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?
Week3:
100 free on 4:00 best effort
2 x 50 free on 2:00 best effort
4 x 25 free on 1:00 best effort
I had our team do this set last night. The concept of doing a 100 on 4:00 was totally alien to them. Then when they did their first 50, they saw how hard it was, even with the extra rest.
Everyone, all abilities, did what I called this "speedwork" set per someone on this thread's suggestion. And all lanes did the sprints at the same time, so it felt like a team effort.
They were totally into it, and it was a change from what we usually do. They were really tired after doing the set but didn't hate it. I think all the swimmers on the team I coach like to see their progression and have benchmarks, so I think doing this sort of set every now and again is a good idea.
Again, thanks for the feedback on sprinting intervals/sets.
Give me identical twins, same swimming capacity.....U train Betty one for 4 months 5500yds a day with predominantly only threshold intensities or under; I'll train her lovely sister, Hedley at 2500 yds max with predominantly atp-pc and lactate tolerance training (periodized appropriately of course) as the core.
At the subsequent Apalacian swimin hole showdown, Hedley will rip Betty a new one from every distance from 400 on down.
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?
For me, as a coach, I concentrate on what that particular swimmer's goals are. If they aren't going to compete in meets then I don't really focus on speed, but I focus on the fitness and enjoyment of the sport. However, if someone is looking to qualify for nat's then I will be looking to design a practice that concentrates on speed and race technique.
Overall, it all depends on the swimmers in the pool.
You sound like the coach I would like to have. Many coaches are not flexible and feel you should do what everyone else does and everyone must follow the program. When I coach I deisign workout for the Individual.
When Do coach I only look after 1, 2, 3 or 4 at a time. I am back from Mexico where I worked mostly with special need swimmers. I really enjoyed this.
...desiring a moratorium on putting "fitness" in front of "swimming." Fitness applies across the spectrum of swimmers. Calling one group "fitness swimmers" and the others not is a distractor.
I see your point, although the term is a convenient way to label those who have little desire to go to meets (nothing wrong with that).
Certainly the term is better than "non-competitive swimmer!"
I would even label myself as a fitness swimmer, in that keeping fit is still my primary motivation in training. The competition and all that just helps me work harder. (Meeting people from other places is nice too.)
But I disagree very strongly with the notion that speed-work -- maybe "high intensity" work is more apt -- is not appropriate for fitness-focused swimmers. Most spinning classes, for example, will vary the tempo and intensity during the course of the exercise. Why shouldn't swim practices do the same?
I strongly agree w/ above statement, and perhaps even to the point of desiring a moratorium on putting "fitness" in front of "swimming." Fitness applies across the spectrum of swimmers. Calling one group "fitness swimmers" and the others not is a distractor.
For what it's worth, here is a really challenging sprint-ish/middle distancy training set that works pretty well with a range of swimmers. The ones who want to sprint get a good lactate training session; those who don't still get a good fitness workout.
First, take your 200 freestyle race time and divide it in 4 to get your average 50 pace. For example, if you can swim the 200 in exactly 2:00, your pace will be :30.
You then swim 5 sets of 8 x 50 on 1:00. Within each set, the odds are easy active rest, the evens faster.
Set 1: odds easy, evens 200 pace +2 seconds (in above example, hold :32s)
Set 2. " ; evens +1 (e.g. 31s)
Set 3. " ; evens +0 (30)
Set 4. " ; evens -1 (29)
Set 5. " ; evens - 2 (28)
It looks easy, but if you really try, it get brutal by the end. You can rest a minute between the sets.
This looks good. I think it has come up before (likely in a blog or an online coaching session). I'm going to try it.
:)
For what it's worth, here is a really challenging sprint-ish/middle distancy training set that works pretty well with a range of swimmers. The ones who want to sprint get a good lactate training session; those who don't still get a good fitness workout.
First, take your 200 freestyle race time and divide it in 4 to get your average 50 pace. For example, if you can swim the 200 in exactly 2:00, your pace will be :30.
You then swim 5 sets of 8 x 50 on 1:00. Within each set, the odds are easy active rest, the evens faster.
Set 1: odds easy, evens 200 pace +2 seconds (in above example, hold :32s)
Set 2. " ; evens +1 (e.g. 31s)
Set 3. " ; evens +0 (30)
Set 4. " ; evens -1 (29)
Set 5. " ; evens - 2 (28)
It looks easy, but if you really try, it get brutal by the end. You can rest a minute between the sets.
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.
"In order to swim fast one must swim fast."
Pause for a Zen moment...now ponder that pearl of wisdom..
I LOVE THIS THREAD...
Don't let it die until every USMS coach sees it or one of their swimmers forwards it for their coach to read!
By the way all of you distance swimmers, Dave Salo, whether you like him or not, notoriously calls his DISTANCE SWIMMERS - LONG SPRINTERS!!
I LOVE THAT SECOND to this thread since the thread impacts masters swimmers first.
