I am interested in hearing everyone's thoughts about how much practice time should be spent doing drills vs sets. This is in regards to age group training...with specific interest in the 10 and under and 11-12 age groups.
My kids swim in a local club and the majority of the practice time is spent doing set after set. All the coaches do is throw the kids in the pool and tell them to swim laps. There is virtually no time dedicated to drills. I am very disappointed in the fact that my kids have developed bad stroke technique that is not being corrected in practice. As a result, their times are going up and they are becoming disenchanted with their experience.
I am currently a member of the board and would like to address these issues with the rest of the board and the coaches. However, I need information to help me with my stance.
What is everyone's experience with drills vs endurance training?
Thank you.
I practice with an age group team. I'm with the Senior kids which means 11-18 year olds. Our coach is huge on drills. About once every other week he will take a stroke and break it down to it's basic and then rebuild it (every Sat practice is all out yardage, though). There are times when I don't know why and I'll ask what I'm supposed to gain from the drill and he's good and telling me. This is a coach who is not high in ASCA level but knows what he's talking about. Maybe your team could invest in a swimming drill book and tell the coaches to read it and start working on it more.
When we do drills, I get frustrated since I like yardage but my times are way down this year so I see the benefit of it every meet. Good luck. I hope the coaches listen and start working on technique more.
I practice with an age group team. I'm with the Senior kids which means 11-18 year olds. Our coach is huge on drills. About once every other week he will take a stroke and break it down to it's basic and then rebuild it (every Sat practice is all out yardage, though). There are times when I don't know why and I'll ask what I'm supposed to gain from the drill and he's good and telling me. This is a coach who is not high in ASCA level but knows what he's talking about. Maybe your team could invest in a swimming drill book and tell the coaches to read it and start working on it more.
When we do drills, I get frustrated since I like yardage but my times are way down this year so I see the benefit of it every meet. Good luck. I hope the coaches listen and start working on technique more.
