Past Clinic: High Performance Sprint And Speed & Power Camp
Billings YMCA
402 N 32nd St,
Billings,
MT 59101
A description of what was covered at this past clinic is below the upcoming clinics.
Upcoming Swim Clinics and Camps
Within 250 miles of Billings, MT.
Past Clinic
Introduction
Two-Day High Performance Sprint and Speed & Power Camp - Sign up for one or SAVE by signing up for both days!
Registration for this camp is limited to YMCA Seahawks Swim Team members only. Space is running out!
This camp is designed for swimmers to learn strategies to swim faster in freestyle races.
Session sizes are limited to no more than 20 participants to ensure the highest level learning experience and social distancing!
This camp will be led by NCAA All-American Ryan Coetzee and Olympic Gold Medalist Roland Schoeman! Ryan and Roland not only swam at the highest level but are also exceptional teachers with talent for explaining and demonstrating the technique required for fast racing! Scroll down for more details on the curriculum.
Session Times (Both Days):
Blue Group (Group A): Check in 9:45 AM, Clinic 10:00 AM-1:00 PM
Silver Group (Group B): Check in 1:30 PM, Clinic 1:45 PM-4:15 PM
Social Distancing: Fitter and Faster is following all guidelines as it relates to COVID-19 as set by the CDC, NIH and local authorities. This camp will have limits on the number of swimmers per lane to maintain social distance. We also ask for you to please drop your swimmers off at the sign-in table and to pick your swimmers up after the clinic. If a waitlist is established, please join it. If enough people enter the waitlist we will plan for additional sessions! THANK YOU!
Suggested Participants
Ryan and Roland will lead two sessions for each age group. This camp is designed YMCA Seahawks swim team swimmers with at least one year of competitive experience and is not recommended for swimmers younger than 9 years old without a coach’s approval.
Curriculum
DAY 1 (BLUE GROUP): DEVELOPING POWER AND DYNAMIC WARM UP
Developing power is one way for your swimmer to continue to get better in the water! While strength training helps swimmers get stronger, working on power exercises in the water helps to strengthen swimming specific movements. Developing power will help your swimmer be more efficient and stronger in the water!
- IMPROVING POWER IN STROKE TECHNIQUE: Swimmers are taught to decrease their resistance in the water for a faster stroke, but ADDING resistance causes swimmers to alter their technique and highlight any deficiencies. Removing that resistance then allows swimmers to feel those differences in technique and build power in their stroke technique.
- RESISTANCE TRAINING: One of the best ways to build power in freestyle and butterfly is to add resistance. Many swimmers use expensive equipment such as power rack to add resistance, but there are many inexpensive items like hand paddles and rubber tubing with a belt have the same effect. Even swimming with a T-shirt and shoes in the water can help add resistance and develop power!
- DYNAMIC WARM UP: Get ready for every practice and competition with a short dynamic warm up routine! A combination of light cardio exercises and dynamic stretches, this is an excellent way to get the blood flowing to the muscles and loosen joints to prepare for training and racing. Being properly warmed up will also help prevent injuries.
DAY 1 (SILVER GROUP): SWIMMING A FAST 100
Swimming the 100 freestyle requires a unique strategy and planning for fast racing. Technique is tweaked to provide more power for the event, and taking advantage of the start and streamline off each wall has a larger impact. Trying to find the perfect balance between staying underwater, maintaining speed on the surface, and keeping a strong breathing pattern is difficult, but NCAA All-American Ryan Coetzee and Olympic gold medalist Roland Schoeman are two of the best instructors to help teach your swimmer.
- TEMPO: Your swimmer’s tempo is how fast or slow they complete each stroke. Having a slower tempo allows swimmers to conserve energy by taking fewer strokes, while a faster tempo is more tiring but much faster. Changing tempo based on event distance and fatigue level will help your swimmer swim as fast as possible.
- PACING: Pacing for races 100 yards or meters can be broken up many ways. Ryan and Roland will present different strategies on how to swim 100s: some swimmers focus on each 50, balancing “front end speed” and “back end speed”. Experimenting and learning new techniques will allow your swimmer to improve their 100!
- FLIP TURNS: Your swimmer will learn to carry their momentum through the turn to get in and out of every wall faster. Swimmers will practice accelerating into the wall, using their core and arms to get through the turn, and planting the feet on the wall for a powerful push off in the perfect streamline. Swimmers will learn drills and exercises to help them master this athletic skill!
- BREAKOUTS: Many swimmers add movements in their breakout that create drag and destroy all of the momentum created during their underwater dolphin kicks. Your swimmer will work on staying streamlined and keeping their head down on the first stoke to accelerate into the first few strokes.
DAY 2 (BLUE GROUP): SPEED, DRYLAND, AND RECOVERY
Swimmers can greatly change their race strategy by adjusting just two aspects of their stroke - distance per stroke and tempo. For example, it might be faster for one swimmer taking long slow strokes, while another swimmer may be better suited for more strokes at a higher rate. Ryan Coetzee and Roland Schoeman will also review some dryland exercises designed especially for developing strength and power in swimmers as well as techniques for recovery from dryland and swimming workouts.
- DISTANCE PER STROKE: One way to increase efficiency is to take fewer strokes. Counting the number of strokes and improving technique to decrease that number will save energy. On the other side, it may be faster to take more strokes per length, especially in shorter events.
- TEMPO: Your swimmer’s tempo is how fast or slow they complete each stroke. Having a slower tempo allows swimmers to conserve energy by taking fewer strokes, while a faster tempo is more tiring but much faster. Changing tempo based on event distance and fatigue level will help your swimmer swim as fast as possible.
- DRYLAND FOR SWIMMING: Dryland training is designed to build strength, increase flexibility and to become a more well-rounded and agile athlete. Swimmers will learn age appropriate, simple body weight exercises that will strengthen their core and major muscle groups to complement the training done in the pool.
- MAINTAINING TECHNIQUE THROUGH FATIGUE: When your swimmer gets tired, it’s the easy choice to revert to sloppy technique in order to make the interval and finish the set. Choosing to focus on technique through fatigue is the difficult decision, but more beneficial in the long run. Your swimmer will learn from Ryan and Roland how to handle fatigue in practice and races.
- RECOVERY: While training is important for swimming faster and gaining strength, recovery is just as important to make sure that you can keep training at a high level. While you can buy expensive products to help you recover, some of the most important things like getting enough sleep, staying hydrated, and stretching before and after practice are free!
DAY 2 (SILVER GROUP): SWIMMING A FAST 50
Swimming the 50 is all about perfectly executing the details of the race and swimming with explosive power. A swimmer's technique should vary slightly depending on the distance their swimming. The arm pull, breathing, timing, and rotation style will be different in the 50 than they are in the mile. In this session, your swimmer will work with NCAA All-American Ryan Coetzee and Olympic gold medalist Roland Schoeman to find ways to be more explosive in their freestyle technique and sprint faster in their shorter races!
- SPRINTING: Sprinting is all about swimming with “controlled aggression!” Ryan and Roland will demonstrate how to swim with power, while also being relaxed - having too much tension will make your swimmer slip in the water and slow down. Swimmers will observe how to tweak their stroke to make them quick yet efficient - increasing tempo, shortening the breath, and a strong connected kick will lead to an explosive race!
- UNDERWATER DOLPHIN KICKING: The fastest swimmers know how to weaponize their dolphin kicking. It is absolutely, undeniably, the fastest way to move through the water! Whether you dolphin kick on your stomach, side, or back, understanding the importance of streamlined, underwater speed is vital for every swimmer!
- FINISHES: Races can be won or lost by hundredths of a second, and many races come down to the last few strokes. Your swimmer will learn how to use their kick to accelerate into the wall, time their stroke for a perfect arm extension, and keep their head down so they don’t waste any time or strokes as they approach the wall.
ASK QUESTIONS
Swimmers and parents are invited to ask Ryan and Roland questions during a Q&A session. Gain insight into their training regimen, diet and nutrition, and recovery tactics.
WATCH THE CLINICIANS
Observe Ryan and Roland swim at full speed and demonstrate a progression of perfectly executed drills to achieve powerful, efficient and fast swimming.
PUT YOUR SKILLS TO THE TEST
Swimmers will get to practice what they've learned by taking their stroke to your top speed with two of the best swimmers and coaches in the world! They'll work on holding onto their form while challenging themselves.
Take a photo with Ryan and Roland, get autographs, and ALL PARTICIPANTS receive a FREE Fitter and Faster Collector’s Bag Tag for each day they are at the camp. Collect all 37 and trade with your friends!
Inquisitive, Educated Swimmers are Faster Swimmers! Sign up today!
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