Head Group Coach: Coach Jazzy
 
Foundation Practice Structure
  • Check-in (friendly & brief)
  • Dryland (on the 2 days we have dryland) or in water exercises (on the days we don’t have dryland (30 min total)
  • Four 12 minute segments with 3 min commercial breaks between each practice segment (each focuses on some aspect of the skill of the week)
  • Note: the last segment should be something the kids perceive as fun (group activity or contest of some sort)
  • Post-practice acknowledgement of every swimmer (compliment sandwich)
Foundation Takeaways
  • Technical competency in all strokes and turns as demonstrated by successful completion of USA swimming designated 10 & under IM Ready events (novice) or IMX events (advanced).
  • Development of rudimentary starts and underwater swimming (foiling and pullouts) as appropriate for age, size, and degree of coordination.
  • Mastery of fundamental skills required for future stroke development including proper head/body position (streamline), breathing patterns/bilateral breathing, kick rhythms, age appropriate drills, and proper use of equipment (snorkels, fins, boards).
  • Lane etiquette as demonstrated by proper spacing, safe passing, correct pool entry/exit, awareness of others, attentiveness to the deck coach, and proper management of personal equipment.
  • Swim meet basics including reading a heat sheet, understanding starter commands, communicating with timers, the role of officials/disqualifications, performing dynamic warm-ups, sharing warm-up lanes with other teams, relay swimming/relay rules, and appropriate behavior/activities while on the team bench.
  • Time awareness, as demonstrated by the ability to read simple practice intervals (:00, :10, :15, :30, :45), the ability to report times in practice and competition, the ability to record times for others, and understanding of pacing (practice pace vs race pace).
  • Sportsmanship including reacting appropriately to success and adversity, communicating respectfully with teammates and coaching staff, contributing in a tangible manner to the LST community, and using verbs to describe oneself (not nouns) to verify progress in this area (congratulating, sharing, helping).
  • Understanding basic athletic nutrition as demonstrated by appropriate choices in after practice snacks and meet snacks.
Practice Schedule:
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Saturday
5:30 - 7 p.m. 5:30 - 7 p.m. 5:30 - 7 p.m. 5:30 - 7 p.m. 8 - 9:30 a.m.