A Sample of Holiday Sets

We are in the first week of a two week “training camp” where we don’t compete with school so we can do doubles no problem and even be in the weight room 3 x a week. This is an opportunity for the swimmers to build some base, skills and work on improving their tolerance to work…work works!

Here is what the first three days look like.

Day 1: 

wmp 10x50/.50 work underwaters and breakouts, 500 alternating flip turns and open turns with fly or breast breakout, 5x100IM/1:30 unders, brkout, turns

8x200/3:30 #1 1^st 50 kick fast w board, #2 kick 2^nd 50 fast, #3 – 3^rd 50, #4 – 4^th 50

#5 1^st 100 kick w bd, #6 2^nd 100 fast kk, #7 all swim ez, #8 200 kk for time

8x200/3:15 same deal as above but swim the entire 200 but power kk the appropriate 50…last 200 was for time seeing how long they could keep their kk going full speed

3x100/pro (many say descend) /1:40 with 100 free race breathing pattern

3x100/AA (as above)/1:30

3x100/AA / 1:20

2x100 AA/1:30…2x100AA/1:20…2x100AA/1:10…1x100 fast hold breathing pattern

1x100/AA/1:20…1X100aa/1:15…1X100AA/1:10…1X100AA/1:05…1X100 breathing pattern

16x25/.35 (4 rounds of hypoxic – 3 breaths,2 br,1br, 0 br) @2.5 hours 7200 yds

PM wmp 10x50/.50 unders and brkouts…fins and paddles 1x1000 ½ way under each lap, every 4^th lap non free – IM rotation (no freestyle)

Kick 20x50/1:10 far as possible holding your breath face in the water then whenever you take your breath finish the 50 fast kick as possible

Kick neg split and progressive 400/8…300/6…200/4…100/2…50/1

Swim 1x50 from a dive with monster kick – 0 breaths down 1 breath back

@90 mins…3600 yards

Day 2: 

AM wmp 10x50/.50 unders and brkouts…500 alt flip and open turns…

5x100IM/1:30 unders, turns and brkouts

1000/13…800/11…600/8…400/5…200/3…100/2 all swims ns and get the 800 time on the way to the 1000 and make the 800 faster, etc.

4 rounds of tabata kicking – tabata is .20 full tilt, .10 rest x 8 so a 4 minute total per round

RD 1 – 20 secs kick10 rest

RD 2 – 10 secs kick w feet under water, 10 secs feet on surface face in H2O no breathing

RD 3 – same as #1 with a blue parachute…RD 4 – same as #2 with parachute

2x50 from the blocks fast kk with 0/1 breathing pattern

8x25/.35 hypoxic…we had 20 minutes of intro to sport psychology before swimming so we swam for @ 2 hours…4900 plus tabata kicking

PM: wmp 20x25/.25 unders and brkouts

Fins and paddles 1000/15 ½ under every 4^th lap non free IM order – no freestyle

1x300/5 swim no gear

800/12…300/5

600/9…300/5

400/6…300/5

200/3…300/5

All fins and paddles swim ½ under just cruising and grooving…300’s fast and progressive 1-5

@90 minutes…5000yards

Day 3: 

AM wmp…25/50/75/100/100/75/50/25 unders and brkouts

500 alt flip and open turns

3x200IM/3:30 each one go a little farther under

Then we did Jack Baurle’s “One Tough Workout” …all 25’s on the .30 interval

1 fast, 1 ez, 2 fast, 2 ez up to 10 fast, 10 ez, repeat round of 10 and head down…it is 5500 yards in 110 minutes with 2250 fast, 2250 ez…ground rules today: free no consecutive breathing, same with fly…fly and breast strict stroke counts, back was all about the unders and tempo…Miki commented 5500 yards without a single flip turn!

PM wmp 300 swim, 200 kick, 300 pull…10x100/1:45 #3, 6, 9,10 do something special

8x25 build up to burst/.30

15x50kick/1 25 kick under water, 25 on surface, last 10 yards face down kick like you mean it

Gordy’s set from Albuquerque – thanks Gordy…they loved it!

Take your best unshaved (unsuited) time and add 20 seconds to it…

4x100/1:30 time +18, +16, +14, +12

1x200/3:30 ez

3x100/1:30 +10, +8, +6

200/3:30 ez

2x100/1:30 +4, +2

200/3:30 ez

1x100/1:30 goal time is your best unshaved time

200ez…

@90 minutes…4550 yards

3 days of 6, then New Year’s Day off…then 5 more days, then school

We have a pretty good number of kids who stayed home and are training…some are in and out a bit but the ones who are here are going to be “Fitter, Faster and Stronger” – which is one of the camp’s messages.

Best wishes for 2015 to each of you and your teammates, swimmers, coaches and parents!

A Sample of Holiday Sets

We are in the first week of a two week “training camp” where we don’t compete with school so we can do doubles no problem and even be in the weight room 3 x a week. This is an opportunity for the swimmers to build some base, skills and work on improving their tolerance to work…work works!

Here is what the first three days look like.

Day 1: wmp 10x50/.50 work underwaters and breakouts, 500 alternating flip turns and open turns with fly or breast breakout, 5x100IM/1:30 unders, brkout, turns

8x200/3:30 #1 1^st 50 kick fast w board, #2 kick 2^nd 50 fast, #3 – 3^rd 50, #4 – 4^th 50

#5 1^st 100 kick w bd, #6 2^nd 100 fast kk, #7 all swim ez, #8 200 kk for time

8x200/3:15 same deal as above but swim the entire 200 but power kk the appropriate 50…last 200 was for time seeing how long they could keep their kk going full speed

3x100/pro (many say descend) /1:40 with 100 free race breathing pattern

3x100/AA (as above)/1:30

3x100/AA / 1:20

2x100 AA/1:30…2x100AA/1:20…2x100AA/1:10…1x100 fast hold breathing pattern

1x100/AA/1:20…1X100aa/1:15…1X100AA/1:10…1X100AA/1:05…1X100 breathing pattern

16x25/.35 (4 rounds of hypoxic – 3 breaths,2 br,1br, 0 br) @2.5 hours 7200 yds

PM wmp 10x50/.50 unders and brkouts…fins and paddles 1x1000 ½ way under each lap, every 4^th lap non free – IM rotation (no freestyle)

Kick 20x50/1:10 far as possible holding your breath face in the water then whenever you take your breath finish the 50 fast kick as possible

Kick neg split and progressive 400/8…300/6…200/4…100/2…50/1

Swim 1x50 from a dive with monster kick – 0 breaths down 1 breath back

@90 mins…3600 yards

Day 2: AM wmp 10x50/.50 unders and brkouts…500 alt flip and open turns…

5x100IM/1:30 unders, turns and brkouts

1000/13…800/11…600/8…400/5…200/3…100/2 all swims ns and get the 800 time on the way to the 1000 and make the 800 faster, etc.

4 rounds of tabata kicking – tabata is .20 full tilt, .10 rest x 8 so a 4 minute total per round

RD 1 – 20 secs kick10 rest

RD 2 – 10 secs kick w feet under water, 10 secs feet on surface face in H2O no breathing

RD 3 – same as #1 with a blue parachute…RD 4 – same as #2 with parachute

2x50 from the blocks fast kk with 0/1 breathing pattern

8x25/.35 hypoxic…we had 20 minutes of intro to sport psychology before swimming so we swam for @ 2 hours…4900 plus tabata kicking

PM: wmp 20x25/.25 unders and brkouts

Fins and paddles 1000/15 ½ under every 4^th lap non free IM order – no freestyle

1x300/5 swim no gear

800/12…300/5

600/9…300/5

400/6…300/5

200/3…300/5

All fins and paddles swim ½ under just cruising and grooving…300’s fast and progressive 1-5

@90 minutes…5000yards

Day 3: AM wmp…25/50/75/100/100/75/50/25 unders and brkouts

500 alt flip and open turns

3x200IM/3:30 each one go a little farther under

Then we did Jack Baurle’s “One Tough Workout” …all 25’s on the .30 interval

1 fast, 1 ez, 2 fast, 2 ez up to 10 fast, 10 ez, repeat round of 10 and head down…it is 5500 yards in 110 minutes with 2250 fast, 2250 ez…ground rules today: free no consecutive breathing, same with fly…fly and breast strict stroke counts, back was all about the unders and tempo…Miki commented 5500 yards without a single flip turn!

PM wmp 300 swim, 200 kick, 300 pull…10x100/1:45 #3, 6, 9,10 do something special

8x25 build up to burst/.30

15x50kick/1 25 kick under water, 25 on surface, last 10 yards face down kick like you mean it

Gordy’s set from Albuquerque – thanks Gordy…they loved it!

Take your best unshaved (unsuited) time and add 20 seconds to it…

4x100/1:30 time +18, +16, +14, +12

1x200/3:30 ez

3x100/1:30 +10, +8, +6

200/3:30 ez

2x100/1:30 +4, +2

200/3:30 ez

1x100/1:30 goal time is your best unshaved time

200ez…

@90 minutes…4550 yards

3 days of 6, then New Year’s Day off…then 5 more days, then school

We have a pretty good number of kids who stayed home and are training…some are in and out a bit but the ones who are here are going to be “Fitter, Faster and Stronger” – which is one of the camp’s messages.

Best wishes for 2015 to each of you and your teammates, swimmers, coaches and parents!

Thinking About Kicking

Ken and I wish you and your family, friends, staff and team the best of holiday seasons and send true wishes for a grand year in 2015. Writing these weekly messages gives us an outlet for what we are thinking about. It is something we are grateful to be able to do and we appreciate that so many readers comment via email or in person when we are at meets or clinics. Sharing coaching ideas is one of the cornerstones of why American Swimming is so profoundly excellent. Everyone shares. There are very few “secrets” since we all get to watch the same swimmers and can deduce what we are able to figure out watching them. Hard to keep anything “under wraps” when the “product” is in plain view.

Coming out of the USA Swimming Junior Nationals last week form Seattle two things stood out as significant.

First, the USA staff did such a superb job on filming every single swim, including relays. Our swimmers gleaned valuable insights watching themselves race both in slow motion and real time. We think an on deck regular video filming stream, running on a five or ten second delay at each lane, would provide immediate and extremely valuable feedback for the swimmers. They could watch themselves finish a repeat during the rest period, then proceed onto the next swim and then watch it for comparison sake. Sooner than later this will be available to all of us at a reasonable cost. The technology is there now, just expensive and a little cumbersome.

Secondly, if there was ever any doubt about the value of kicking this meet removed it. The young man who won the 100 free in 42+ swam less than 50 yards…the rest of it was under water dolphin kicking. The young lady who won the 200 free in 1:44+ had a monster 6 beat kick for all 8 laps. The last time we saw this in person was when Simon Burnett went a 1:31+ for his 200. He started out kicking like a man possessed and was able to do it for 1 minute and 31 seconds. The swimmer last week was able to sustain a ferocious and withering kick for 1minute and 44 seconds.

Both the men’s 100 free and the women’s 200 free demonstrated that kicking – above and under – is critical to ultimate potential development. Until a swimmer (and a coach and her/his program) is willing to commit to mastering that part of the technical spectrum, less than optimal performance will occur…end of discussion.

Our training camp (North Bay Aquatics) begins on the 26^th of this month and both of those components will be addressed daily. If you are an NBA swimmer reading this, you have been given notice – be ready…kicking is taking on a whole new dimension!

Are you built for the short term or the long haul?

This question is one that pops up now and then when we think about our swimmers and their ENTIRE career. Are swimmers interested in what the final years of their career will look like or is it all about what is happening now?

We just returned from Federal Way, site of the US Junior Nationals, featuring most of the fastest 18 & unders in the nation. We can tell you there are indeed many very fast young swimmers. Watching them in their moments of racing and well-earned glory was exciting and truly invigorating. Many of the meet records were broken and a few were shattered. We were sitting with a college coach and remarking that we couldn’t place where and what was happening with some of the former record holders. As we looked over the various names we found that many of them were now in their second or even third year of college – and haven’t yet swum that fast again…really.

On the plane ride home it got us to thinking about the question posed above. Here are some facts: - and we are assuming all the usual “stuff” here - athletes are stronger when they are older; they are more experienced when they are older; they are better equipped to handle the ups and downs when they are older; the list goes on. What is constant is the “when they are older” part.

If you are a swimmer (any athlete for that matter) remember that very few of your peers who are super-fast today will be that way all the way to the end of their racing career. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team. He was a fabulous college player but he was an all-world player in his late 20’s and early 30’s.

Emma, one of our swimmers, remarked this last weekend that she believed Natalie Coughlin was one of a very few number of swimmers who maintained her high level throughout her career. There are a few others as well. Yet the vast majority of those scoring at NCAA’s (all 3 divisions) and making the Olympic Team are not the super stars of the age group ranks.

The message here is twofold: if you love swimming and racing, keep at it since you are far from the end (unless you are in your 80’s –really); secondly, if you are a young phenom – good for you…keep balance and perspective in your life and in your swimming; why? Because you are a long, long way from the end…and that is indeed a wonderful thing.

More on Flow

We just returned from the Husky Invitational in Federal Way. We watched countless swims from all sorts of kids, from the really fast to the future fast swimmers. Every so often it looked to us that swimmers were in the state of flow.

Flow is described as the performance state where all things possible occur. You are simply allowing the conditioning and skill development you have acquired to come to the forefront. For this to happen two things seem to be ever present: 1- you are extremely present focused and 2 – there is some very real element of risk/danger/challenge involved. Scientists agree on this part of the equation. If one of these two is missing, then flow is severely blocked.

It is important for every person/athlete to recognize s/he can be in this state. We discuss it at length with our team. Below is an account that captures the feeling.

Two things make her story interesting; 1 – her desire to make the trip, regardless of which event (it ended up being her last possible swim in her least “favored” race) was so great and 2 – her absolute “just go for it” decision which lead to not feeling any pain.

This second point is of interest since of course her heart rate was high and her levels of lactates were high (we don’t measure them but we know everyone has high levels when they exert at maximal intensity) and she was definitely out of breath afterwards and yet she was unaware of those conditions. This is a clear marker for flow.

Thanks to Ali for sharing this personal moment of flow!

“Tears flooded my goggles as I warmed down from my 200 free. It was my best event and my closest chance to get to Seattle, but I missed the cut. I didn't even get a best time. I was angry, disheartened, and upset; I had tried my hardest, why didn't it work out? My teammates and coach gave me positive talks and I began to kindle a new hope. When my 100 fly came around, I was in a much more positive mood. I ended up getting a second faster than my best, but still missing my cut. Nevertheless, I was ready to focus on my next race. When I was getting ready for my 100 free, I wasn't expecting anything. I've never been a sprinter, but I knew I needed to get to Seattle.

When I dove in, from the very first strokes I felt fast but effortless. There was no pain at all. It felt like all the work I had put in and all the positive words from my coach had finally found their way into my swim. When I hit the wall I knew it was a great race, and the time on the board only confirmed it. I got out of the pool with a smile plastered on my face.

All because my coaches didn't give up on me, I didn't give up on myself.”

Ali earned her ticket, in our opinion, because she had done the work and because she understands the basic premise of flow. You need both, make no mistake about that.

On Being Grateful

“It is a wise person who does not grieve for things she/he has not, but rejoices for those things she/he does have especially friendship, family, and purpose.” – Inspired by Epictetus.

No, we’re not that well educated that we actually knew this on our own. This came to us this week in a Thanksgiving Day card from Theo St. Francis and his family Susan, Ray and Adrian (Learn more about Theo by Googling his name).

Theo’s brother Adrian is a multi-faceted artist and the card we got was created by him and included the quote above.

We are reminded that in this age of self-absorption that the truly important qualities in life are not how fast we swim nor how well we coach; rather the impact we each have on our surrounding circles is what is vastly more significant.

We ask each of you to make a positive impact on someone today as you move through your routines. When you smile at a person you are connecting with, watch the gratefulness play out over their countenance. When you see this you will know you made a difference.

Whatever it is you want in life – give it away, for free. It will come back to you tenfold.

Thank you Adrian. Thank you Theo.

Taper…and what we think about it today…

When a novice swim coach – us a few decades ago – first hears and plays with the concept of tapering it seems like such a huge mystery. After all, so much rides on it; or so it appears from all the talk, chatter and surrounding fuss about it: “I cannot wait for taper time” – “when I start my taper all will be right in the swim world” – “I hope I don’t miss my taper” – “I always do well when I taper” – “I can never quite seem to hit my taper” – “Did I do the right amount of taper, or was it too much, or maybe too little?”

This taper thing must be really important since so many outcomes ride on it…or at least that is what the myth perpetuates. Let’s look at the facts for a moment…we hate it when facts get in the way of perception!

When you train (as an athlete) there are really only 3 things you are working on: strength, speed and endurance. You want to build as much of those three qualities into your “game” as possible. Why? Simple…those three pillars are the foundation for athletic success…each athlete needs them in various quantities – depending on her sport – to become better at it. Let’s not overcomplicate things…not really necessary.

(to be sure, there are lots of variables at work in perfecting your game but it is easier to wrap your brain around the issues if you keep things simple)…

In our opinion based upon a certain amount of fact mixed with decades of empirical observation, taper is merely this: the process by which you, the athlete, become confident in your abilities and self-assured enough to risk your all in pursuit of excellence.

That’s it.

You are the master chef. You prepare your recipe with differing amounts of speed work, rest, stroke work; start and turn work, tempo and distance per stroke work…more rest…then some more rest…remember to add in visualization and stretching – sleep and nutrition…basically all the usual stuff. The only thing really missing from your regular diet is huge amounts of work.

And that is what makes taper time so temperamental. Every athlete knows what it feels like to be training “hard.” When you stop “hard” training you feel different. Of course you do – duh.

Enjoy the rest. Anticipate the best is yet to come. Taper allows the work you have done to rise to the top enabling you to perform at new levels of excellence.

By the way remember this: when you go for it, the race will hurt. The only time it doesn’t is when you find flow. Flow puts you in a state where the pain doesn’t matter. Every single time you race your heart rate goes up, your respiration rate increases, you build either oxygen debt or lactic acid or both. Taper doesn’t eliminate those “side effects”. Taper makes accessing your best possible.

When you become skilled at flow you will not be aware of the pain…but it is still there…so make sure you loosen really well after your race.

Oh, did we mention to have fun?

 

Ken and Elizabeth

If you have been keeping track you know we are working on developing awareness about “flow”…what it is, how to find it, how to coach it etc.

Ken had a set last Tuesday that was really instructional around the idea of flow. It went like this. The 100’s and the 75’s were fast and we mixed in stroke when and where appropriate. The interval for everything was the 1:10.

1x100/1:10…recovery 50 on the 1:10

1x75/1:10…recovery 50 on the 1:10

2x100/1:10…1x50 recovery/ 1:10

2x75/1:10…1x50 recovery/ 1:10

3x100/1:10…1x50 recovery/ 1:10

3x75/1:10…1x50 recovery/ 1:10

2x100/1:10…1x50 recovery/ 1:10

2x75/1:10…1x 50 recovery/ 1:10

1x100/1:10…1x50 recovery/ 1:10

1x75/1:10…1x50 recovery/ 1:10

Total yardage = 2075 with 1575 at effort: set time 31:20

It was interesting from the flow side in that from very early in the set no one was talking between swims. We had lots of focus. An occasional shout out to a lane mate was about all the noise we witnessed. We have found that a recovery swim right after an effort swim does that…it drives focus inward which in our opinion helps induce flow. Same thing happens in the Tim Hill broken 200 set.

Now to Elizabeth…today at workout we talked about taper and what actually happens when you taper. We said that you get ready to swim fast because the workload decreases which makes it easier to do faster repeats. This leads to faster races since you are not so tired from training plus your confidence goes up – remember the most important muscle in the human body is confidence. Of course we also do some speed work, race tempo, distance per stroke while maintaining tempo…all the usual stuff…you already know about that.

Then we reminded everyone that races while tapered “hurt” just as much as regular races. What happens more at taper meets is that you find flow. When you find flow you don’t hurt. Your body is still exerting maximally which means your heart rate is high, your respiration rate is high, and you go into oxygen debt and or build lactic acid levels. Yet you don’t notice it as much because you are really present…in flow.

Then Elizabeth issued this gem…”You don’t need to be tapered to have flow.” She is one smart girl! By the way, she had lots of flow on Thursday and Sunday this week…

Confusion…and maybe a bit of Clarity

Below is an email we received last week. It got us thinking about how many times coaches use the words “good” and “fast” interchangeably. Indeed, “better” is not the same as “faster”. Often the “faster” swimmers are the “better” swimmers…but not always.

Hi, it’s Beth; I saw an article in a swim magazine that was put in my box at school. I have been teaching and also coaching swimming at my High School in San Diego. My 4 kids are grown so I am coaching again. I just wanted to say thank-you for helping make me the person that I am today. I was never very good, but you never gave up on me, thank-you, Beth

Beth swam for the Marin Aquatic Club that Don coached “back in the day.” I (Don) replied to Beth saying that it was great to hear from her and I appreciated her kind words. Then – always the coach! – I reminded her that she actually WAS “very good”; she showed up every day, worked her butt off, always displayed enormous character, contributed to the fabric of our team and ended up reasonably fast. No, she wasn’t as fast as some of the others but Beth was an integral part of the team and a very valuable contributor in many significant ways besides the time on the old Minerva (how many of you remember that name???).

Today when swimmers come to us after their races and we ask, “So how was that?” and they say “Great” or “Terrible”…we ask them if they are talking about the time or the race. It never ceases to amaze us at the misunderstanding they have between the result and the execution of the task. If you swam “fast” usually the time is representative of where you are in your training cycle and how you approached today’s opportunity. If you swam “slowly” the time is similarly representative of how you either applied yourself in the race or how your training cycle is going.

Understanding the difference about how we “rate” ourselves goes a long way toward lifting up our possibilities. Thank you Beth for your contribution to the sharing of wisdom around the globe!

Coaching Styles

When determining the most effective method of working with your staff it is important to understand your individual coaching style. That way you can exert influence in such a way that it is compatible with how you coach.

Many coaches want a staff that “falls in line” with the leadership at the top. Others are at ease with a more diverse methodology. As a head coach know which style you want and communicate it clearly…a lot less confusion that way.

In the Interest of Accuracy We Offer the Following

And we freely admit to “knowing for certain” very few things. Thanks to Asher for helping correct us on this one.

From Wikipedia

David Berkoff
Personal information
Full name	David Charles Berkoff
Nickname(s)	"Dave"
Nationality	United States
Born	(1966-11-30) November 30, 1966 (age 47) Abington, Pennsylvania
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Weight	154 lb (70 kg)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Stroke(s)	Backstroke
Club	Bernal's Gator Swim Club
College team	Harvard University
Medal record[show] Men's swimming Competitor for the  United States Olympic Games Gold 1988 Seoul 4x100 m medley Gold 1992 Barcelona 4x100 m medley Silver 1988 Seoul 100 m backstroke Bronze 1992 Barcelona 100 m backstroke Pan American Games Silver 1987 Indianapolis 100 m backstroke Summer Universiade Gold 1987 Zagreb 4x100 m medley Silver 1987 Zagreb 100 m backstroke

David Charles Berkoff (born November 30, 1966) is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and former world record-holder. Berkoff was a backstroke specialist who won a total of four Olympic medals during his career at two different Olympic Games. He is best known for his powerful underwater start, the eponymous "Berkoff Blastoff".

At the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, he won a gold medal by swimming the backstroke leg for the winning U.S. men's team in the men's 4x100-meter medley relay. Individually, he also won a silver medal by placing second in the men's 100-meter backstroke event.

Four years later at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, Berkoff earned another gold medal by swimming for the winning U.S. team in the preliminary heats of the men's 4x100-meter medley relay. He also won a bronze medal by placing third in the 100-meter backstroke.

Berkoff was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame as an "Honor Swimmer" in 2005.