Coach Bob Steele, ISCA Hall of Fame Inductee, taught a session at the Coaches Summit on Games, Gimmicks and Challenges. These are his slides.

2. GAMES
GIMMICKS
CHALLENGES

3. WHY?
• Motivating
• Creative
• Simple
• Challenging
• Distracting
• Engaging
• Attendance
• FUN

4. “An engaged swimmer is more likely to continue
swimming and improve.”
David Marsh – Olympic Coach - Auburn teams won 12 NCAA Championships.
“Swimmers will leave practice with a smile on
their face, anxious to come back for more…”
Bob Groseth – National Team Assistant Swim Carolina – Northwestern Univ.
“If it’s fun to watch, it’s fun to do! Entertain
yourself while coaching.” Bob Steele – NU – SIU – CSUB
“Swimming with Bob was distracted pain and it
was never boring” Roger VonJouanne – AR 200 Fly -

5. TRAINING EFFECT
Physiological development from swimming is
the same from GAMES and DRILLS as it is
from structured sets in 13 and unders.
YOU must hook ‘em to keep ‘em!

6. ORGANIZING
• Create it
• Name it
• Winners and Losers
• Creating Teams
(time, height, eyes, boys/girls, grades)
• Rewards
• Quiet
• Outcome
• Re-dos
• All Ages and Abilities

7. • GAMES GIMMICKS CHALLENGES
• 1) Rock Band/Race Horse
• 2) Shark n Minnow
• 3) Demolition Derby
• 4) Shortening Relay
• 5) Rock/Paper/Scissors
• 6) Catch Up Relay
• 7) Call It Relay
• 8) Broken Relay
• 9) Kickboard Relay
• 10) T-shirt Relay
• 11) Crazy Strokes Relay
• 12) Rocky Road – 5x100@3
• 13) Rest n Go
• 14) LA Freeway
• 15) 2 vs 1
• 16) Stop Over Pace
• 17) Dartboard Wing It
• 18) Ups n Downs
• 19) Dealers Choice
• 20) Lotto Set
• 21) Text Set
• 20) Lotto Set
• 21) Text Set
• 22) Pulse Set
• 23) Handicapped Set
• 24) Ideals
• 25) King of the Hill
• 26) Wicked Wenden
• 27) GOS 100 x 2 5 of 8
• 28) Broken NTS-LTB-GT
• 29) Kicking/Pulling for Time
• 30) K Phelps 50’s S - M - F
• 30) Tug of War
• 31) Firecracker 400
• 32) Indy 500
• 33) World Series/Super Bowl
• 34) Backwards Practice
• 35) Workout Invitational
• 36) Texas/Rhode Island 25’s
• 37) Dice
• 38) Relay Run Downs
• 39) Total Time Relays
• 40) One Better
• 41) Chase
• 42) Queen/King of the Pool
• 43) Salmon Run

8. Rock Band or Race Horse
Race Horses
Hip Twenty-five Count It Up Out Coached Boston Blitz
Drew’s Delight Chain of Miricles Jordan’s Party Cast No Shadow
Country Fair Magic Berti XYZ Album Leaf
Mill Street Blues Stormy Hostage Phone First Stray Cat Blues
Poolhall Three Ladies Man Shoalihs Tale Esther Egg
Colihan Decipherance Met’a Flew Imamyto
Wegotta Olympic Experience Jazzamatassie Champagne Now
Skeete’s Bay Amanzi Lasting Joy Island Delight
Formidable Gold Luck Out Taylor’s Giggle Harmony River
Bright Spot Wild Axe Mischievous Lover Take My Word
Lil Firefly Ainworthanickle Black Cat Sally Link to the Moon
Really Slick Tricker Country Silence Unconfessed
Buzzard’s Bay Brother Derek Brass Hat Steppenwolfer
Bandini Surf Cat Descreet Cat Sacred Light
Flower Alley Sharp Humor Bushfire Splender Blender
Rock Bands
Leftlane Cruisin’ Coal Kitchen Green Machine Longshot
Spazmatic Black Mambazo Aceyalone Frisbe
Grazyna Auyisuk Electric Eel Shock Steel Train Rose Hill Drive
Starflyer Two Gallants Talkdemonic Darlyne Cain
AFI Drowning Pool Kill Hannah Suffocation
Shadows Fall Nouvelle Vague Kid Beyond Buzzcocks
Big Whiskey Pugslee Atomz Parliamont Funkadelic Alena
Naked Sunday Gomez Raised on Zenith Jah Dan and JahLock
Faun Fables Fuzzy Cousin Bird Name Time Machine
Gym Class Hero S.T.Monroe Moxie Motive Two Timin’ Three
Plastic Crimewave Nyco Nights of Fire Beatle Stix

9. GAMES

10. SHARK N’ MINNOW
Designated swimmers (yellow) tag/pull swimmers
to the surface before touching the opposite side of
the pool, TO BE CAUGHT and spread until one’s
left.

11. DEMOLITION DERBY
Four teams cross to opposite corner and sit to
win. Pull other team’s swimmers away from their
goal corner. Anything goes in middle but big
people cannot hold little people underwater.

12. RELAYS

13. SHORTENING RELAY
• 250 relay with fastest swimming the 100
• 4 relays starting at 1 and moving toward starting
end after each swim. Safe starts on #4

14. ROCK – PAPER – SCISSORS
5 swimmers each end of lane. First swimmers race
to midpool and do RPS. Winner sprints to goal on
opposite end. Winner sprints to meet the next
swimmer on the other team for RPS where they
meet. Loser swims back in empty lane. First team to
touch goal wins and teams start again.

15. CALL IT RELAY
Next swimmer in leading team calls a DIFFERENT
stroke and all other swimmers must to it. Lane 6
incoming swimmer is doing back so next swimmer
might call fly.

16. CATCH-UP RELAY
(AUSTRIALIAN)
End with two people start simultaneously and relay
continues until on team out touches the other on
the same end of the pool.

17. BROKEN RELAYS - EOP
• 4 swimmers, not always best 4 mixed?
• 200 Medley /Free Relay with 10 SR at 25’s –
good exchanges.
• Start watch on start and stop hand at 25,
restart when feet leave the wall (10.5)
• Get split at each exchange. (23.2)
• Continue for the whole 200.

18. KICKBOARD RELAY
6 to 8 / lane all with kickboards, biggest kids
at end of each line. Each swimmer kicks a 25
and hands off until the last kid has all the
kickboards. Must swim all to goal.

19. T-SHIRT - Teamates pull shirt over head – onto
the next swimmer. Head down, grasp wrists.
CRAZY STROKES
PULL KICK
1. FLY BREAST
2. BACK FLY
3. FREE FLY
4. BREAST FREE ….
Coach walks side yelling out stroke combinations as
relay progresses.

20. NTERVAL TRAINING

21. ROCKY ROAD
Stand shoulder to shoulder by time or height. Count off
by number of lanes and go to assigned lane. Add average
times to see winning lane who goes for ice cream. Used
weekly on test sets. Waves – 12 free – 6 bk/fly – 6 bst

22. REST N’ GO - last swimmer rests one swim
and then leads with each swimmer dropping back one
spot. Slow swimmers MUST lead, not slipstream.
LA FREEWAY – last swimmer has 25 yds to
pass the first and then jamb the pace for the NEW
last swimmer to pass.

23. 2 VS 1
• STOP OVER PACE
• Swimmers afraid to race are given a pace. If they fail to
hold pace the entire team starts the swim OVER again.
Re-dos and peer pressure work.
•
2 swimmers 10 x 100 @ 3 vs 1 swimmer 10 x 200 @ 3
WINNER(S) gets 5 cents per swim

24. DARTBOARD – WING IT
From 10’ away each swimmer throws a dart on the
dart board or pull buoy at the chalk board. They
then do whatever they hit. Target has Distance sets
on border and Sprint near target. (knot on bullseye)

25. UPS N’ DOWNS
SPEEDPLAY odds FASTER – Evens SLOWER
12 X 50 @45

26. DEALER’S CHOICE
• ___00 (3-5-7-9)
• ___ x 100 @ 1:30
• P ___ x 50 (___)@ :45
• K 5 x __0 @ 10 sr
• ___ x 25 (1) @ 40 (2 dice)
• ___ x 25 @ 25 (___ rate/25)
• K ___ x 50f @ ___0 sr
(U/W)
• Start up the ladder if others
have not finished going
down the ladder.

27. LOTTO SET - Coach buys 10 Lotto tickets
4 x 100 @ 1:30 - 4 tickets to fastest on set
3 x 100 @ 1:15 - 3 tickets to fastest on set
2 x 100 @ 1:10 - 2 tickets to fastest on set
1 x 100 1 ticket to fastest
IF ANYONE WINS THE LOTTERY THEY BUY YOU A
CORVETTE.
TEXT SET - coach creates a story swimmers text on
phone in plastic bag BETWEEN swims on a SR set. First
one to send the message to the coach WINS!
PULSE SEND-OFFS – Take for 6 sec. every 15 sec.
after every swim in set 180+ and go when 120.

28. HANDICAPPED START – Red seat – Hero - Hairy
LANE 1 2 3 4 5 6
CLOCK 0 1 3 3 5 8
IDEALS - 10 weeks out from a championship meet 200 do
5 x 50 on the descending S.O. ALWAYS holding desired
pace. Hold desired pace every week w/ 5 sec less rest.
10/45–9/40–8/35–7/30–6/25–5/20–4/15–3/10–2/5
KING OF THE HILL – Who can WIN ?# X 50’s
descending rest?
45-44-43-42-41-40-39-38-37-36-35-34-33-32-31-30-29-28-
27-26… IF SWIMMER’S DONE CAN’T HEAR YOU SAY GO!

29. TYPES
OF
TIME TRIALS

30. GET OUT SWIMS
• Wicked Wendens – Harry Gallegher
• Git Out Swim(s) - EOP under Best + 3 (4 of 6)
• Under National Time Standard–Broken at EOP
• Under Lifetime Best – Broken at EOP
• Under Goal Time – Broken at EOP
Broken (10/25) – (10/50) – (5-10-15/50) – (5-
10-15/50) – (mid-pool or SPOTS) …

31. PRACTICE
RECORDS

32. KICKING
and
PULLING
EVERY swimmer should know their best time
for 100 – 200 – 400 kicks and pulls. Record daily
on training sheet on clipboard or glass window.

33. TUG A WAR

34. SPECIAL
EVENTS

35. FIRECRACKER 400

36. INDY 500
WORLD SERIES 400 IM SUPER BOWL
Home Run - 4:20 Touchdown - 7
Triple 4:25 Field Goal – 3
Double 4:30 Safety – 2
Single 4:35 Extra Point – 1
Walk 4:40
Out +

37. BACKWARDS PRACTICE
nwodmraW RF 002
teskciK 2 @ MI 001 X 4
tes niaM miws 03:@ MI 001 X 01
tes-erP hctiws 1 @ 05 X 8
pumraW eciohC 004 eerF llA
llirD 004
kcik 004
noegip
pu-naelc

38. WORKOUT INVITATIONAL
Two slower swimmers pick teams. Take times on
test sets and score it. Soooo team B wins.

39. SPRINTS

40. SPRINTS
Time 1 swimmer on a 25 - # of 10’s is # to 25’s
Texas 25’s
Rhode Island 25’s
Pennies
Kickboards
Underwater widths
Dice
Relay Run Downs – slow w/2 sec lead over fast

41. TOTAL TIME RELAYS
Each 3 swimmer teams race 6 x 150 relay having to go
under assigned paces. Only the relay total times under
count with a 3 second pad. It took 9 -150’s to make the
required 6

42. ONE BETTER
Find that breaststroker for a medley? The
slowest swimmer swims a TT 50 first and every
following swimmer must go faster than
ANYONE ahead or they do a Reverse 400 IM

43. CHASE
One swimmer gets a 3 second lead on the field and
must touch the other side before anyone touches
ahead of them. If out-touched they go again.

44. KING/QUEEN OF THE POOL
EVERYONE sprints across the pool. The two last
swimmers are out. Continue RACING until there are
two left to race for the Wednesday CHAMPIONSHIPS.

45. SALMON RUN
Lever-Drag Reel $80 – Retrieve when close to touching.

46. MO MO
TIMESTONE – in pocket
RATINGS scale – colors on attendance sheet
KICKBOARD - goals
PACE WALK – neon orange glove – hats
EOP – Listener Lifesavers – Bob’s Country Music
HI 5 “HOPE THE NEXT ONE’S HARDER”

47. CELEBRATIONS
5 X CELEBRATIONS @ 60
Swimmers line up along laneline first at
backstroke flags, take a turn sprinting in
with a perfect finish and CELEBRATION .
The the next swimmer does it until 5 are
done. CELEBRATIONS must be different.

48. SPAGHETTI
Use a surgical tubing for EOP volunteer time
trials. Tie RED ribbon on the end of those
tubing that must be used.
18’ for 25 yds
and
56’ for meters.
RECORDS: 1:05 FLY and 1:13 BREAST

49. GREAT COACHES
fuel
GREAT SWIMMERS

50. “ATTENTION
AND
EXPECTATION
DETERMINES SWIMMER SUCCESS
AND YOURS”
Bob Steele

51. fastswimmin1@gmail.com – uses PayPal
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