Short Course Season
FOX VALLEY SWIM TEAM 11-12s
Naperville, IL.
Coach Tom Sweeney
My group (11-12s) had over 70 swimmers. Only the Monday night workouts were outrageously crowded; many sessions with 50-60 swimmers were handled successfully with two coaches and imaginative uses of the pool.
One Monday night we coached 68 swimmers in four lanes of a 25-yard pool! Look in my Monday workouts below for how we handled crowded Mondays. Swimmers and parents left that night satisfied that everyone had worked hard and learned valuable skills.
On some nights, after a high school meet in the pool, age-groupers (up to 100 at a time) arrived for start and turn practices. That, too, was a challenge but the coaching staff and swimmers responded well.
During the season, I handled the dry land for this group; up to 40 athletes participated regularly.
For most workouts I had one assistant, Jan Jensen who is a devoted, dependable, experienced and effective coach. We divided our swimmers into two groups. Although I worked primarily with the advanced swimmers, once or twice per week, I coached the less advanced group. For drill/skill progressions we all worked together.
Although I wrote detailed workouts, often Jan would work on fundamentals with her group; or, she would modify the workout to the ability of swimmers in her group.
We used four lanes in a 25-yard pool for several workouts during the week; sometimes four lanes in the 25-yard pool and three in the nearby 20-yard training pool. If I coached at a corner of the large pool, I could work with two groups (both pools) simultaneously. Twice a week we were in swimmers’ heaven with all eight lanes in the 25-yard pool (deep water, permanent starting blocks at both ends).
Sometimes, as a warm up while another group was finishing, we used the odd-shaped diving well for vertical kicking and sculling. Any coach with a rectangular diving well has an advantage in coaching age-groupers as well as senior swimmers. There are a lot of ways to use such a diving well.
I bought an $800 sound system that permitted me to coach from anywhere in the pool, including the balcony. A speaker was placed at mid-pool and I could roam wherever I wanted and still have my voice project through the speaker. Fellow Fox coaches (Chad, Jan, Dave, Len, Katie, and Jim) were extremely tolerant of the sound system and my occasional use of a whistle.
Our head coach, Dave Krotiak, was incredibly supportive of the coaches on staff and knew just about every swimmer’s name in all groups. Occasionally, I’d ask Dave to talk to our group for a few minutes about a meet he had been to, or some stroke element so that the 11-12s could look forward to being in his group in the future. As an age-group coach, one of our goals is to prepare—in every way possible—swimmers for senior training and competition.
Equipment Used in the Pool
Our group seldom used kickboards, although we did for some timed 50’s or as a “mental break.” Unless we were timed with a kickboard, I sometimes allowed a cool down kick, e.g., to be social. I invited it and the age groupers loved it. In the training pool, we placed kickboards behind our backs for triceps push downs.
Most of our kicking was done with the legs completely under water. We did a fair number of sets that included kicking on the back, side and front; with and without fins, but mostly the legs were under the surface. During three-week cycles, one day was reserved for “kicking like crazy.”
We often (3-5 days a week all season long) used Zoomer fins; frequently a set included rounds with and then without fins. Dr. Marty Hull, Zoomer inventor (visit the Zoomer site online), convinced me via emails and his articles that Zoomers are a terrific aid to age-group competitive swimmers.
Indeed, whenever I wheeled the large basket of Zoomers onto the deck, faces lit up. We used Zoomers in drill work; extreme effort swims (Coach Salo; whenever I can, I credit coaches or organizations for ideas used in our practices), and timed swims. One night we timed 50-yards underwater and the results were astounding.
Fingertip paddles did not work well, probably because our hands were too small. We sometimes used one large paddle on the dominant hand while practicing flip (we call them SPIN turns). I did not think large paddles were appropriate for our swimmers because of possible overstressing shoulders.
We used small balls placed under the chin for breast and fly swimming/drills; we found balls that are soft and comfortable. Swimmers struggled with these at first, but the body alignment corrections caused to their use are well worth it.
We used short PVC pipes (about a foot long and ½ inch in diameter wrapped with red or blue tape like a barber’s pole; thanks Mr. Piper) for pulsing/slinky/full body dolphin (Laughlin, Boomer, Mills; different labels by different coaches for the same critical drill). Kelly Capen (now with Academy Bullets) originated the idea of having swimmers hold a PVC pipe at arms length; on the surface with a light grip for pulsing/slinky/full body dolphin.
We use pull buoys, but not often in the conventional way for pulling. Rather, we placed them between legs to work on vertical balance, or extreme effort skills (Z-sit; Salo), or other skills, e.g. two pull buoys, fins and short distances of fly focusing on pulling only.
For short distances of fast swimming later in the season, swimmers took strips of a car’s inner tube I cut, made a figure eight, and placed it around ankles. You can learn a lot about balance and stroke anchoring this way.
By jamming a kickboard into the gutter and placing a Zoomer under it (like a shim), we created a low obstacle jutting out into the lane over the water that forced us to execute tight turns. Atlanta Swim coaches (Atlanta, Ga.) have a similar, but more convenient system. Much depends on your pool’s configuration.
Coach Hummel (Go-Swim online) gave us the idea of using small medicine balls held overhead for vertical kicking (get 4-5 swimmers in a circle and rotate the ball on a timed whistle; everyone kicks all the time). We also used small medicine balls for relay kick races and, e.g., sometimes held the ball above the water while kicking on the back.
Dry Land
There were times with the Naperville Riptides when, as state age group champions, all we had available some nights was a cold hallway with wind that seeped in—for dry land. The kids NEVER complained and we did full body exercises and stretching.
I have used Yoga for 9-10s and 11-12s with great success. Not only do the swimmers pay attention and enjoy it, after a remarkably short time some of them master the poses so expertly, I’d just stare in awe. Often, while learning, we’d ask someone to model a pose done exceptionally well. Notice the use of Yoga with some older national swimmers, especially females.
Below are the poses we used. You can find them online, or purchase Yoga for Beginners, Ansari and Lark; spiral bound; available in bookstores and on Amazon.
Caution: if you don’t have proper mats and knowledge of how to warm up, enter and depart the poses, or a progressive sequence--you should consider bringing in an experienced Yoga instructor until you are up to speed. We never used poses in a way to endanger knees, hips, lower back or shoulders, nor did we encourage swimmers to go beyond what was comfortable.
Even though I’ve practiced Yoga for five years (1:10 minutes every other in the early morning), I sometimes brought in an instructor who specialized in teaching kids. We did this in a church “rec” room one night a week with the Riptides to free up pool space. Attendance was superb; swimmers and parents were thrilled.
Yoga poses
1. How to breathe properly
2. Modified lotus pose, depending on ankle flexibility
3. Windbreaker (yes, Matt O. loudly broke wind one night)
4. Floor twist (most young swimmers can do the advanced versions)
5. Pelvic lift (sometimes with one leg extended, or other variations)
6. Supine curl (fun and good for the back)
7. Extended foot pose
8. Tree pose (Jen was perfect!)
9. Staff pose
10. Seated forward bend (lots of swimmers are inflexible even at
at age 10!)
11. One-leg seated forward bend (never the hurdle position)
12. Kneeling back bend cycle
13. Child poses (extended is especially beneficial to keep shoulders strong and limber)
14. Seated spinal twist
15. Sun salutation (a favorite)
16. Cobra pose
17. Downward/upward dog poses
18. Fish pose (for several sessions we did it one person at a time to insure no pressure on the head/neck)
We also mixed in Pilate’s full-body exercises. The Pilates Body, by Brooke Siler has clear illustrations and explanations.
Dry Land Equipment
So much depends on your facility and budget. When I visited Swim Atlanta in spring of 2007, I was stunned by the abundance of water, deck space, and dry land equipment available.
At Fox (Neuqua Valley High School in Naperville), our group varied from using a portion of the cafeteria (unyielding floor around a central space filled with tables); a narrow stretch of bare concrete behind the top of the bleachers (hot, humid and crowded); bleacher steps; a half gym; full gym; two full gyms; portion of gymnastics gym. It didn’t matter to us. We had a good time and built stronger more supple bodies, even when upon arriving we found the planned for dry land venue was unavailable.
At Fox, we used:
1. Long gym mats lined up along a gym wall for full body exercises, Yoga, wheel barrels, and Pilates.
2. Gym floor for skipping, bounding, one-legged hops, sprints from a push up position, running laps (up to 12 around the perimeter of a double gym); piggyback carry; shuttle relays; kickball and volleyball; a variety of small medicine ball exercises (solo, partner, group).
3. Gym wall to throw small medicine ball at a variety of ways.
4. Stretch cords from railing in upper bleacher area (mostly to familiarize them with what the senior coaches do).
Dry Land Tips:
1. Require everyone to have proper shoes and clothing.
2. No filled water bottle, no dry land!
3. Insure sufficient space to avoid injury.
4. Don’t yell; make them quiet down so that you can give instructions in a calm voice.
5. Make full use of your time; be early and have the equipment
ready to go.
6. Provide lots of variety for fun, to exercise large muscle groups and to improve flexibility, strength, explosiveness, agility and
confidence.
7. Women’s fitness magazines (Fitness; Shape)have many good ideas to help train and condition large muscle groups; find, clip, and use!
8. Consult USA Swimming, American Swim Coaches Association etc. for proven ways to strengthen and protect knees and shoulders. Whether in or out of the pool, if you provide lots of variety, you will save shoulders and knees.
Abbreviations:
BK= Backstroke
BR= Breaststroke
DAB= Double-arm backstroke
EZ= Easy
FQS= Front Quadrant Swimming Freestyle
FL= Fly
FR= FR
IM= Individual medley (FL-BK-BR-FR)
K= Kick
KSKS= Kick-Swim-Kick-Swim
L= Left arm only
PB= Pull buoys
R= Right arm only
SKSK= Swim-Kick-Swim-Kick
TT= Tempo Trainer
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