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10/28/03 CCB Masters T-15s and IM Flipper Zen

Posted by Barbara Hummel on Oct 28, 2003 12:01PM (1,851 views)

10/28/03 CCB Masters T-15s and IM Flipper Zen

It's the last week of the month, which is always T-15 week for our Masters team. We do the T-15s in a couple of heats, so I needed to create a practice that swimmers could break in and out of when it was their turn to do the T-15. The main set incorporates drills and swimming, and has you switching repeatedly between short axis and long axis. The constant switching makes you find your balance in a new way on each 25. Don't worry about going fast on any of the swims. Just get into a kind of Zen flow state on the drills and free. If you want to incorporate some fast swimming, do it on the 4 X 25s at the end of each round.

WARMUP: 400
With fins or without -- our choice.
Swim an EZ warmup to get your heart rate up and loosen your shoulders.

MAIN SET: 2100
This is all done with fins.
Swim 6 rounds of the following:
150 alternating Drill #1 and Drill #2 by 25s -- followed immediately by a 100 freestyle. Rest ~ 15 seconds, then do 4 X 25 in IM order with 10 to 15 seconds rest between 25s.

Round #1: Drills are Head-Lead Body Dolphin + Head-Lead Active Balance
Round #2: Drills are Head-Lead Body Dolphin on Your Back + Head-Lead Active
Round #3: Drills are Hand-Lead Body Dolphin + 6-Count Backstroke
Round #4: Drills are Hand-Lead Body Dolphin on Your Back +6-Count Backstroke
Round #5: Drills are Stoneskipper + 2L/2R Backstroke (2 strokes left arm/2 strokes right arm)
Round #6: Drills are Stoneskipper + 3/4 Long-Axis Combo (3 strokes free/4 strokes back)

WARMDOWN: 100 EZ swim

Total Yardage: 2200

Responses

George	Responded Oct 29, 2003 01:47PM I no longer swim with a masters club too much breaststroke (I have bad knees) to many drills, not enough real swimming.
Clay	Responded Oct 30, 2003 01:35AM Barbara, I aspire to swim for our local Masters Groups, and I will compete and win medal in meets by June 2004. (Gold is not likely with former Olympians still hanging around ;) BUT I'LL CHASE 'EM ANYWAY Questions: Do you know of any good Heart Rate Monitors for swimming? I would prefer one that warns at a set threshold. I am constantly checking mine manually by the pace clock, but I want one that tells me where I am in long swims. And, how 'bout a good waterproof radio? Got one of those you'd recommend? Also, I don't have access to and endless pool, or easy access to a 50 meter pool. I have an exercize in mind to develop rhythm, but I want your opinion, and Glenn's if he's reading... I want to attach a stretch cord to an anchor, and swim against it for resistance. But, the focus isn't on resistance, it's on rhythm. I'm constantly repeating the same 25 yard length, and I 'feel' like I need to stretch out for a mile sometimes, unbroken. I can swim with a six-beat kick, but the constant turning breaks my trance every length. As a result, I break-down into my stand-by 4 beat kick after a few hundred yards. I have a front-mounted snorkel to enable constant breathing. You see the idea...against the cord, I could just fall into a trance and let muscle memory rapidly engrain the rhythm, not having to turn or breathe for as long as I can or want. With fistgloves on, this could turn into a real stroke-builder...I think? The idea would be to 'undo' right after this and swim a few fast freestyle 50s, then cool down with any other stroke but freestyle.
Glenn Mills	Responded Oct 30, 2003 06:09AM Clay, In my experience, tethered swimming is good for rhythm in certain things, but not necessarily in freestyle. I've never had much success working rhythm in free on the cord, but it does awaken the anchoring feeling so well, that you may find rhythm is easier AFTER the cord. I did SO MUCH tethered swimming when I competed, that I still utilize it today, but again, mostly to remind, or discover where I can really hook in to the water. I also am not so sure that fistgloves are going to do much for you while swimming against the cord. One thing though, you'll be amazed at how LITTLE resistance is required (by the cord) to not allow you to move foward when you take the hands away. It's not even necessarily the size of the hand that makes the most difference, it's that the hand really directs the rest of your arm into the correct position to set up the pull. Someone, upon meeting another friend of mine, a former world record holder, looked at the two of us and checked out our hand size, very average, and stated, "See, this proves it, it's not about the size of the hands." However, what was completely misunderstood in his rational, was that the feel that my friend and I had for the water negated the need for large hands, but rather allowed us to work well enough with the water to hold it with much more surface area than "normal" people. Fist gloves will help give you the feeling once they are removed, however, in this particular exercise, I'm not sure they're going to give you what you need. Hey... you know me though... I could be wrong, so give it a shot and let me know how you feel.
Barbara Hummel	Responded Nov 03, 2003 01:35PM I don't have any personal experience with waterproof radios, but I just googled "WATERPROOF RADIOS" and a whole lot of options appeared. Check it out! I use a heart-rate monitor almost all the time when I run, but have found them to be a bit uncomfortable in the water. They tend to slide around and then aren't useful. My recommendation on HRMs is to go the simple and inexpensive route. I know people who have HRMs with so many functions that they can't get them to work. I have one that beeps when I'm too high or too low -- and I find that to be PLENTY of information. I sometimes wish I'd purchased one that gives just your current heartrate. Hope this helps.
Clay	Responded Nov 03, 2003 02:46PM Thanks, Barbara. We have a nice dryland HRM from Solar that was inexpensive and just gives time and HR, also avg Pulse if you want. Yes, there a lot of waterproof radios out there, but I was hoping you had already weeded through them and thrown the trash out ;)

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10/28/03 CCB Masters T-15s and IM Flipper Zen

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