Coaches and Sprinting

I have heard that some Masters coaches are more interested in general fitness than speed.What is your experience? Do you feel that your coach prepares you to swim 50s and 100s?Is sprinting a regular part of practice at least once a week and if so do you do it as a main set or as an add on at the end?Do you do lactic acid sets?How much do you work on starts and turns?As a coach I use sprints to fine tune their stroke and develop mental toughness. I do 25 yd. sprints and require them all to dive, stream line past flags, keep their head down, arms in perfect position, feet kicking steadily, good amount of effort put into it, I make sure they finish from the flags to the wall with out breathing, and a nice touch. Since I'm a middle school coach I work on one at a time. I'm currently on stream line past flags w/o breathing, and no breathing between the flags and wall. It's a great form of punishment, and a great reward is saying "you worked so hard today, we wont do sprints". Ultimately, you play how you practice. If you practice nothing but long distance and go slow, you can't expect to go fast when you need to.

I have heard that some Masters coaches are more interested in general fitness than speed.What is your experience? Do you feel that your coach prepares you to swim 50s and 100s?Is sprinting a regular part of practice at least once a week and if so do you do it as a main set or as an add on at the end?Do you do lactic acid sets?How much do you work on starts and turns?As a coach I use sprints to fine tune their stroke and develop mental toughness. I do 25 yd. sprints and require them all to dive, stream line past flags, keep their head down, arms in perfect position, feet kicking steadily, good amount of effort put into it, I make sure they finish from the flags to the wall with out breathing, and a nice touch. Since I'm a middle school coach I work on one at a time. I'm currently on stream line past flags w/o breathing, and no breathing between the flags and wall. It's a great form of punishment, and a great reward is saying "you worked so hard today, we wont do sprints". Ultimately, you play how you practice. If you practice nothing but long distance and go slow, you can't expect to go fast when you need to.