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

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

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