Reply To: Are you strict Rushall or modified Rushall?
I follow the main sets as close as possible. I also try and take technique very seriously. If a swimmer has a technique issue, we do drills, streamline kicking, builds and slower pace work. I try to avoid pushing them. I have had a lot of success fixing stroke but we also have small numbers this spring (1-4 swimmers/lane).
I kick a lot more then they suggest as well. We do kick warm-up almost everyday, I actually got this from the UW-Madison coaches. Depending on the amount of time I want to spend on the main set will dictate how much time I’m willing to spend on a kick warm-up, but our kids will do anywhere from 500-1500 yards kicking to warm-up (normally in 100’s on anywhere from 1:20-2:00 for our 12 and under’s).
I find that if we just have them jump in and swim, their technique is crap … so we kick. Plus the blood flowing to the legs helps promote a full body warm-up. Normally I follow warm-up with a 3-400 yard swim to finish it off. The kids enjoy it and I believe we are one of the strongest kicking teams in our region.
During the main sets I will do a lot of the sets off the blocks because I believe it’s the most important part of the race in terms of setting up energy usage. Practicing the exact details of the start, underwater, forward breakouts, the stroke tempo, approaching the turn, doing an aggressive turn and underwater to another forward breakout and so on. I did that more because we were in our “taper” time where speed was a major focus. Now that we are into long course season almost all sets have been from a push.
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