SEASONAL PLANNING AND
WORKOUT DESIGN
Glenn Beringen
National Transition Coach
• Primary role:
- To prepare athletes and coaches for senior national team
• Responsible for:
- Talent ID Program
- National Youth Team
- Youth Transition Program
- Athlete & Coach Mentor for Senior National Team
- National Coach Leadership Team (CLT)
- Assistant to the National Head Coach
Who & What
Glenn Beringen – National Transition Coach
Swimming Australia 2
• Inclusive
• Holistic
• Flexible
• Based on best practice for each development phase (evidence based)
• Development phases include Foundation, Talent, Elite and Mastery
• Now published on SAL website
INAPPROPRIATE GUIDANCE AND DEVELOPMENT LEADS TO:
• Compromised fundamental skill acquisition
• Injury and burnout
• Drop out and unrealised talent potential
What is the Australian Swimming Framework?
An athlete development framework which is….
Swimming Australia 3
FTEM model – as related to athlete development in swimming
• Foundation1 – Learning and acquisition of basic movement (non elite)
• Foundation 2 – Extension and refinement of movement (non elite)
• Foundation 3 – Commitment to sport and/or active lifestyle (non elite)
• Talent 1 - Demonstration of potential (pre-elite)
• Talent 2 – Talent verification (pre-elite); revisit later in presentation
• Talent 3 – Practising and achieving (pre-elite)
• Talent 4 – Breakthrough and reward (pre-elite)
• Elite 1 – Senior elite representation (elite)
• Elite 2 – Senior elite success (elite)
• Mastery – Sustained elite success (elite mastery)
Swimming Australia 4
• Your seasonal plan is your road map and must be…
• appropriate for the gender, experience and level of maturation of the athletes you are working with
• part of a long term athlete/ person development philosophy (we are developing great people, not just great athletes
• developed in line with the Australian Swimming Framework
WHY PLAN?
THE OLD ADAGE….FAILING TO PLAN IS PLANNING TO FAIL
5Swimming Australia
Every Swimmer has the right to reach their maximum potential
• Average Age of Olympic and World Championship finalists:
• Males 24yrs
• Females 22yrs
It’s a long journey…..planning, persistence and patience is required
Swimming Australia 6
• Prepare to plan – where to start?
• Develop the plan – putting it all together
• Execute the plan – do it
• Evaluate the plan – assess it
• Adjust and adapt the plan – evolve it
Seasonal Planning
Designing the roadmap…..
Swimming Australia 7
• Evaluate athletes
• Determine program goals
• Talk to coaches
• Study: books, journals, ASF
• Work backwards from end goal; long and short term
• How many competitions and appropriateness
• Will they Interfere or develop
• What were your goals?
• Did you meet them?
• Athlete development, competition, skill development
Gather information Competitions goals Assess past seasons
Seasonal Planning
With the ASF as your guide
8Swimming Australia
Minna Atherton – Brisbane Grammar Swimming Club:
Coached by David Lush
World Junior Champion 2015
Tracey Menzies – NTC Transitions Program Head Coach
Assess current athletes Prepare the plan
Seasonal Planning
With the ASF as your guide
9Swimming Australia
Divide your season into cycles
• The macrocycle (the season plan)
• The mesocycle (a three to four week plan as part of your overall plan)
• The microcycle (an individual week’s plan within the four week plan)
Swimming Australia 10
Seasonal Planning
When developing each athlete’s plan please consider…..is this the complete list?
Swimming Australia 11
• Technical/ Tactical Strategy Development
• Psychological and Personal Excellence Development
• Environmental Development (training and development needs)
• SSSM Psychology
• Nutritional needs
Calendar Alignment –beyond age group thinking
Competition Framework Overview and Training Emphasis
Swimming Australia 12
Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar April May June July Aug
Recommended
Training/Competition
emphasis
Skill and Aerobic Development with SC comp
emphasis.
Compete at various events and without full
taper/shaving
Increase intensity and Anaerobic Capacity/Power
training with focus on long course prep for April
National Championships
Compete at Jan-Mar preparation meets as lead into
National Championships. Emphasis on assessment of
training periodisation and full taper/shave at Age
Nationals/Club Champs to qualify for Youth Teams
Maintain intensity and Anaerobic Capacity/Power training with emphasis
on ‘Peak Performance at BME’
Potentially use competition in May or Trials as preparation meet for BME,
where the focus is on:
1. Peak Performance at BME
Phase 1 - Building and Consolidation of
Training (15 weeks)
Phase 2 - Consolidation and preparation period of
training and racing (15 weeks)Phase 3 - Peak Performance preparation phase (15 weeks)
Assessment Focus Home Environment 1Home Environment 2
SSA Camp
Home Environment 3
SSA Camp
Competition calendar BreakNational
SCQLD/WA SA VIC NSW
National Age &
Club Champs
Final Prep
Comp
SAL Selection
Trials (5 weeks)
Senior BME
Junior BME
SAL Camps Talent Camp Youth Trans
Camp Youth Camp
• LET’S LOOK AT A COUPLE OF EXAMPLES…
• What would you do in the first cycle given the emphasis is on aerobic development (appropriate to the level of swimmers you are coaching?
• What would you plan for skill development
• How would you measure the success of each?
Seasonal Planning
Using the ASF as your guide
13Swimming Australia
Aerobic Capacity Development
• Gradually increase set volume, duration and demand
• Develop a 3-4 week test set schedule and record, e.g.:• 2000m (modified to age appropriate)/ Other test?
• 5-7x200m step test (upper age group & senior swimmers)
• HR and Lactate measurements where possible
• Asses, adjust and progress or change (amount, length, design) sets if needed.
Swimming Australia 14
Build aerobic capacity (prep to prep; season to season)
Aerobic development - goals
• Why develop Aerobic Capacity?
• It’s the foundation of trainability, the platform for development to train at higher intensities – building the engine.
• It’s an important factor in the speed of removal of lactate during and after training and races.
• Bigger and stronger heart (stroke volume) transferring blood and oxygen to the working muscles
• “Stronger lungs” (breathing volume increases as breathing muscles and lungs strengthen and develop)
Swimming Australia 15
Aerobic Development –Workout design
What are the prescriptions for Aerobic Capacity training?
• Set Length: 15 minutes > up to ?
• Distances: 50m’s > up to ?
• Rest: 0-45 sec. Maybe longer after set.
• Intensity*: slow (“La 1”) or combination high
• intensity<>”recovery”, ratio 1>2:5)
* Highly dependant on individual capacities and development
Swimming Australia 16
Aerobic Development –Workout design
2-3 SETS x
• 4x50m on 1’00” 1st/4th 50m fast
• or
• 4x50m on 1’15” p.50m 1st 20-30-40-50m fast
• +
• 4x100m on 1’40” slow, La 0-1, HR 70+BBM
• 100 easy
Swimming Australia 17
Aerobic Development –Workout design
3000-4000m set !
• 1st set: 50+100+150+300 / +150+100+50
• 2nd set: 6x100
• 3rd set: 200+150+50+200 / +50+150+200
• 4th set: 1x600
• 5th set: 100+200+ 6x50 / +200+100
• All same (low) intensity or with “spikes” respecting
• 1-2:5 ratio
Swimming Australia 18
Technical/ Skill Development
What does this mean in practice?
How would plan for this as part of our seasonal plan?
Swimming Australia 19
Case example – Mack Horton 2016 400m F/S Olympic Champion – courtesy Elaine Tor, Biomechanist, VIS
• HOW IMPORTANT IS THE TURN TO OVERALL PERFORMANCE?
• VERY IMPORTANT
• Through competition analysis turns have been showed to contribute up to 33% of total race time!!
Swimming Australia 20
Identify the problem – Mack needs to be the best turner in the world
Swimming Australia 21
THE STEPS TO SOLVE IT…
- What is the world standard?
- 2-3 main things we can fix
- Teaching a new technique
- Monitoring in training
- EXECUTION IN COMPETITION
What is the benchmark?
• WHAT IS (WAS) THE WORLD STANDARD?
• Event World Class Mack 2015
• 400 Free Avg. 7.64 s 8.00 s
• 1500 Free Avg. 8.00 s 8.21 s
Swimming Australia 22
The process…
• THE INVESTIGATION PHASE
• 2 trips to Canberra for AIS testing (Dec 15, Feb 16)
• Did not do traditional testing, they got creative!
• 30 x 100 Main set (every turn recorded)
• Collected data to back up what was already known and to monitor changes in training.
• 2-3 THINGS TO FIX
• •Turn action –TOO SLOW!
• •Contact time on wall
• •Underwater kick/depth off the wall
Swimming Australia 23
The process…
• KEY POINTS
• Have a plan
• Only choose1 thing to work on at a time
• Pick things based on FACTS/SCIENCE!
• Pick things that are going to be achievable in your given time frame
• Use an individualised approach
Swimming Australia 24
The process…
• TEACHING THE NEW TURN
• Approach
• Push-off
• Underwater
Swimming Australia 25
The plan – example of a weekly cycle: the microcycle
Swimming Australia 26
Monitoring
• KEY POINTS
• Used a mixture of blocked practise and random practise
• Weren’t afraid to break the skill down
• Were creative!
• Used drills
• Used games
• – Changing approach
• – Turns for time
Swimming Australia 27
Other factors to consider – how, when, where and why? Workout/ seasonal plan development
• Technical/ Tactical Strategy Development
• Psychological and PE Development
• Environmental Development (training and development needs)
• SSSM Psychology
• Nutritional needs
Swimming Australia 28
ASF – T2 level athlete
• Basic Physical & cognitive features
• Typically associated with 11+ - 16 years.
• Entry of maturation (11+ girls; 12+ boys – 15-16 years)
• Increasing height, weight, muscle strength/force (body fat gain females); Potential surge (and decrement) in physical/fitness capability improvement relative to others – Potential (dis)advantages for early maturers.
• Potential period of coordination & technical control loss due to growth & instability
• Increasing emotional awareness; impulsiveness
• Capability for planning & self-control (executive functioning)
Swimming Australia 29
Tactical Competition Strategy Development
Technical Attributes
• Demonstration of the key technique points (distance per stroke and stroke rate) for each stroke and racing skills in a variety of training and competition environments.
Tactical Attributes
• Ability to pace races with an understanding of negative splitting especially with middle and distance freestyle events.
• Understanding of the relationship between distance per stroke, stroke rates
and knowledge of individual event specific splits, stroke rates and targets.
• How would this affect your workout design?
Swimming Australia 30
Psychological and PE Development
• Psychological and Personal Excellence Attributes
• Developing commitment, personal investment, self-regulation, ownerships & responsibility in training & competition.
• Emergence or establishment of resilience, mental toughness & determination to address & recover from performance set-backs & challenges.
• Formal assessment & behavioural confirmation of psychological skills
Swimming Australia 31
Environmental Development
Facilities
• Training access to a range of wet and dry facilities that are considered best practice for developing programs
Water Space and partnership requirements
• 1-2 pools at one or numerous venues, with regular access throughout the season,
• Standardised swimming pool equipment
• Facilities self-contained or with shared access
Athlete Support and Development Facilities
• Access to gym facilities/dry land areas
• Mobile video analysis for technical intervention
Coach Program Management
• Coach office and meeting room is ideal
Athlete Wellbeing Elements
• Athletes live in manageable proximity to the training facilities (30-40mins)
Swimming Australia 32
Nutritional Needs
SSSM Nutrition
Personnel
• Accredited Sport Dietitian, parents and coaches.
Education
• Group practice based nutrition education focused on key performance nutrition practices.
• Introduction to Supplemental Sport foods and risk of supplement use.
Support
• Group education focused on parent and coach upskilling.
Swimming Australia 33
SSSM Psychology
SSSM Psychology
Personnel
• Delivered by SAL Youth Psychologist or Psychologist on the National Network list via SAL Discipline Lead.
Education
• Group education focused on building the:
• Resilient MIND through understanding the brain, the stress response and the concept of resilience. Performance MIND through beginning to understand race readiness, arousal and self talk and delivered via online learning and SAL camps.
Support
• Group education focused on athletes, coaches and parents.
Swimming Australia 34
Competition Framework
Competition Framework
• 10 Comps per year
Domestic
• National, State & Regional Championships including State Team SC
• Grade & School Competitions
Purpose
• To participate in the National Championships (Long or Short Course)
Emphasis
• Learning to develop competitive skills
Outcome
• Review of competition performances for improvement
Swimming Australia 35
Annual Plan – Paulus Wildeboer
Swimming Australia 36
Seasonal Plan – Paulus Wildeboer
Swimming Australia 37
Example: National Age Preparation Cycle (14-17 weeks)
• 3-4 Weeks: General Preparation/ Extensive aerobic
• General athletic development
• Technique & skills: starts, u/water kicking, turns (random and blocked)
• Include other activities, team sports, dry land and core
• Aerobic Capacity: on land and in water
• Mixed strokes (IM); kicking
• Anaerobic Capacity: 20-40sec (swimming’ beat the clock and dry land)
• Speed: 10-12sec max effort
• FUN
Swimming Australia 38
Example: National Age Preparation Cycle
• 5-6 Weeks: Extensive/ Intensive Aerobic
• Transfer more sessions to the pool
• Progress from IM to main stroke (older swimmers)
• AEC – mixed efforts (building the engine)
• ANC – building the engine; Front End Speed is developed before starting the power phase
• Speed: done through skills, swimming, dives, relay changes (planned and programmed)
Swimming Australia 39
Example: National Age Preparation Cycle
• 4-5 Weeks: Power Phase
• Power = ability to swim at race pace
• Development of Aerobic and Anaerobic Power (now the engine is built, fine tuning the motor) is crucial to this stage
• 2-3 sessions per week spent on power (how would you program)?
• Develop swimmers to swim as close as possible to race pace
• Power sessions 48-72 hours apart
Swimming Australia 40
Example: National Age Preparation Cycle
• 1-2 Weeks: Taper
• Reduction in intensity
• Maintain session volume and number of sessions
• Gradual reduction, not drop taper
Swimming Australia 41
Summary
• Your seasonal plan should researched and developed to be appropriate to the developmental needs of your athletes
• Assess your long term development goals, and work backwards
• Workout design also should be appropriate to the development needs of your athletes – remember the long game…..
• Plan, timetable all aspects of athletic/ personal development for all of your athletes. Remember we are developing people. Swimming is something that athletes do, it is not who they are.
• Monitor assess, adapt and adjust
• While the ASF might be your guide, coach the swimmer, not the framework
Swimming Australia 42