More Considerations Before Starting the Planning Process - Continued

• Skill Development
  Proper mechanics must be developed early in the training season, and steps should be taken to maintain good technique for the remainder of the season. Using stroke drills to emphasize smaller elements of a full stroke is an effective way to build technique. These drills can be done as unique sets or combined with other sets.

• Conditioning Development
  Fitness should be built progressively, moving from general development to specific racing needs. The basic variables involved in conditioning are:
  1. Intensity of Work
  2. Duration of Work in terms of both total work and total individual bouts of work and rest
  3. Duration of Rest

  How can the coach determine the correct intensity level for each swimmer? One objective way to assign effort levels to training sets is by determining a training threshold level of effort, then defining other levels of work from that level. Testing of an athlete’s training and performance results can be used to measure the response to a training program. A simple test to use is the T20 test.

  • T20 Test
    1. An athlete swims at the fastest possible sustainable speed for 20 minutes
    2. Record the distance covered
    3. Calculate the average pace for that distance to determine the swimmer's threshold pace for that stroke

  Below are examples of workout sets from each training zone or category with effort defined by the results of a T20 test (which gave a calculated threshold pace for each swimmer):

  • Training Zone Parameters

    • REC
      • Intensity Level = <80% of Threshold
      • Sample Set = 200 Meter Easy Swim
      • Rest Between Repeats = None
      • Shorthand Effort Level = EZ or 1

    • EN1
      • Intensity Level = 80% to 95% of Threshold
      • Sample Set = 12 x 200 Meter Swims
      • Rest Between Repeats = 20 Seconds
      • Shorthand Effort Level = MOD or 5

    • EN2-3
      • Intensity Level = >95% of Threshold
      • Sample Set = 6 x 200 Meter Swims
      • Rest Between Repeats = 60 Seconds
      • Shorthand Effort Level = FAST or 8

    • SP1-2
      • Intensity Level = Maximum Effort
      • Sample Set = 4 x 50 Meter Swims
      • Rest Between Repeats = 120 Seconds
      • Shorthand Effort Level = MAX or 10

    • SP3
      • Intensity Level = Maximum Effort
      • Sample Set = 4 x 15 Meter Swims
      • Rest Between Repeats = 120 Seconds
      • Shorthand Effort Level = MAX or 10

• Sport Psychology
  Some of the mental skills or tools a coach should teach their athletes include goal setting, visualization, relaxation, and arousal control. All long-term plans need to include mental, emotional, and attitudinal training that is essential for the athlete’s performance and time should be included in a training plan for regular mental skills practice. Relaxation, arousal control, and visualization are also important to a successful taper.

• Team-Building
  While swimming is primarily an individual sport, being part of a team can make the high school swimmer's experiences more rewarding. It can raise the ability of an individual to a level that was not reachable as an individual, and this in-turn can raise the level of the team. Various methods are available to enhance team unity, from social gatherings to practice design, such as mixing athletes of differing skill levels together to assist each other in completing portions of that practice.

• Athletics and Academics
  When a high school student joins a school swim team, their schoolwork must not suffer. Maintaining open lines of communication with faculty by contacting them to request that they keep the coach abreast of their students classroom progress is one way to keep the athlete's school work on track. If a student is having difficulty in class, they may be restricted from team competitions or practices until that schoolwork reaches a satisfactory level.

• Evaluation of the Plan
  To determine the effectiveness of the training plan requires some objective measures. One of the more practical ways to measure the plans success is based on the number of attained goals set at the beginning of the season. From the outcome, steps can be taken to adjust the next season's plan and goals.

Using this system of setting goals and noting their successful attainment can be used throughout the season to determine the plan's ongoing results. If needed, changes can be made, based on the evaluation, to the current training plan. In-season goals for measurement should be included for each training factor of strength, power, flexibility, endurance, speed, technique, strategy, and pacing.

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