2. Dates of Program:
All swim practices andmeets will beheld onSaturdaymornings from 9:00-10:00AMESTat the
Gemini Center inFairview Park,Ohio.The12-week program will continueover the
highlightedSaturdaysbelow onthecalendars.
June
S M T W Th F Sa
1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18
19 20 21 22 23 24 25
26 27 28 29 30
July
S M T W Th F Sa
1 2
3. 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29 30
31
August
S M T W Th F Sa
1 2 3 4 5 6
7 8 9 10 11 12 13
14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Outline & Structure of Practices
I. Weeks One & Two: Working on water balance with skills & drills
a. Swimmers will refine their ability to remain prone in the water, as
well as increasetheir speed with adaptive skills and drills like sculling
and flip turns.
i. Sculling: Swimmers will lay pronein the water with legs and
hips supported by a noodle. Swimmers willthen move hands in
4. a figure eight motion similar to painting with the hands. (5
minutes)
ii. Swimmers will then practice sculling without the use of the
noodle floats. (5 minutes)
iii. Flip Turns: Swimmers will practice in-water cannon balls by
grasping both knees and hugging them to their chest to
submerge, and then resurfaceto complete a cannon ball bob.
This will get the swimmers accustomed to maintaining a tight
body position when flipping towards the wall for a turn. (15
minutes)
iv. Wall Push-Offs: Swimmers willgrasp wallwith two hands, with
knees to chest and toes on the wall. Swimmers willthen push
off wall with feet and lean back into the water like falling back
onto a mattress. (5 minutes)
v. Wall Push-Off with Streamline: Swimmers will push off wall
and then position their hands into a “streamline” position with
hands in an “A” whereone hand is overlapping the other. (5
minutes)
5. vi. Flip Turn to Touch Wall: Swimmers will practice under water
flip turns to the wall to acquirecorrect foot positioning on the
wall. (5 minutes)
vii. Flip Turn + Push Off: Swimmers will practice complete flip
turn. Swimmers will flip towards wall, under water, and push
off with feet. (10 minutes)
viii. Flip Turn + Streamline: Swimmers will implement complete
flip turn and then push off wall into streamline position to
continue into the next lap. (10 minutes)
II. Weeks Three & Four: Refining FreestyleStrokes
a. Swimmers will refine their freestyle strokes. Thestrokewill be
broken down into two parts: legs, then arms. Attention will be
placed on straight-leg kicks, rotary breathing, and hand to water
placement.
i. Warm-Up (5 minutes):
1. Neck Rolls: 10x.
2. ArmCircles: 10x forward, 10xreverse
6. 3. Shoulder Shrugs: 10xforward, 10xreverse
4. FrontCrawl: 1 lap
ii. Kicking Drill 1: Swimmers will place hands on the side of the
pool with arms extended and face in water. Swimmers will
initiate a small kicking stride fromthe hip with minimal
splashing. (2.5 minutes)
iii. Kicking Drill 2: Place one noodle under each ankle of the
swimmers. Whilelaying prone in the water, with arms on the
side of the pool, have swimmers drag noodleunder the wall to
whereleg is fully extended. In order to get the noodle fully
submerged, the swimmer will need to maintain a straight-leg
position in the water. (5 minutes)
iv. Torpedo Push-Off: Swimmers willhold onto the wall and
utilize the wall push-off learned in week one. After pushing off
on the wall, swimmers will hold the streamline position and,
7. with straightlegs, kick vigorously for 10 meters, and then swim
back to wall. Face should be submerged during streamline with
pointed toes. (5 minutes)
v. Kick with Kickboard: Swimmers willeach hold kickboard with
two hands, arms fully extended. Each swimmer will practice
straight-leg kicks, with a small stride, for two laps. Laps will be
completed in succession. (2.5 minutes)
vi. ArmDrill 1: Squat in water with arms extended out holding
PVC pipe/noodle piece. Lift one arm off pipe/piece and push
under water to for stroke, butwhen bringing arm back to
pipe/piece, only finger nails should touch water. Repeat with
other arm. (5 minutes)
vii. ArmDrill 2: Practice same drill, but with arms fully extended
without noodle piece or PVC pipe. Ensureonly finger
nails/finger tips are touching the water upon resurfacing. (5
minutes)
8. viii. Pipe/Piece Strokes: Swimmers willswim two laps practicing
free style arms while holding a noodle piece or PVCpipe piece.
The swimmer will hold the piece in one hand while
concurrently submerging the oppositearm underwater. Upon
resurfacing, theswimmer will complete the “fingertip drag”
across the water to place the pipe piece in the oppositehand.
Complete two laps. (5 minutes)
ix. Tennis Ball: Gripping a tennis ball will give the swimmers a
senseof perspectiveof how the water adds pressure. This will
aid in the swimmers “gripping” the water, and pushing against
it like climbing a ladder while swimming. Swimmers willhold
one tennis ball in each hand. Swimmers willcomplete two laps
of freestylestrokes while holding the tennis balls in their
hands. (5 minutes)
b. Flip Turn Practice: Swimmers will incorporatethe flip turn in each of
their laps. (10 minutes)
9. c. SwimFreestyle: Swimmers will utilize the skills and drills learned in
today’s practice. Upon reaching the wall, swimmers willperforma
flip turn for efficient and quick strokes. (10 minute)
III. Weeks Five & Six: Refining Back Stroke
a. Swimmers will work on fine-tuning their backstroke. Likefreestyle,
the strokewill be broken down into two parts: legs, then arms.
Attention will be placed on core activation, extended arms with pinky
entering the water first, and straight leg kicks.
i. Warm-Up (5 minutes):
1. Neck Rolls: 10x.
2. ArmCircles: 10x forward, 10xreverse
3. Shoulder Shrugs: 10xforward, 10xreverse
4. FrontCrawl: 1 lap
ii. Kicking Drill 1: Float supinein the water while grasping the
side of the wall. Extend legs out and begin kicking fromhip.
Swimmer should maintain straightlegs, and a small stride
should be produced with minimal splashing. (5 minutes)
10. iii. Kicking Drill 2: Swimmers will each wear flippers and hold
kickboard over their heads while floating and kicking supine. (5
minutes/2 laps)
iv. Kicking Drill/Body Balance: Swimmers will each balance a
plastic cup on their forehead while holding kickboard over
their heads. Cup is used to ensurethe proper head tilt and
core activation. (5 minutes/2 laps)
v. Shoulder Rock Drill: Swimmers will lay supine in water. While
kicking utilizing straightleg kicks, the swimmers willhold their
arms down at sides and begin touching chin to shoulder in the
water. Tell swimmers to “blow bugs off shoulders.” This will
simulate the proper rocking technique for back stroke. (5
minutes/2 laps)
vi. Tennis Ball Drill: Swimmers will hold a tennis ball in each hand,
and will practice backstrokearmstrokes with one arm at a
time. The tennis ball is a sensory drillto feel the pressureof
the water and the stroke. (5 minutes/2 laps)
11. vii. Backstrokewith Flippers: Swimmers willeach wear flippers
and complete 2 laps of backstroke. (5 minutes)
viii. Flip Turns with Backstroke: Swimmers willpractice the proper
technique of performing a flip turn with backstroke. Swimmers
will performa proper flip turn, incorporateit into a streamline
to backstroke, and then performa flip turn leading rightinto
backstroke. (10 minutes)
ix. Backstroke: Swimmers willcombine all of the skills learned
today and performthe proper backstrokeutilizing flip turns on
every lap. (15 minutes)
IV. Weeks Seven & Eight: Perfecting Breaststroke
a. Swimmers will be working on refining their breaststroke. As in prior
weeks, the strokewill be broken down into two parts: legs, then
arms. Attention will be focused on proper arm technique of “sweep,
scoop, and extend,” proper leg technique of “Up, out, together,” and
coordinating breathing.
i. Warm-Up (5 minutes):
1. Neck Rolls: 10x.
2. ArmCircles: 10x forward, 10xreverse
12. 3. Shoulder Shrugs: 10xforward, 10xreverse
4. Standing leg kicks to the side: 10xeach leg
5. FrontCrawl: 1 lap
ii. Standing Kick Drill: Swimmers will practice the three parts of
the kick of breaststroke. Swimmers willlift one leg up for “Up,”
then jump out into an X position for “Out,” then will stand with
arms and legs together like a pencil for “Together.” (5 minutes)
iii. Wall Kick Drill 1: Swimmers will grasp the side of the wall with
arms extended. While blowing bubbles, swimmers will practice
the three parts of the breaststrokekick. (5 minutes)
iv. Wall Kick Drill 2: Swimmers will loop bungee straps around
ankles. While grasping the pool wall, swimmers will practice
the three parts of the breaststrokekick while wearing bungee.
The use of the bungee will ensurethat their legs are the
adequate distance apart while swimming. (5 minutes)
v. BreaststrokeKick with Kickboard: Swimmers willhold the
kickboard with arms extended and complete the three parts of
the breaststrokekick. Coaches should focus on each
swimmer’s kick to ensure the motions of “Up, Out, Together.”
13. The legs should snap together upon completion of 1 kick
stroke. (5 minutes/2 laps)
vi. ArmCup Drill: Swimmers willpractice the arm strokes of
“Sweep, Scoop, Extend.” While holding cups in each hand,
each swimmer will fill the cups with water to “Sweep,” then
“Scoop” the cups to simulate taking a drink, and then “Extend”
arms outward to empty the cups and go back for more. (5
minutes)
vii. Breaststroke: Swimmers willutilize the skills learned in today’s
practice and performthe complete strokeof breaststroke
incorporating the arms and legs concurrently. (10 minutes)
viii. Flip Turns: Swimmers will practice swimming a lap of
breaststrokeand incorporating a flip turn at the end of the lap.
(10 minutes)
14. ix. Breaststrokewith Flip Turns: Swimmers willutilize all of the
skills and lessons fromtoday’s practice, and swimbreaststroke
using the arms and legs concurrently. At the end of each lap,
swimmers will incorporatea flip turn for quick and efficient
swimming. (10 minutes)
V. Weeks Nine & Ten: Butterfly
a. This week, swimmers will learn and practice the proper butterfly
stroke. As in prior weeks, the strokewill be broken down into two
parts: legs, then arms. Attention will be focused on proper “dolphin”
kick by utilizing extensive hip action while keeping the legs together,
as well as a large reach out of the water when performing the arm
stroke.
i. Warm-Up (5 minutes):
1. Neck Rolls: 10x.
2. ArmCircles: 10x forward, 10xreverse
3. Shoulder Shrugs: 10xforward, 10xreverse
4. FrontCrawl: 1 lap
15. ii. Kicking Drill 1: While grasping the side of the pool wall,
swimmers will practice the butterfly kick with the legs
together. The kick should be initiated fromthe hip like a body
roll. The feet should be used to propel self forward. (5
minutes)
iii. Kicking Drill 2: While holding kickboard, swimmers willswim2
laps demonstrating the butterfly kick while wearing flippers. (5
minutes/2 laps)
iv. ArmDrill 1: Swimmers will practice the arm motions of
butterfly while standing in the shallow end. Swimmers may be
required to squatin water to demonstrate proper reach out of
the water. (5 minutes)
v. ArmDrill 2: While being supported by a noodle, swimmers will
complete 1 full lap of butterfly using only the armmotion.
Coaches should ensure that swimmers aremaintaining the
proneposition in the water, and are reaching the arms fully
out of the water. (5 minutes/1 lap)
vi. Butterfly with Flippers: Swimmers will practice the full stroke
of butterfly incorporating the arms and legs while wearing
16. flippers for faster propulsion. Attention should be placed on
the swimmer’s reach outof the water to ensure proper
breathing technique. (5 minutes/2 laps)
vii. Flip Turns: Swimmers will practice performing flip turns while
swimming the butterfly stroke. Swimmers will swimone half of
a lap of butterfly, and then initiate a proper flip turn. (10
minutes)
viii. Butterfly with Flip Turns: Swimmers will swimthe butterfly
strokewhile incorporating flip turns at the end of each lap.
Attention should be focused on ensuring that each swimmer is
maintaining a proneposition in the water, and reaching all the
way out of the water for proper breathing. (15 minutes)
ix. Cool Down: Swimmers will spend the last five minutes of the
practice by cooling down with a slow, relaxed swim.
1. Backstroke(1 lap)
2. Freestyle(1 lap)
VI. Week 11: Prepare for Competition
17. a. This week, the swimmers willpractice the skills and drills learned
over the pastten weeks and incorporatethem when swimming each
one of the differentstrokes.
i. Warm-Up (5 minutes):
1. Neck Rolls: 10x.
2. ArmCircles: 10x forward, 10xreverse
3. Shoulder Shrugs: 10xforward, 10xreverse
4. Kickboard Kicking: 1 lap
5. FrontCrawl: 1 lap
ii. Freestylewith Flip Turns: Swimmers willutilize proper arm
reach technique while performing the flutter kick with proper
leg extension. Swimmers willalso performrotary breathing
with every fourth stroke. At the end of each lap, the swimmers
will performa flip turn for quick and efficient swimming. (10
minutes)
iii. Breaststrokewith Flip Turns: Swimmers willperformthe
proper technique of breaststroke, including breathing while in
18. the “Scoop” phase. At the end of each lap, the swimmers will
performa flip turn for quick and efficient swimming. (10
minutes)
iv. Backstrokewith Flip Turns: Swimmers willperformthe proper
technique of backstrokeby maintaining a supine position and
reaching the arms in the water with the pinky first, “thumb
up.” At the end of each lap, the swimmers willperforma flip
turn for quick and efficient swimming. (10 minutes)
v. Butterfly with Flip Turns: Swimmers will performthe proper
technique of butterfly by keeping the legs together and
reaching the arms fully out of the water. At the end of each
lap, the swimmers willperforma flip turn for quick and
efficient swimming. (10 minutes)
vi. Cool Down: Swimmers will spend five minutes of the practice
by cooling down with a slow, relaxed swim.
1. Backstroke(1 lap)
2. Freestyle(1 lap)
19. vii. The last ten minutes of the session will be used to answer any
questions the swimmers haveaboutnext week’s swimmeet.
Swimmers may continue to practice and refine their strokes for
the competition. Coaches should reassureswimmers thatthis
is only the firstswimmeet, and to justenjoy being in the
water.
VII. Week Twelve: Competition
a. The final date of the initial twelve weeks is dedicated to competing in
the swimmeet. All swimmers willbe performing each one of the
strokes. Theswimmeets will be designed to ensure sportsmanship
and to introduce the swimmers to how an actual swim meet is run.
Emphasis will be on participation and proper swimming technique.
20. b. The layout of the day is as follows:
i. Stretch & Warm-Up
ii. FreestyleCompetition
iii. BreaststrokeCompetition
iv. –Break—
v. BackstrokeCompetition
vi. Butterfly Competition
vii. Stretch & Cool Down
c. Upon conclusion of the cool down, medals/ribbons will be awarded
to each swimmer for their hard work and dedication to the swim
team. The coaches will communicate their appreciation for
everyone’s hard work, and explain the upcoming schedule of events.
