Practice Groups Overview
Storm’s training philosophy is centered on long-term development, attitude, effort, enthusiasm, and personal expression. We progress our athletes gradually through the program to allow them to experience success in both the near and distant future while developing the “total athlete” and productive member of society. Athletes progress at different rates (some progress faster than others) and Storm treats each athlete as an individual while also holding them accountable to the rules and regulations of the team. We also believe that each swimmer needs to possess a passion for the sport and a constant desire to improve- both in mechanics and speed. Finally, the coaching staff approaches each practice with passion and enthusiasm and work to exude this passion in our swimmers.
Our program is broken down into 3 tiers with 6 training groups offered.
The first tier is our Developmental Program, which is focused on our youngest and less experienced swimmers (mainly 11-under). There are two training groups in our Developmental Program- Lightning and Thunder. The focus of the program is to provide an educational foundation for competitive swimming (basic terminology, swimming etiquette, etc) while focusing on stroke development, encouraging enthusiasm for the sport, and learning the basics of goal setting and sportsmanship. Competitions are a vital tool and swimmers in this group are expected to attend local YMCA and USA Swim competitions. We encourage our young swimmers in these groups to additionally participate in other sports or activities should they choose.
The 2nd tier in our development is our Age Group Program. It consists of three groups- Age Group 1 and 2 and our Junior squad. These groups are designed for swimmers who have advanced out of our Developmental Program and are beginning to make swimming a top extracurricular activity. Swimmers in these groups are encouraged to explore other sports but are expected to make swimming a priority. Long-term goal setting (full season-multiple seasons in the future) is introduced as well as dryland training (2-3 days per week). Participation in meets is REQUIRED for this program and swimmers are expected to attend any and all championship meets that they qualify for.
The most advanced tier of our program is our Senior Program. It consists of two groups- Senior and National. These groups are designed for our most experienced athletes who have made swimming their top extracurricular priority and is focused on more intensive training as well as building on the foundation that is set in our Age Group program. Advanced goal setting (daily, short-term, and long term), leadership skill development and regular team meetings are part of this program. Participation in meets is REQUIRED for this program and swimmers are expected to attend any and all championship meets that they qualify for.
