimmers. Starts and turns Do flipturns underwater (this helps you streamline)

Naked Beer Relays!