Overview of the National Coaching Certification Program and its structure, along with developmental differences between young male and female swimmers.

Introduction to Training Plans

Explanation of the seasonal training plan including macro and micro cycles, tapering, and managing training loads for performance peaks.

Seasonal Training Plan Overview

Details on the preparation phases for different age groups in swimming, emphasizing creativity and skill development in young athletes' training.

General and Specific Preparation Phases

Importance of monitoring heart rates during training and the significance of speed work for young swimmers.

Heart Rate Monitoring and Speed Work

Strategies for managing recovery and training intensity, including guidance on creating effective weekly training plans for swimmers.

Recovery and Training Management

Advice on training adjustments leading up to swim meets and the importance of recovery after competitions.

Preparing for Competition and Post-Competition Recovery

Examples of workouts and progressions for young swimmers, discussing the importance of progressive training for different swimming strokes.

Sample Workouts and Stroke Progression

Explains the concept of stroke count and its role in improving swimming efficiency, along with the need for trust and confidence between coaches and athletes.

Stroke Count, Efficiency, and Building Confidence

Encourages creativity in training methods and highlights the importance of recovery strategies to enhance workout effectiveness.

Creative Training Techniques and Managing Recovery

Stresses the significance of technique in swimming and its role in developing specific strength, along with a structured approach to gradually increase training volume.

Focus on Technique and Strength Building

Introduces mental training strategies to help athletes manage pressure, and provides insights on planning mental preparation activities for swimmers.

Mental Training and Preparation Planning

Explains the importance of helping athletes reflect on their performance to maintain focus and enjoyment in swimming.

Post-Performance Reflection

# Coaching Insights Newsletter

Welcome to this edition of the Coaching Insights Newsletter! In this issue, we continue our exploration of effective coaching strategies and seasonal training plans for young swimmers. Drawing from the expertise of our Canadian coaching team, we provide valuable insights for developing athletes aged 11 to 15.

## Understanding the Macro Cycle

### Overview of the Seasonal Training Plan

The **National Coaching Certification Program** has developed a comprehensive **26-week macro cycle** designed for young swimmers. This cycle runs from September to February and is broken down into various components, including:

- **Workouts**: Dry land and swimming sessions tailored to different age groups.
- **Training Phases**: Identification of preparation, competition, and transition periods.
- **Peaking**: Strategies for managing high, medium, and low-intensity training phases.

### Age-Specific Considerations

It's crucial to recognize that **11-year-old boys and girls** are not the same. Maturity levels vary, and training should be adapted accordingly. The developmental stages of young athletes require a thoughtful approach to ensure long-term success:

- **Learn to Train** (11-13 years)
- **Train to Train** (14-15 years)
- **Train to Compete** (16-18 years)

## Training Strategies for Young Swimmers

### Building a Strong Foundation

The focus for young swimmers should be on **general preparation** before transitioning to more specific training. Here are some key points to consider:

- **Skill Development**: Emphasize breathing control, stroke count, and turns rather than high-volume sets.
- **Creativity in Training**: Engage athletes with varied drills to maintain interest and motivation. For example, when practicing butterfly, consider alternating strokes or incorporating fins for less experienced swimmers to build confidence.
- **Underwater Work**: Include drills that focus on underwater techniques, such as butterfly kicks, to enhance overall swimming skills.
- **Heart Rate Monitoring**: Understand the unique heart rate responses of young athletes, particularly during endurance training.

### Speed Work and Recovery

Speed work is essential for young swimmers, but it should be approached with care:

- **Short Bursts**: Speed training should consist of sprints lasting **10 seconds or less** to maximize fast-twitch muscle development.
- **Recovery Protocols**: Ensure adequate recovery between high-intensity sessions. For example, pure speed work requires **72 hours** of recovery, while speed endurance can be performed with shorter recovery times.

## Weekly Planning and Monitoring

### Crafting a Seasonal Training Plan

When developing a **seasonal training plan**, consider the following components:

- **Micro Cycles**: Weekly training sessions should include both high-intensity and recovery-focused workouts.
- **Work-to-Rest Ratios**: Maintain appropriate ratios to optimize performance and prevent overtraining.
- **Magic Numbers**: For athletes aged 12 and up, ensure they do not drop below **3,000 meters** in training leading up to competitions.

### Adapting to Changes

As young athletes grow and develop, their training needs will change. Coaches should be vigilant and adapt plans based on:

- **Physical Growth**: Rapid changes in height and coordination can impact performance.
- **Individual Needs**: Each athlete's response to training will vary, necessitating a personalized approach.

## Progression and Stroke Count

### Structuring Practices

To ensure continuous improvement, consider the following strategies for structuring practices:

- **Progressive Workouts**: Use a systematic approach to increase distances gradually, such as starting with **1225 meters**, then moving to **1625**, and so on. This helps build endurance and confidence.
- **Stroke Count Drills**: Incorporate stroke count as a tool for improving efficiency. Encourage athletes to focus on lengthening their strokes and maintaining a strong kick.
- **Testing Performance**: Conduct regular tests, such as a 200-meter kick for time or 10 sets of 50 meters with stroke counts, to monitor progress and set goals.

### Mental Preparation

Mental training is just as vital as physical preparation. Incorporate goal-setting sessions and emotional control techniques into your training plans. Help athletes focus on process-oriented goals rather than just outcomes to maintain motivation and enjoyment.

## Conclusion

The documents shared in this newsletter are invaluable resources for coaches working with young swimmers. By implementing these strategies and maintaining open communication with parents, we can foster a supportive environment that encourages long-term athletic development.

Stay tuned for more insights and tips in our next edition!

---

Thank you for your continued commitment to developing young athletes! If you have any questions or need further resources, feel free to reach out.

Happy coaching!

"Unlock Young Swimmers' Potential: Essential Coaching Strategies Inside!"

Adequate rest between high-intensity workouts

Shortening recovery times to increase training frequency

Every swimmer should follow the same training schedule

Speed training is unnecessary for younger swimmers

A period of reduced training intensity before a competition

Limiting practice to only competitive strokes

The athletes' emotional state and energy levels

The athletes' performance in competitions

To reduce the number of practice sessions

They continue to improve without pressure

They focus on beating their previous times

They become more relaxed about competition

Swimming for their parents' expectations and their own enjoyment

Swimming to compete against peers and for fitness

Swimming for scholarships and for team spirit

- The document outlines a 26-week macro cycle for the National Coaching Certification Program in Canada, developed in 2007-2008.
- It targets swimmers aged 11-15, emphasizing developmental differences between boys and girls.
- Includes structured training phases: preparation, competition, and recovery, with specific focus on skill development.
- Highlights the importance of gradual progression to prevent burnout and maintain athlete engagement.
- Discusses the significance of heart rate management and appropriate training intensity for young athletes.
- Stresses the need for creativity in training to enhance skills rather than just endurance.
- Provides guidelines for managing competition sessions and recovery strategies.

- Coaches often overtrain young athletes, hindering their long-term development.
- A specific document can aid coaches in explaining the importance of patience and proper progression in athletic training.
- Speed development is crucial for children aged 8-11, focusing on sprints of 10 seconds or less.
- Speed work should be incorporated into training, avoiding overtraining similar to that of racehorses.
- Pure speed training requires rest; speed endurance occurs at the end of practice.
- Coaches must adapt training plans based on individual growth and maturity changes in athletes aged 11-15.
- Understanding recovery times for different types of training is essential for effective coaching.
- The document provides guidelines for creating seasonal and weekly training plans.

- Document provides a framework for creating a weekly swimming training plan.
- Emphasizes understanding athletes' developmental stages, particularly before and during puberty.
- Highlights the importance of work-to-rest ratios for effective recovery.
- Encourages patience and careful observation in training.
- Offers sample workouts for different preparation phases (general, specific, competition).
- Advises on maintaining a minimum distance (e.g., 3,000 meters) in training leading up to competitions for optimal performance.
- Stresses the need for recovery post-competition, incorporating skill-focused sessions.
- Suggests structuring workouts with preparatory, main, and cool-down phases.
- Includes an example of an 8-week progression plan adaptable for various age groups and skill levels.

- Focus on progressive training for swimming strokes (butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke).
- Use a structured weekly progression to build athletes' skills and confidence.
- Incorporate stroke count to improve efficiency and kicking technique.
- Emphasize the importance of recovery in workout plans for better performance.
- Encourage creativity in training sessions to maintain athlete engagement.
- Highlight the significance of technique and body position for long-term swimming success.
- Recognize that not all athletes will reach elite levels, but skill development is essential for all.
- Utilize provided documents for structured practice and assessment of athletes' progress.

- Emphasizes the importance of core work for swimmers, as swimming involves water resistance.
- Advocates for gradual training progression, increasing distance each week to build strength.
- Highlights the need for mental training, including goal setting and emotional control.
- Warns against the pressure athletes may feel after successful performances, which can lead to anxiety and loss of enjoyment.
- Encourages coaches to help athletes refocus on process rather than outcomes to maintain motivation and fun.
- Mentions the significance of considering parental expectations in athletes' training experiences.
- Offers resources for mental preparation and training strategies for coaches.

- Outlines a 26-week macro cycle for the National Coaching Certification Program in Canada (2007-2008) targeting swimmers aged 11-15.
- Emphasizes developmental differences between boys and girls and the importance of gradual progression to prevent burnout.
- Structured training phases include preparation, competition, and recovery, focusing on skill development and heart rate management.
- Stresses creativity in training to enhance skills, with guidelines for managing competition sessions and recovery.
- Highlights the need for speed development in children aged 8-11 and the importance of rest in pure speed training.
- Coaches should adapt training plans based on individual growth and maturity, understanding recovery times for effective coaching.
- Provides frameworks for seasonal and weekly training plans, emphasizing work-to-rest ratios and skill-focused recovery sessions.
- Encourages patience, careful observation, and creativity in training to maintain athlete engagement.
- Highlights the significance of technique, core work, mental training, and managing parental expectations in athletes' experiences.

This what I've sent you guys is stuff that we use here in Canada.

I was part of the development team in 2007, 2008.

We revamped the National Coaching Certification Program.

So you guys are getting the documents that we're using.

So this is a sample of 1 macro cycle, which is about 26 weeks from September to February.

And we broke it down in many different parts here and with specific needs identified in this document.

So if you look at the top here, you'll see at the top on the right side, that's the workouts are written there, either dry land and swimming.

And then on the left side, it says what group there is.

Now when we talked about 11 and 15 year old kids we need to understand that 11 year old boy and an 11 year old girl are not the same.

11 year old boy is pretty immature unless you guys have mature ones you're lucky but out here they're not.

So you got to keep take things in perspective where a 13 year old boy and a 13 year old girl not the same so this is really a general idea and allowing to develop the athletes throughout their swimming career and developing.

So this is what we use for when you're using the LT, the seasonal plan.

We explain in here, you will find all the information like the swimming year experience, the months, when does the workout start?

Some people start their week starts on Sunday, may finish Friday.

We have micro cycles, so those are weekly duration.

We put in the seasonal training plan camps, competitions.

And then we'll identify peaking in this sample that you get with high, medium, and low.

And it's important to identify those to make sure that not every swimmer can have a high or not every swim meet has a low.

So you want to go somewhere where you're introducing stuff at the beginning.

It may be a low season where kids are building into medium competitions as you want to see where their skills are at or turns or whatever their pacing and high is usually going to be at the period where you want to peak.

So I think in swimming there's a guy whose name was Matt Bell, a book a long time ago and if you look into training this is how it should be done.

I know we use debit cards, so it might not work.

But let's just say you take a Smarties, I don't know, a peanut.

You tell the kids, put the peanut in the jar.

When you taper, every time you rest, you're going to take some peanuts out because you're compromising what you've accumulated.

So the whole point is, or they miss workout, they're not adding peanuts.

So when your peak meat comes in, the goal is what is gonna be your amount of peanuts they're gonna be able to eat at that time.

If your jar is only half full, you have to moderate and you're gonna have to compromise on your performance because that jar should be a lot more full if that makes sense.

So we have a sport form right here where you're seeing how we should be building up during that time period.

And I really feel that a 26 week, depending some schools, I've seen some people do 13 weeks training cycles and it has worked.

We've done that in para swimming actually here.

The ones that did follow the gentleman that helped us out with para swimming with 13 week macro cycles, we actually had very good performances.

So everything's got to be done in a bit more of a macro.

But for long kids, for normal regular children, 20 to 26 weeks allow a lot of times to learn skills.

So as you'll see here in yellow, you're building, you're doing, and then you're gonna get into stabilizing training.

You're gonna push it a little bit in the blue zone and then the decline is for when you're gonna be getting your taper or getting ready for your major meet.

So if you have here, we'd have at the bottom part, you have period.

So preparation period, competition period, transition period, and pink.

And then we use in this example, you wanna do some general preparation, specific preparation, competition, and recovery.

Now understanding that 11-year-olds are not, doesn't matter if the boy is 11 years old or a girl going 11 years old, there are exceptions like summer Macintosh we have here in Canada, but that's a rare, rare example.

But 11-year-old girl might be swimming at sometimes same speed as a 13-year-old, but you've got to remember that an 11-year-old still has a mentality of an 11-year-old.

They might be precocious in that way, but you've got to make sure you keep in mind, you know, the long term and the effects of precocious kids, which are very hard to work with because only about 18% of precocious kids make it to the Olympics.

Those were given to us in 2008 at a coaches conference that we had here in Canada.

So Here is kind of what we talk about, the general preparation phase.

So when we have a learn to train period, these are kids from 11 to 13.

So, and here is what we were given percentage of general preparation, percentage of specific preparation and then competition.

So there is an increase in a decrease in general prep and increase in specific.

And it's really important because you can really cut corners at 11, 12 years old and those kids are gonna quit by the age of 13 or 14.

And that's sad, but that's because it's way too fast in the progression of training.

And in general preparation, people like to do, I don't know, these things like 10 200s or 15, I don't know, 10 400s.

There's a lot of kicking that needs to be involved, teaching skills, how to swim, teaching the kids how to do breathing control, breathing every 2, every 3, every 4, making sure that they're doing, using stroke count, working turns in and out from the walls and so on.

So there's a lot of creativity that goes into general preparation.

And so as we go down, we have our, so if you scroll down, Mark, we have our, so on your seasonal training plan, you will have the number of sessions a week, competition sessions.

So when you go to a competition, it's important to put, what we do here is we, In this example, we put 1 day.

We have here, if you notice at the bottom, it says zones, a lot of this description is written in here.

So if you notice here, we have our zones.

We call that, if you look, water aerobic, high, low, medium, heart rate below 130 to 180.

Because you guys, if you take heart rates with 12-year-old girls, their heart rate is at 170.

If they're going endurance and the speed they're going 180 because they if they haven't started their their What do you call that maturity or their body changing and going through puberty and everything?

So that's why the 11 to 15 is really tricky, but the kids have started puberty, there will be a more adjustment with heart rates and that's important to be to take note.

So a lot of time when you're doing a low aerobic work, it doesn't mean that it's a waste of time.

Low aerobic work would be really important to do good skills, concentrate on stuff that they can master, and work on working on the abilities and the slower execution and as they become more efficient, they will be able to increase a lot more.

Heart rates will adapt as they build slowly.

So it's really important to do some walk, I call that walking, swimming, but it really to do slow stuff.

So that when you get into the next phase, which is race-based or high intensity, that becomes very important because then there's recovery.

And I have some documents for you guys that will explain how to recover during a week and how to plan because you can't swim fast every day depending what you think is fast and understanding heart rates everything needs to be managed in a good in a good way to keep keep control on training and make sure that the kids are not over trained.

And then we have so, and I think 1 of the bottom, the third 1, speed.

This is what we did here in Canada to explain to coaches and also to explain to parents how and what are we going to develop as skills for kids with ages.

We have the males and the females, what the importance focus on there.

So because I think Dennis was mentioning that, you know, some, well, a lot of, and this is not only wherever you guys are, but out here as well, a lot of coaches just beat the crap out of kids And they never really come to proficient in their athletic development.

So this is a great document to use for coaches.

It's a great document when you want to sit down and explain the development of long term for athletes, this this has to be a progression.

And this is a great way of a great tool to show parents that there needs to be patience if we want to go long term.

If you want to go short term, then you keep doing it in a different way and they'll never come to proficient at the end of you know their career will be cut short there's a guarantee in that so this is a great tool that you can use it's very explanatory they have all the ability athletic abilities and they're involved when to develop how and so you can develop globally an athlete that could potentially go further down the road, if that makes sense.

Again, this is a document that we used with Swim Canada, with all the coaching courses that coaches go through in this country.

I think a lot of people have a misconception on speed.

So 1 of the examples that I use is old movies.

So in old movies, we used to see sometimes a mom and dad or 2 moms or 2 guys talking in the park, you know, part of the movie.

But if you look further down the road or just beyond the 2 people talking, there's always kids running.

And those kids in our place here, they don't do that anymore.

But what happened when they were younger, those kids were probably playing tag, running at each other.

And instinctively, those kids were doing about 9 to 10 second sprints because they're going all out to catch their friend.

So speed work is really critical for little kids.

They need to do a lot of fast limb movement, but it is below 10 seconds or less.

It's really important because people look at increments, well I'm going to go a sprint 25.

The sprint is, they're going to start declining after 10 seconds.

So to get maximum limb movements, it's 10 seconds.

So you use a stopwatch and a whistle and ready, you know, go and then when you whistle, they stop.

Some kids might be at 8 meters, some kids might be at 20.

Now you're gonna develop that speed work.

Otherwise, once if they lose that time and that needs to be developed between the ages of 8 and 11 years old.

So even before this group that went in the excuse me, the young group and what happens is when the little kids do a lot of swimming, it's like taking a race horse and overtraining the race horse and then you're gonna become a pulling horse and you can't race anymore because you killed all the fast twitch movements on those kids, or the horses in that case.

So it's really important to do some speed work in your week.

It may be fast kicking, fast pulling, or just generally full stroke swimming.

So I give you guys here a zone, heart rates, gives you an idea of what the intensities are.

So you have R3 is race pace, S4 is speed endurance, and SV is speed.

So if you did with the kids, I don't know, they swam for an hour and 10 minutes, stuff, and you're doing some speed at the end of practice, it is speed endurance.

Pure speed needs to be done when you're rested.

Do a warm-up and that's when they're ready to go fast.

If you're doing speed at the end of practice, it is speed endurance.

So it's a different phase and it's not that pure speed.

So it's really important to know the difference between those 2 because it does have an impact on further down the road and limb movement, especially as they're going through their puberty.

So these are different athletic abilities that we have that you'll find on the STP and that you're able to use throughout.

If you're gonna use this document and print that sample, a seasonal training plan, then you get to see where you're doing different exercise, different monitoring, or if you're going to do some agility, agility and coordination can be done in the pool, in, in, on land as well.

Now, balance is an important part in swimming, especially when kids are young or some kids take our slower mature.

So it's important to be able to make sure that you get into doing some balance work in the water.

They need to understand what balance is in the water and being able to work in different directions with their body.

And so these are again our other items that are on your STP, which are done here, which are explained.

Now I just want to explain to you guys that the documents I sent you, usually this is a course that when I was giving it is a 30 hour course over a weekend.

So we're gonna be doing this pretty quickly if that makes sense.

This 1 with preparing your seasonal training plan will help you guide you, but understanding that a seasonal, you are working with kids that are 11 to 15, they change.

So you need to make sure you adapt your signal training plan because some kids are, they start getting taller, they're all of a sudden they're more uncoordinated, they're having a lot of different, I don't know, different challenges as their body are changing, you need to modify that and or be cognizant of the different kids that are going through certain things.

So, you know, if the kid grew 6, 7 centimeters in the last 2 months, for sure the kids are going to be out of whack so that's really important to understand.

All right so this is really important this document athletic abilities it is really really critical to understand and where is it critical is the 2 columns on the right.

And this you need to, you cannot go against Mother Nature.

You can, and then you cannot be mad at the kids if you're doing high intensity work every day.

So on the right side, way on the right side, you'll see how long it does take for the kids to adapt, to recover so that you can go back into that zone again.

So if you have basic technique on the first 1, if you look over, we're giving examples, the time per session that you can do, 20 to 30 minutes, You can do this 2 to 3 times plus because it's a 24-hour cycle of doing that kind of work.

Now if we look underneath here, the next 1, speed of limb movement, burst, that's pure speed.

You look over, it takes, it says 72 hours, it depends.

If you're doing 10 second work, 10 second work will be every maybe 36 to 48 hours.

But here, in this document, the way it was modified after this was done.

But if you're doing, let's just say 10, 100, sorry, 1050s at 200 meter race pace, you do it twice, you're going to need to get 72 hours in between.

So, therefore, you could do more general preparation.

You can do, you know, you can work on limb movements, which will really help to allow the recovery so you could come back to it.

So if you, so here on the third row, here's an example anaerobic you may be using the we've used different words in here.

So that document was changed or modified a bit.

So anaerobic work, it tells you effort of 8 seconds or less.

So we give the information here and it says 48 hours.

So this is race pace work and We're giving examples of sets that you can do on the fourth row.

Now, it says this is a set that can go between 12 and 20 minutes.

And the important part here is recovering.

Is when do you recover when you can do this again?

I've tried to teach, sorry, I've tried to cheat in the past.

I said, no, no, I'm a better coach than that.

If they're really swimming at race pace, they need to have that proper recovery to come back again and build in and get faster and faster over a period of 4, maybe to 7 or 8 weeks.

So this document becomes very critical to understand about how to recover, how to prepare for, and there are samples of sets that you can do that will help you prepare your weekly plan.

So Mark can we go down to the weekly plan glossary?

So in this document now this will help you create a weekly plan.

So if we scroll down, you have all the water times, whatever words you wanna use, you could be using 12345, as the zones, whatever you wanna do, as long as you know what you're talking about or your association knows what you're talking about.

So we've identified what those skills are, therefore referring to work to rest ratio will help you do the recovery and so on.

And it's really observing some of your kids and understanding the kids are before puberty or just starting puberty.

So you just need to take care and be patient with, with, with the, with the, we call that tender loving care a little bit when you're building those sets to if I always say, if you're not sure, I don't believe in status quo for me personally, but in coaching, if you're not sure, just stay in status quo because if you go somewhere and it's hard to bounce back and make a correction afterwards.

So if there's this 2 pages, so this is a workout that was done.

Okay, so you see, so there's a there's the workouts.

So this is giving you a sample, whatever number of workouts, the time, how much time you're in the water, ways of building a workout, respecting the work to rest ratio.

And this does take time to build into it and and and and allowing you to experiment on different different.

Ways of coming through this, but if I like in this case if they're only doing they're doing Monday to Friday really in that twice a week I can only do 2 workouts where it's going to be very intense because you cannot, there's no swimming Friday or Saturday or sorry there's Saturday morning.

So regardless with Saturday morning, it's important to look at that now.

Having said that, so between Monday night, let's say the Monday night here on the bottom, and Tuesday is 24 hours.

So it's important to look at that in 24 hours.

So from Monday to Tuesday morning, that's only about 13 hours or 12 hours, whatever the time difference is in those workouts.

So it's really important that you really, it's like doing a really a specific menu, you're following a specific recipe and but you can be very creative in that And you need to understand that it's built over a period of time.

That's why in STP, you've got to be patient.

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