Training for the 50
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I would like some advice on training someone when their main focus is the 50 free. Our best sprinter really wants the 50 and 100 free records by the end of this year. I have several questions about this.
First, is it too much to train for the 100 free 4-5 days a week? She has been making huge improvements on her 100 free sets but I don’t want to make her do them too much. Is the recommended 3 days a week a minimum and a maximum or will it help her even more if we just train it every day? I ask mostly because she doesn’t really have another event to train. She is old enough that we know she is just a freestyler and she is definitely a sprinter. She trains the 200 a couple times a week right now but I’m wondering if it is okay for her to just get extra 100 sets when the rest of our team is training for non-free 100s. I guess I’ve just assumed if she is able to hold pace it is okay to keep giving her more sets.
My question about the 50 is pretty much the same. How often can we train for it? Also, what kind of sets should we be doing? We’ve been doing 25s on a minute and some 12.5s. How many yards of all out sprinting would people recommend and how often? Her 50 time after 5 weeks is the same as it was after 2 weeks into the season. I really need to hear what people how found works. Suggestions?
She only needs to drop .5 off her lifetime best to get the record. She has to get 1.5 faster from where she is right now.
"Most people have the will to win. Few have the will to prepare to win."
billratio,
You are correct in your thinking and she will let you know when it’s “too much” as her numbers will not progress and if you let her stop and go to some type of recovery/technical aspect of the 100 e.g. turns, breakouts, etc. You should be fine regardless of how many times per week you do them. If numbers start to decrease maybe switch from 3 sets per workout to 2 and see if she doesn’t “freshen up” The athlete will tell you when “enough is enough” if you’re paying attention.Oh the 50! I have had the opportunity over the years to work with some of the fastest 50m/y swimmers in the US and Foreign athletes. Use your same guidelines/fundamentals. What’s important in the race? Reaction time, ability to overcome external resistance, technique, concentration and will power and muscle elasticity. For swimming it is start through turn and last 10 yards/meters. How to go fast in the first 30y/m, but not “all out” we call it “feathering”. I know it sounds funny that there is actually strategy in the 50.
Your “25s on 1:00” are great for the 100. However, they may be causing CNS disruption or “inhibition of protection” (Pavlov) which may explain her 50 times from week 2 to week 5. I would work “25s on 2:00”, as this has a more CNS component (this gets really tricky and you have to pay attention). The 12.5s are great; remember it’s about power generation and holding it for as long as you can.
I’ve used flag to finish with focus on last 10 yards (tempo trainer comes in handy here). Yes, no push-off. They will start from what we call a “balance-up” meaning they are already in the swimming layer at the flags. They go face down and when they hear the beep they swim like their feet are on fire and their!@# is catching. There is some research (limited) on this that helps with power generation.
Remember in all this the athlete will tell you what they can handle or not.
Just some thoughts
"Only in America. Dream in red, white and blue"
That is so helpful! Thank you.
I have a couple of follow up questions. For 25s on 2 minutes would you do a certain number or just go until she starts slowing down? How much rest would you recommend for 12.5s? Also, the same question I had for the 100… is it possible to train to often for the 50? My coaches only had me do sprinting a couple days a week but they also had me train 6,000+ yards a day so I know their beliefs might be off.
Would you be willing to tell me the 50 times of some of the fastest women you’ve worked with? It would give my swimmer more confidence knowing someone had trained really fast sprinters with this type of training.
Last question, I’m nervous that getting only 1,000ish yards of fast swimming a day will be enough. Should I keep the 200 training in for her just to get a little more yards? There is a 0% chance she’ll be swimming the 200 at any of our important meets. I haven’t done a full season of USRPT yet and I’m not 100% confident. I’m confident that it would work with the right coach but I’m not 100% confident in my abilities to make it work.
"Most people have the will to win. Few have the will to prepare to win."
billratio,
Let the athlete be your guide. They will let you know again “when enough is enough” whether that be 50s, 25s or 12.5s. When they can no longer hold pace it’s time to quit. The biggest thing with the 50s and 25s is CNS depression. Pavlov states: “under such circumstances the cell protects itself from complete exhaustion. Thus, the cell will not react to external , or competition stimuli; consequently an expectation of outstanding performance towards the end of the competitive phase may be unrealistic”.Regarding rest interval I be at least 1:3, that’s work to rest. When in doubt error on the side of rest. (personnal communication with Erine Maglischo, author of Swimming Faster)
Sure. Here’s 3, 26.39, 26.82 and 26.84 LCM and all in the top 75 in the world. All 3 were under 23.04 for SCY.
As far as “being nervous about 1000ish yards” If that’s what she can do at race pace then ok. Trying to force adaption is where a lot of coaches get in to trouble as they feel that volume is some how the answer. Spend the rest of the time working on techincal skills at race pace. If you want her to swim the 200, then keep up the 200 training.
When I started this journey I had no one! Well a couple of Russian that were willing to share and I worked over 3 years to gain their condifence (well before email and blogs/forums). It was been a heck of a journey.
Just keep track of your data and adjust off that as needed. You base your training off the best information/data you have and you put it into play.
The best to you and anything I can help with I will!
Remember: It’s not the destination. It’s the journey.
OldschoolC
"Only in America. Dream in red, white and blue"
Thanks again! That is all very encouraging and very helpful. It’s really nice to be able to get input from someone so knowledgeable who has been through it. 8 weeks until sections. I’m hoping that is enough time to get my girls where they need to be.
"Most people have the will to win. Few have the will to prepare to win."
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