LITHGOW SWIMMING CLUB SQUAD PROGRESSION POLICY & COACHING GUIDELINES 1
EXPLANATION OF OUR SQUADS LITHGOW SWIMMING CLUB SQUAD PROGRESSION POLICY This document is a guide for both parents/guardians and swimmers to provide a basic outline and structure on the different squad levels provided by Lithgow Swimming Club Squad membership and progression is determined by the Head Coach following consultation with other coaches with the Head Coach decision being final. Factors such as age, sex, attitude, attendance, punctuality, training and competitive performance plus the ability to keep pace with a particular squad will be considered along with the promotion criteria for the squad. A flow chart of the progression through the squads can be viewed below. An explanation of how a swimmer moves through the Squads is contained in the this document It is possible that swimmers may move squads at various points throughout the season. It is a requirement of the Lithgow Aquatic Centre Conditions of Entry that swimmers under the age of 12 be accompanied by a person over the age of 16yrs. This is the case whilst in the facility. The person is to continually supervise children under 12 whilst training. It has been approved that 1 person can supervise up to 5 children. While this document provides some background on how our squads are structured and what each swimmers will be expected to do to move between the squads; progression is not a perfect science. Sometimes it may come down to other extenuating factors such as squad numbers or coaching availability that will determine where a child is placed in the squad program. Please remember, that our coaching staff are volunteers, who are giving up their time to coach your child. Please be respectful of this and support and recognise the contribution that they are making to your child s development. 2
SQUAD PROGRESSION FLOW CHART START Learn to Swim Development Squad 7yrs + Intermediate Squad 7yrs - 12yrs Junior Performance 9yrs 12yrs Senior Performance 12yrs + Note: Age based squad criteria is to be used as a guide only and does not always determine movement between squads DEVELOPMENT SQUAD This squad provides a transition from Learn to Swim for those who wish to progress to Competitive swimming. Squad Criteria: Swimmers will only be eligible for this squad once they have progressed to an appropriate level within a recognised Learn to Swim program. Swimmers will need to be assessed by the Head Coach in consultation with the Squad Coach to determine their eligibility for this squad. As a minimum for entry, swimmers must be able to demonstrate: 1. 100m freestyle 2. 100m backstroke 3. 50m breaststroke 4. 25m butterfly kick with fins 5. Standing dive entry It is the first rung on the ladder of competitive swimming and all swimmers will be assessed for their competence in the following areas and until such time as these skills are acquired will not be allowed to progress to the Intermediate Squad; Duration: 60 minutes x 2 sessions per week 3
Swimmers are expected to compete at: 6 Club Race Nights as a minimum The Lithgow Swimming Club Championships held in March each year. Objectives: Introduction to lane etiquette Building endurance and technique in all four strokes Introduction to competitive diving Introduction to tumble turns Intro to low level competition race nights Punctual start times for sessions Intro to basic training equipment kickboard, drink bottle and flippers Intro to using a pace clock Criteria for Movement from Development Squad to Intermediate Squad: 1. Streamlining 5m 2. Diving from Hob 3. 50m Free time < 50s 4. 100m Freestyle with tumble turn 5. 100m Breaststroke 6. 100m Backstroke 7. 50m Butterfly kick INTERMEDIATE SQUAD Swimmers will be eligible for this squad once they have achieved the required criteria for progression from the Development Squad Swimmers can join the Intermediate Squad based on ability at any age and look to move to the next sections of the club prior to turning 13 years old. The training in the Intermediate Squad will be focused on skill and technique development with additional emphasis on aerobic and speed development. Swimmers at the top end of these squads should be aiming to achieve School Western Representation and/or School State. 4
Squad Criteria: Duration: 1 1.5 hrs. Aim is to train at least 2 sessions per week. Swimmers are expected to compete at: 6 Club Race Nights as a minimum The Lithgow Swimming Club Championships held in March each year. Objectives Stroke Technique on all four strokes using coach controlled sets and single lap work Stroke drill progressions on all four strokes initially using fins to perform coach controlled sets and single lap work More focus on endurance and speed training to prepare swimmers for the next level Introduction to IM swimming Turns for all four strokes Intro to correct starts of all four strokes Intro to correct finishes of all four strokes Sculling difference between wrist up, wrist down and flat wrist sculling Using a pace clock Training in a group environment Rules of the sport Intro to low level competition race nights Punctual start times for sessions Intro to basic stretching Intro to basic training equipment kickboard, paddles and flippers Criteria for Movement from Intermediate Squad to Junior Performance Squad: 1. 100m or more continuously in i. Freestyle with tumble turns ii. Backstroke with correct turns iii. Breaststroke with correct turns iv. Butterfly (fins) with correct turns 2. 50m Free time < 36s 3. 100m Free time < 1:30 4. 8x50 Free @ 1:15 5
5. 6x100 Free @ 2:15 6. 100m IM and turns 7. A competition race start 8. Correct finishes of all four strokes Movement from Intermediate Squad to Senior Performance Squad can be attained by meeting the Junior Performance Squad criteria + Head Coach s discretion. JUNIOR PERFORMANCE SQUAD Swimmers MUST commit to attending a minimum of 3 sessions per week to ensure progression. The aim of this squad will be to prepare the swimmers for the training demands of the Senior Competitive squad by developing their aerobic capacity and training ability. Movement to and from other squads will be based on age, competition performance, training ability, attitude and parental commitment. Squad Criteria: Must compete at: At least 10 Club race nights Lithgow Swimming Club Championships held in March each year MPS Area Championships At least 2 targeted prep carnivals as scheduled by the Head coach Target Qualifying for Country Championships and State Age. Duration: 90min-120min Minimum 3 sessions per week Objectives 1. Develop and improve stroke technique on all four strokes 2. Learn basic stroke drill progressions and introduced to more complex stroke drill progressions on all four strokes 3. Practice IM swim sets 4. Learn and perfect starts, turns and finishes on all four strokes including IM turns 5. Relay takeovers 6. Independently monitor training using pace clock 7. Complete a well-balanced training program (varied pace swims, builds, negative splits, descending sets, over distance, HVO s etc) 8. Kick and Pull Test Sets 6
9. Other Test sets as determined by the Head Coach 10. 400 Free swim test 11. Learn the rules of the sport 12. Increase training distance to improve endurance 13. Participate in club race nights, Club Championships, Area MPS Championships, Aim for qualification in Country Championships and State Age. 14. Learn about goal setting 15. Keep a log book of training & competition results 16. Perform stretching and core exercises 17. Take responsibility for training equipment at each session (drink bottle, pull buoy etc) Criteria for Movement from Junior Performance to Senior Performance Squad: This will be determined by the Head Coach. SENIOR PERFORMANCE SQUAD Squad Criteria Duration: 90mins-120mins Sessions: Minimum 4 per week Must compete at: At least 10 Club race nights Lithgow Swimming Club Championships held in March each year MPS Area Championships At least 2 targeted prep carnivals as scheduled by the Head coach Target Qualifying for Country Championships, State Age and Nationals. Should be on time for each session and perform warm up exercises prior to each session. Should complete every session attended unless otherwise directed. Should be able to maintain a sufficient training speed in order to keep up with the squad. 7
Objectives 1. Stroke drill progressions are continued and expanded 2. Complete a variety of tests integrated into the program. 3. Training zones are introduced: a. Aerobic b. Anaerobic threshold c. Endurance d. Anaerobic training zone race pace e. Speed work f. Negative split, build, descending 4. Swimmers perform similar amounts of pull and kick. 5. Total kick = 20% of overall distance. 2000m = 300k 3000m = 600k 4000m = 800k 6. HVO s programmed into the first part of the session to develop speed and programmed into the end to develop race endurance. 7. All swimmers learn the use of pace, stroke rate, stroke count. 8. Swimmers responsible for their own training equipment (kick board, pull buoy, band, paddles, drink bottle, snorkel and flippers) 9. Goal setting is formalised to a season plan that includes the swimmer, coach and parents. 10. Logbooks are detailed with training, strength work and competition times 11. Swimmers to actively compete in race nights and carnivals. Practice racing strategies such as backing up fast heat swims with faster semi final or final swims. 12. Stretching exercises and dry land incorporated into the program SQUAD GUIDELINES Best Practice: Swimmers 10-12 years old should be aiming to complete 3+ sessions every week. (We expect to see this level of commitment from future JP members looking to get in to the Senior Competitive squad) 13+ years old should be aiming to complete 4+ sessions per week ideally swimming 5+sessions per week, every week. Consistency is extremely important. Whether you do 4 sessions or more, you should aim to attend the same sessions every week as this allows your body to hit a routine. 8
Unacceptable: Swimmers who regularly have attendance below the required 18 hours per 4 week block, or who are routinely late arriving and/or early leaving sessions will, after a reasonable notice period, be moved to the Senior Development squad. Completing sessions Every time you stop during training significantly reduces the benefit of that set. Training is only beneficial through repeated practice! Failure to overload your body results in absolutely nothing happening! Injuries As with any sport, we regularly see swimmers suffering from injuries incurred either in the pool or in other areas of a swimmers life. It is up to you to attempt to prevent these injuries in the first place. You all have to take responsibility for your own bodies and have been given warm up and mobility routines to do to prevent swimming related injury. It s in your hands! Swimmers suffering from an injury which results in incomplete sessions or low attendance must seek expert advice and treatment. An appointment with a Doctor or Physiotherapist is required. A clearance will be required from the treating physician to enable the swimmer to return to squad training. If appropriate, normal training can resume or a modified training regime can be established and squad requirements relaxed. While it does cost money to visit the Physio, it is a complete waste of money to continue training with every session incomplete and ineffective and untreated injury will generally take a lot longer to fully recover. Training Principles: Why do we train? Having set out a minimum attendance to be in each of the squads, you may wonder why it is required to train so much. Below are some basic training principles which outline what we are trying to achieve. The word fitness is used a lot, but fitness is made up of many components. These include aerobic, endurance, strength, power, speed, flexibility and muscular endurance. (there are more depending on which book you read!) Aerobic endurance is a component of fitness which requires hours of work each week. Once your endurance level (the ability to keep going) has reached a reasonable level you will be able to benefit from more intense training. However, if we are not moving forward we are going backwards! In order to continue to develop your endurance levels you must continue to put this system under more stress. We are trying to force your body to adapt. The human body is a remarkable machine! When you repeatedly ask it to do something it finds difficult, it will adapt in order to be able to do it better! For example, if you try to 9
lift a weight 10 times, but it is very difficult after 2 lifts and you only make it to 5, and if you repeat this routinely, your body will adapt by developing new muscle fibres in order to complete the activity. After a while you can now lift that weight. In order to continue the body s adaptation, you will need to increase the weight to achieve more strength gains, or do more reps to achieve strength endurance gains. Overload: this is the process of repeatedly asking your body to do more than it can cope with which results in a massive adaptation period every 6-8 weeks. This will only be achieved by those swimmers training 5+ sessions every week at a sufficient standard. Stroke efficiency: in every race over 50m long there is an element of pacing required. Put another way, at no point in any race of 200m+ are you swimming at you maximum speed as that is unsustainable. Therefore, the winner is the person who manages to maintain the highest average speed during the race. Stroke efficiency is therefore, very important! Don t do more strokes each length to go faster, do better strokes!!! Speed training: This is an area of training where large improvements can be made in a short period of time if the focus and intensity is sufficient. We regularly do HVO s (High Velocity Overload). While these 10-20m sprints are not especially physically demanding, it is essential that they are done to the highest possible standard. If done well, these short sprints simply remind your body that Power is required regularly, your body will respond by making more, fast twitch muscle fibres available when required. 100% effort is needed, 99% effort is simply not enough!!! Muscle fibres: you have 2 types of muscle fibres to be concerned with. Fast twitch muscle fibres which are used for power, speed and high strength activities. Slow twitch muscle fibres are generally for aerobic activities. (there are 2 types of slow twitch fibres). Muscle fibres work by either contracting or not. They DO NOT contract a little bit! If you only need a little bit of strength, you may only use 10% of your fibres to perform the muscle contraction. The more strength needed to perform any action, the higher the percentage of fibres which will contract. Swimming is not a direct force sport. In cycling, the harder you press the peddles, the faster you go. In swimming, you need to manipulate the water in order to apply as much force as possible. An excepted percentage of your maximum strength which can be applied while swimming is around 40% only. So learning to apply the maximum amount of power onto the water requires good technique with excellent feel for the water. 10
Bullet Proof: When swimmers routinely train 6+ sessions per week, they usually get to a point where they can cope with whatever is thrown at them by their coaches. This is when the real magic happens, they are not merely surviving each training session, they are swimming through them making the most out of each and every set within a given session! This should be the aim of every Senior Competitive squad member! Stroke Technique You will regularly be given either general advice to the whole squad or individual specific technique points. It is your responsibility to do something with that advice. Best practice: Actively seek information from coaches to improve weaknesses in your strokes. Minimum standard: Work to improve technical issues mentioned by coaches during each session. Unacceptable: Being continuously reminded about basic technical issues without making effort to make permanent changes and improvements to your technique. Basic Skills Skills including starts, turns and finishes along with streamlining, underwater kicking and break-outs are essential parts of swimming which any swimmer can improve giving significant benefits to both training and competition performance. I have often seen swimmers lose a race to a slower swimmer due to them having poor skills. I have never seen a faster swimmer with good skills lose a race to a slower swimmer! Training your body to swim faster takes months of hard training, technical advancement and body growth. Improving skills is relatively simple, not very tiring (other than concentration) anyone can improve these skills as they do not require improved strength etc. but best of all, improvements can be seen in a very short period of time! Goal Setting: In order to maximise your training, goal setting is an invaluable aid. Setting goals keeps us focused and less likely to waste sessions. For example, I want to improve my starts. If I say I will improve my starts have I set a goal? Lets try, I will improve my starts within the next 4 weeks, by getting timed to 10m and reducing that time by 1 second I am then inclined to actively seek opportunities to work 11
on that skill and use them. A few different goals set at any one time, reviewed and new goals set when they are achieved means I am much more likely to make the most of my training! When a session is gone, it s gone! Obvious, but think about it. Have you wasted any opportunities to improve recently? Unless you come out of a session having done the best you could to work on developing as much as you could, you could have done more. We are chasing perfection! Competitions: You should be aware of the requirement for you to regularly compete. This includes being available for all competitions when selected along with entry into regular meets as directed. It is essential to compete regularly at appropriate competitions in order to both learn how to race and also to put your training to the ultimate test. Are you getting faster!?! It is important to race in as many different events as you can. Race Warm Ups: By the time you reach the Senior Competitive squad, you should be able to go to a competition and warm yourself up without asking what to do! A race warm up should raise your heart rate, do not confuse being warmed up with being tired, we always feel tired when we first start exercising, then our aerobic system kicks in. This is the first thing we want in your warm up. Try to come up with a routine, this is achieved by making a note of what you did and adapting it as required next time. Don t be lazy, a sure fire way to ruin your race is to not be warmed up effectively. Pre-Race routines: Most athletes have an almost superstitious pre-race routine. It usually happens when you do something before a race and then perform well. We need to have control where possible. Having a routine you always go through prior to a race will help you to achieve this feeling of control which can help to increase positive feelings and reduced nerves prior to your race. 12