A BASIC PRACTICE
The order in which we conduct our practices is important to our team. Practice time is valuable for communicating with swimmers and parents, as well as for running professional and fun practices. Our practices include the following:
1) warm-up (during which a coach takes attendance), 2) announcements, 3) first set (often, this is a kick set or drill set), 4) main set(s), 5) repeat of the announcements, and 6) warm down.
While practices are underway, coaches will actively monitor sets and work with swimmers individually. The practice of working constantly with our swimmers on an individual basis is somewhat unique to our team. It is also great for the kids and really helps improve their technique while making them feel special.
Warm-Up and Attendance
This is the first part of every practice and is essential for many reasons. First, and most important, swimmers of all ages need to get their bodies ready for the upcoming workout. Without a proper warm-up, there is an increased risk of injury to swimmers. Second, warm-up helps swimmers acclimate to the water and the surroundings, which is especially important for younger swimmers who might be nervous about practice. Third, warm-up helps to collect the kids together. This is especially important for groups in which swimmers show up late. Although timeliness is ideal, we prefer that swimmers come late than not come at all.
Attendance is taken every day for several reasons. First, we need to know how many kids are at practice each day. This helps us to determine, over time, how many coaches to schedule to coach each group. It also helps us know how many lanes we need to rent from facilities where we rent lanes. Second, attendance allows us to recognize immediately when a swimmer has been missing from practices. Third, when a swimmer swims poorly in a meet or in practices and the coach or the parents want to know why, it’s great to be able to check our attendance records to see whether the reason for that poor performance is poor attendance.
Announcements
We make announcements two times per practice: once after warm-up, and once before warm-down. We make our daily announcements at these times because it is the best time to make sure everyone is there to hear them. Typical announcements that the coaches make are: when a meet sign-up is on the bulletin board, upcoming team events, practice changes, etc.
Kick Set/Drill Set
Both kick sets and drill sets are incorporated into every practice
Main Set(s)
For older swimmers, a main set or multiple main sets will be next. For younger swimmers, we don’t always use the term “set” but might refer to this as “the next item to be worked on, taught, or accomplished.” It is often helpful to have younger swimmers get out of the pool to listen to each set.
Announcements and Warm-Down
Just before warm down, the coach will repeat the announcements to ensure that swimmers understand and remember the information. After the warm-down, swimmers are free to go. Warm-down allows swimmers to recover in order to train again the following day, and it also helps to prevent injury. Stretching can also be done after warm-ups or after practice to increase swimmers’ flexibility and to prevent injuries.