I'm not one to ask for help at swim meets. But with 40-50 kids at one meet, it sure sounds like a good idea, especially if you know how to use your assistants wisely.
Right before Junior Olympics my assistant coach asked if I needed help at the big meet. I responded the way I always do in this situation by saying, "No thanks. I have it covered". She convinced me that she would be able to help, even if it was just to get me breakfast. Well, by the end of the first day, I was convinced that I will never go without an assistant to a championship meet again.
Before I explain how I was able to take advantage of my assistant I should explain a little about how 9-10 year olds warm up for their races. First they get in the water, usually 40 minutes to an hour too early. Second, they splash around for 2 laps and get out. Third, they walk over to their friends and family, dripping wet from head to toe and wait. And finally, they step up to the block cold and unprepared. Now, not all my swimmers do this, but most of them do very little to actually warm up despite numerous attempts to teach and educate them on the proper ways to warm up and the reasoning behind it.
So, I have always wanted to do more controlled warm ups for my kids individual races, similar to the meet warm up where I can see who is ready and who is not and take preemptive action to assure they have their head on straight before they compete. I decided that, with hours between races, they needed to be thoroughly prepared and warmed up appropriately. This is where my assistant came in and truly became the secrete weapon for my athletes. I had her completely in charge of the timing to all their warm ups and making sure they were doing exactly what was necessary to ensure a successful race. The kids responded clearly and positively to this course of action. It was apparent that our 10 and under athletes were far more prepared and confident than their competition for prelims, finals, and throughout the entire week long meet.
I know that our main goal as coaches is to prepare our kids for independence within this sport and I feel like what we did at this meet was absolutely right in line with that goal. However, I am a die hard believer in allowing these young kids to make mistakes in order to teach valuable lessons. I just don't think a championship meet is the place to let them falter when they could be learning great lessons of accomplishment and success.
I myself learned a valuable lesson: Don't be afraid to use your assistants or ask for help because it can be hugely beneficial to you and your athletes!
Friday, August 13, 2010
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Final phase of season plan
In our final phase of the long course season, we will be going through a series of "peak weeks" that lead directly into our Junior Olympic Championship meet. After the June Age Group Invite we have 4 and a half weeks of training to get where we need to be to accomplish our goals for the season.
Immediately after JAG we begin our first peak week of the new phase. I call it Peak Technique week. We focus 100% on technique work while incorporating videos to add to the learning process. The idea is to get back to what really makes you fast, technique! By having the kids see (through video and demos), hear (by listening to the coach and videos), and do (through swimming, drills and games) we are touching on the different ways kids learn and bringing them back to the basics of good swimming. (I am thinking of getting in the water with the kids each day next season if I can get the use of the teaching pool.)
Then the next week will be a transition period. We will be picking up the yardage a little but still relying heavily on the key techniques established in the prior weeks phase. I want to make sure the kids will slide seamlessly into a heavier work load without loosing what we gained in the peak technique week as well as hold on to all the good habits that were formed throughout the entire season up to this point.
After this transition week we will go directly into the hardest two weeks of the season; the Peak Intensity weeks. Peak Intensity week one is more of a transition to a very hard workout that is designed to push the athletes to their limits. We go harder and longer than any workouts we have done this season and the focus is on race-pace swimming at top speeds for every set and every lap.
Peak Intensity week two is basically the same. The kids are now used to the harder workouts and have a good understanding of how to successfully get the most out of themselves. We go over key out-of-water elements like nutrition and recovery. Dryland is also heavier and is very important to this phase of the season. We really push the legs with plyometrics and work the core with good abdominal and body weight exercises.
This puts us in the final week. Our Peak Performance week is only 4 days, but it is a very focused 4 days. This is where we do everything as race oriented as possible with an emphasis on a swim-to-win attitude. We finish every wall hard, hold our breath in and out of every wall, and streamline past the flags in 2 seconds or better every time. These are all things that should be done all season long, but now we don't just say we are going to do them, we actually do them. With less yardage we have more time to work on turns and starts as well as put a lot of bite into our underwater skills. By the end of this week, we are prepared and super confident. Preparation and confidence leads to fast swimming. We will be prepared and we will be confident!
Immediately after JAG we begin our first peak week of the new phase. I call it Peak Technique week. We focus 100% on technique work while incorporating videos to add to the learning process. The idea is to get back to what really makes you fast, technique! By having the kids see (through video and demos), hear (by listening to the coach and videos), and do (through swimming, drills and games) we are touching on the different ways kids learn and bringing them back to the basics of good swimming. (I am thinking of getting in the water with the kids each day next season if I can get the use of the teaching pool.)
Then the next week will be a transition period. We will be picking up the yardage a little but still relying heavily on the key techniques established in the prior weeks phase. I want to make sure the kids will slide seamlessly into a heavier work load without loosing what we gained in the peak technique week as well as hold on to all the good habits that were formed throughout the entire season up to this point.
After this transition week we will go directly into the hardest two weeks of the season; the Peak Intensity weeks. Peak Intensity week one is more of a transition to a very hard workout that is designed to push the athletes to their limits. We go harder and longer than any workouts we have done this season and the focus is on race-pace swimming at top speeds for every set and every lap.
Peak Intensity week two is basically the same. The kids are now used to the harder workouts and have a good understanding of how to successfully get the most out of themselves. We go over key out-of-water elements like nutrition and recovery. Dryland is also heavier and is very important to this phase of the season. We really push the legs with plyometrics and work the core with good abdominal and body weight exercises.
This puts us in the final week. Our Peak Performance week is only 4 days, but it is a very focused 4 days. This is where we do everything as race oriented as possible with an emphasis on a swim-to-win attitude. We finish every wall hard, hold our breath in and out of every wall, and streamline past the flags in 2 seconds or better every time. These are all things that should be done all season long, but now we don't just say we are going to do them, we actually do them. With less yardage we have more time to work on turns and starts as well as put a lot of bite into our underwater skills. By the end of this week, we are prepared and super confident. Preparation and confidence leads to fast swimming. We will be prepared and we will be confident!
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Drills Presentation to MVN Coaching staff
“Drills, drills, drills! I like drills!”
A Q&A Session for the Mission Viejo Nadadores Coaching Staff
Hosted by Bryan Dedeaux
• What is a drill?
Isolated or full body movements that, through repetition, create habits. (At least, that is how I define it.)
-A drill done right will help improve biomechanics and lead to good technical habits that a swimmer can use to maximize their efficiency in the water.
-A drill done wrong can sabotage progress and create habits that lead to poor technique and unsafe, inefficient swimming.
• What kinds of drills are there?
There are many different types of drills for all four strokes, turns, and skills. You can break them up into categories that are essential to teach age group swimmers:
1. Body position
2. Propulsion
3. Recovery
4. Breathing mechanics
5. Timing
6. Agility Skills (Starts, turns, finishes, etc…)
• Why do drills?
Drills make it easier for swimmers to repeat CORRECT actions when the athlete is in the process of learning or is fatigued during a workout. Athletes must learn by doing skills correctly or they are just practicing mistakes.
• When do you do drills?
It is important to be organized and well prepared and our athletes should follow a purposeful progression throughout a season and career. With a well thought out season plan and focused workouts, drills can be done at any point in a practice or season that adds value to the athlete.
• How do I pick the right drill for my swimmers?
First, you have to understand the purpose behind each drill so you can appropriately teach the specific skills that will be practiced. Then determine why you are choosing to do a drill at that specific time in your workout. Drills can be done to teach a new skill, fix a stroke problem, or simply reinforce good habits that have already been established. Once you have figured out why you are putting a drill into your workout, you can decide which drill will best fit your needs.
• Does good drilling lead to good swimming
It can! But it doesn’t always. The best way to increase the chances that your drills will lead to better swimming is to focus on three things:
1. Repetition – Again, repeating the CORRECT movements or actions within the workout (practice sets), the cycle (three weeks or more), and the season (going back to specified drills when necessary).
2. Feedback – When giving a set of drilling, a coach must be on his/her toes at all times and keep a watchful eye on the swimmers. Meaningful feedback is essential for progress. Use positive or negative feedback to induce the desired change that you are looking for.
3. Application – Give the kids a chance to apply what they have learned into actual swimming. We don’t do drills to get good at drills. We do drills to get good at swimming.
What is your question?
A Q&A Session for the Mission Viejo Nadadores Coaching Staff
Hosted by Bryan Dedeaux
• What is a drill?
Isolated or full body movements that, through repetition, create habits. (At least, that is how I define it.)
-A drill done right will help improve biomechanics and lead to good technical habits that a swimmer can use to maximize their efficiency in the water.
-A drill done wrong can sabotage progress and create habits that lead to poor technique and unsafe, inefficient swimming.
• What kinds of drills are there?
There are many different types of drills for all four strokes, turns, and skills. You can break them up into categories that are essential to teach age group swimmers:
1. Body position
2. Propulsion
3. Recovery
4. Breathing mechanics
5. Timing
6. Agility Skills (Starts, turns, finishes, etc…)
• Why do drills?
Drills make it easier for swimmers to repeat CORRECT actions when the athlete is in the process of learning or is fatigued during a workout. Athletes must learn by doing skills correctly or they are just practicing mistakes.
• When do you do drills?
It is important to be organized and well prepared and our athletes should follow a purposeful progression throughout a season and career. With a well thought out season plan and focused workouts, drills can be done at any point in a practice or season that adds value to the athlete.
• How do I pick the right drill for my swimmers?
First, you have to understand the purpose behind each drill so you can appropriately teach the specific skills that will be practiced. Then determine why you are choosing to do a drill at that specific time in your workout. Drills can be done to teach a new skill, fix a stroke problem, or simply reinforce good habits that have already been established. Once you have figured out why you are putting a drill into your workout, you can decide which drill will best fit your needs.
• Does good drilling lead to good swimming
It can! But it doesn’t always. The best way to increase the chances that your drills will lead to better swimming is to focus on three things:
1. Repetition – Again, repeating the CORRECT movements or actions within the workout (practice sets), the cycle (three weeks or more), and the season (going back to specified drills when necessary).
2. Feedback – When giving a set of drilling, a coach must be on his/her toes at all times and keep a watchful eye on the swimmers. Meaningful feedback is essential for progress. Use positive or negative feedback to induce the desired change that you are looking for.
3. Application – Give the kids a chance to apply what they have learned into actual swimming. We don’t do drills to get good at drills. We do drills to get good at swimming.
What is your question?
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
10 Gold Workout for 4/21/10
Personal Note: Enjoy your group! Be Patient.
Kick-Back w/Bands
8x100 4 on 2:20, 4 on 2:10
(25 Kick / 25 Swim)
Drill-Brst
8x50 4 on 1:20, 4 on 1:15
(25 flutter kick, 25 brst kick)
Pull-Free
W/Paddles and Buoy
1x500 on 8:20 Breathing every 3
W/ paddles only
1x300 on 4:40 Breathing every 5
W/ no gear
1x100 on 1:40 BLAST!
Swim-Fly w/fins
4 rounds
2x50 Fly on 1:00/50
2x100 Free on 1:30
Take break after 2 rounds
Skills-Brst
Pulldowns
3000 Meters
Kick-Back w/Bands
8x100 4 on 2:20, 4 on 2:10
(25 Kick / 25 Swim)
Drill-Brst
8x50 4 on 1:20, 4 on 1:15
(25 flutter kick, 25 brst kick)
Pull-Free
W/Paddles and Buoy
1x500 on 8:20 Breathing every 3
W/ paddles only
1x300 on 4:40 Breathing every 5
W/ no gear
1x100 on 1:40 BLAST!
Swim-Fly w/fins
4 rounds
2x50 Fly on 1:00/50
2x100 Free on 1:30
Take break after 2 rounds
Skills-Brst
Pulldowns
3000 Meters
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Med balls in the water = FUN!
I do this exercise on land a couple times a year. It is a lot of fun and gets the kids familiar with the med balls. I thought it would work in the water, so I put fins on the kids and set them up along the lane line. It does take a lot of practice and some rules to keep the kids from getting hit in the face...and most of the time that works. After about 15 minutes, it can go pretty nicely. I suggest practicing on land before trying it in the water. Just be patient and have fun.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Successful Seasons start with Personal Goals
As coaches we expect our athletes to set goals, work towards accomplishing them, and reset them when the goals are achieved. As coaches and roll models we should follow the same plan for success. Performance goals are always an easy start...How fast do we want swimmer "A" to swim the 100 Free by the season ending championship meet? It makes sense and gets you started in the right direction. But you must also consider setting more personal goals to help you stay focused on the bigger picture.
Last season was one of the most successful seasons in recent memory when you take the total number of swims, the total number of improved swims, and do the math. It was the highest improvement percentage that I think I have had since coaching my summer league teams in the 90's. Yet, I let the pressure of winning and scoring points at the big meet get to me. I felt I had had a disappointing season based on my perception of the last meet. That doesn't even make sense because, my kids were awesome at the last meet. For whatever reason, I saw the mistakes, the losses, all the negative parts of the meet, while I had kids swimming best times, breaking team records, and swimming times that were ranked highest in the nation. It took a combination of some great support from my co-coaches, my wife, and my own swim families to finally look back and see all the great things that took place all season.
I knew I wasn't seeing the big picture. So, I started this season by sitting down and thinking. REALLY THINKING. I thought about the BEST seasons that I had as a coach and why those seasons were successful. It seemed the best seasons were a combination of summer league and early career club seasons. That's weird. Aren't I getting better as a coach? I certainly know more and have more experience than when I coached those kids back then. I came to the conclusion that those seasons were the ones that I had no expectations. Thats right....No expectations. No pressure to win. No outside factors to dilute what makes a great coach do his thing. What makes me successful is my passion for teaching kids to be good people and good athletes. I coach to put the passion of swimming and sports in to kids who are willing to work hard to become better athletes and people.
With this enlightened thinking, I set some personal goals for the new season. And looking back, I think I did a great job of following the plan. The most significant goals that I set were self improving goals. The kind of goals that make you a better person. I figured that I needed to get back to that "summer league" mentality where each kid looked forward to the next day and what fun and exciting things they were going to get to do with their friends and coach.
As a summer league coach, I never yelled. As a club coach, I yell a lot. I need to stop yelling so much. As a summer league coach, I never threatened to kick a kid out of practice. As a club coach, I threaten to kick kids out of practice for not working hard or not paying attention. I need to stop threatining kids for any reason. As a summer leage coach, I was never grumpy. As a club coach, I get grumpy sometimes and the kids pay for it and that makes me feel terrible. I need to find a way to love what I do EVERY DAY and feel good about the way I treat my kids. Why was I such a good summer league coach? Because I came to the pool each day with only one expectation...HAVE FUN! We never kept score at meets so there was no pressure to win and the focus was on improvement. My best personal goal for the new season was to "Keep the summer league mentality". The next personal goal that kept me thinking on the positive side of things was to "Never use, IF YOU DON'T, sentences. You know, the kind of sentences that start with, "if you don't", and end in, "I'll kick you out of practice" or something that a child fears. Threatening may work for awhile, but it works through negative chanels that create fear. It is soo much nicer to have kids that work hard, pay attention, and listen to your every word because they love what they do and they are passionate about learning and getting better.
After the amazing season that we just had, it is clear to me that I have regained sight of the bigger picture. To keep young athletes in this gruelling sport, we must feel good about ourselves first. Then we can teach and share our passion for the sport of swimming in positive ways that create amazing results.
Last season was one of the most successful seasons in recent memory when you take the total number of swims, the total number of improved swims, and do the math. It was the highest improvement percentage that I think I have had since coaching my summer league teams in the 90's. Yet, I let the pressure of winning and scoring points at the big meet get to me. I felt I had had a disappointing season based on my perception of the last meet. That doesn't even make sense because, my kids were awesome at the last meet. For whatever reason, I saw the mistakes, the losses, all the negative parts of the meet, while I had kids swimming best times, breaking team records, and swimming times that were ranked highest in the nation. It took a combination of some great support from my co-coaches, my wife, and my own swim families to finally look back and see all the great things that took place all season.
I knew I wasn't seeing the big picture. So, I started this season by sitting down and thinking. REALLY THINKING. I thought about the BEST seasons that I had as a coach and why those seasons were successful. It seemed the best seasons were a combination of summer league and early career club seasons. That's weird. Aren't I getting better as a coach? I certainly know more and have more experience than when I coached those kids back then. I came to the conclusion that those seasons were the ones that I had no expectations. Thats right....No expectations. No pressure to win. No outside factors to dilute what makes a great coach do his thing. What makes me successful is my passion for teaching kids to be good people and good athletes. I coach to put the passion of swimming and sports in to kids who are willing to work hard to become better athletes and people.
With this enlightened thinking, I set some personal goals for the new season. And looking back, I think I did a great job of following the plan. The most significant goals that I set were self improving goals. The kind of goals that make you a better person. I figured that I needed to get back to that "summer league" mentality where each kid looked forward to the next day and what fun and exciting things they were going to get to do with their friends and coach.
As a summer league coach, I never yelled. As a club coach, I yell a lot. I need to stop yelling so much. As a summer league coach, I never threatened to kick a kid out of practice. As a club coach, I threaten to kick kids out of practice for not working hard or not paying attention. I need to stop threatining kids for any reason. As a summer leage coach, I was never grumpy. As a club coach, I get grumpy sometimes and the kids pay for it and that makes me feel terrible. I need to find a way to love what I do EVERY DAY and feel good about the way I treat my kids. Why was I such a good summer league coach? Because I came to the pool each day with only one expectation...HAVE FUN! We never kept score at meets so there was no pressure to win and the focus was on improvement. My best personal goal for the new season was to "Keep the summer league mentality". The next personal goal that kept me thinking on the positive side of things was to "Never use, IF YOU DON'T, sentences. You know, the kind of sentences that start with, "if you don't", and end in, "I'll kick you out of practice" or something that a child fears. Threatening may work for awhile, but it works through negative chanels that create fear. It is soo much nicer to have kids that work hard, pay attention, and listen to your every word because they love what they do and they are passionate about learning and getting better.
After the amazing season that we just had, it is clear to me that I have regained sight of the bigger picture. To keep young athletes in this gruelling sport, we must feel good about ourselves first. Then we can teach and share our passion for the sport of swimming in positive ways that create amazing results.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Peak Performance Week Workout #2
Peak Performance: Ultimate control of your body, mind, and attitude!
Pre-Meet Warmp up
4x200 on 3:30 (Free swim, IM drill, Free Drill, IM swim)
8x50 on 1:00 (Kick down, swim back)
Paddles
16x50 Choice (4 on 1:00, 4 on 50, 4 on 1:00, 4 on 45)
Focus on Turns:
Open turns - Shoulders under water
Flip turns - In fast, out fast, breathe control
Fins
12x25 on 45 (Sprint Underwater Dolphin Kicking)
Hardest Interval Possible
3x3x100
Lane 1 starts at 1:10
Lane 2 starts at 1:20
Lane 3 starts at 1:25
Lane 4 starts at 1:25
Broken set
1xbroken 200 IM
broken 10 seconds at the 50
Relay exchanges
Pre-Meet Warmp up
4x200 on 3:30 (Free swim, IM drill, Free Drill, IM swim)
8x50 on 1:00 (Kick down, swim back)
Paddles
16x50 Choice (4 on 1:00, 4 on 50, 4 on 1:00, 4 on 45)
Focus on Turns:
Open turns - Shoulders under water
Flip turns - In fast, out fast, breathe control
Fins
12x25 on 45 (Sprint Underwater Dolphin Kicking)
Hardest Interval Possible
3x3x100
Lane 1 starts at 1:10
Lane 2 starts at 1:20
Lane 3 starts at 1:25
Lane 4 starts at 1:25
Broken set
1xbroken 200 IM
broken 10 seconds at the 50
Relay exchanges
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