Week 5 Technical and Conditioning Focus
Fall 2024 Week 5 Technical & Conditioning Focus: September 30 – October 5
Technical Focus: Rotation & Recovery
Conditioning Focus: Aerobic Preparation
Macrocycle: Fall 2024; Mesocycle: Aerobic Preparation; Microcycle: Major Kick
Hello Swim Families!
Welcome to Fall 2024 week 5!
This week, our swimmers will focus on rotation and recovery. Rotation is not part of every stroke, only freestyle and backstroke; meanwhile, recovery is a component of every stroke.
What does this mean?
Rotation, which is quite straight-forward, refers to how a swimmer turns their body from the hips or the shoulders during the long-axis strokes, those being freestyle and backstroke.
How into the weeds am I going to get on this topic… I’m going for it.
Breaststroke is the only true short-axis stroke, whereas butterfly occupies an interesting position somewhat between the two classifications of long- and short-axis. I will defer to the esteemed Gary Hall, Sr. for further clarification.
“Butterfly is clearly not a long-axis stroke, but it is not really a short axis stroke, either. Because the body speed in fly should never approach zero, a swimmer should neither bend nor rotate much on the short axis. The body needs to stay in a more horizontal position to reduce frontal drag. In order to maximize propulsion from the dolphin kick, however, there has to be some undulation at the hip. So the body cannot remain perfectly horizontal either.”
So, let’s talk about recovery. Recovery, in this sense, does not refer to physical recuperation; rather, recovery refers to the motion the arms make going forward within the stroke cycle.
In other words, when the arms come out of the water—except in breaststroke—to advance the body forward. A swimmer can, technically, take their arms out of the water in breaststroke, though their elbows must remain in the water, lest they get disqualified. Personally, I think having thumbs up and out of the water on breaststroke recovery is the way to go, though I also encourage experimentation. Should one desire to bring their entire hand out of the water while keeping the palms downward is another preferred method, but I digress.
Our conditioning focus will take things up a notch from the previous four weeks as we home in on developing aerobic endurance and dialing up the kicking. Platinum swimmers will utilize drag sox on multiple occasions this week. Blue, White, and Minnows will also see an uptick in the amount they are kicking, though they will continue to utilize the standard kickboards and fins.
I recognize that I have mentioned equipment a couple of times, and I promise I will circle back with an exhaustive list of required equipment, as well as my personal recommendations. In the meantime, I would like to speak to one single item EVERY swimmer should bring to the pool EVERY SINGLE DAY… a WATER BOTTLE!
Preferably, a refillable water bottle made of metal or plastic.
Please ensure the bottle is full when the swimmer enters practice. Most of the time, a coach can fill an athlete’s water bottle so that they may stay in the pool without interrupting their training. Too often, swimmers will ask to go get a drink of water during important sets when they ought to remain in the water.
Another note on water—or whatever a swimmer chooses to imbibe during a workout—they do not need to take full drinks between efforts; rather, small sips on a frequent basis is encouraged.
And let me risk a little more rambling… efforts = repetitions.
Effort, on the other hand, must be at 100 percent all the time. Does that mean a swimmer is going at 100 percent speed the entire time?
No.
My coaching philosophy… is too long to put in this email, though I would like to continue in this vein of effort versus speed.
As stated above, whether a swimmer is doing a simple drill or competing in the biggest competition of their life, they should be giving 100 percent effort. Full focus, full energy.
When should they give 100 percent speed? When they are told to. When they are racing. When the workout calls for it.
In other words, a swimmer may be swimming a threshold set, meaning they are swimming at around 80 percent of their full speed, while simultaneously giving 100 percent of their full effort, focus, and energy.
Also, as you have seen, you may now register for swim meets! If you have any questions regarding this process, please shoot me an email. We are just 2 weeks away from our first meet at Salina… fun fact, Coach Reid got his first ever ‘A’ time at Salina South High School, where we will be competing October 12-13.
So this is a long post. Please let me know if you have any questions, and I’ll see you at the pool!
--Coach Reid
