What Should I Do During Practice?

Now that we know why you are on the swim team and how to survive and make the most of this long and rewarding swimming journey, we can start talking details about how to perform your best every day!

Pre-Practice

There is so much to learn and train every day in swimming. Every minute in the pool counts and for most swim teams there is not a lot of pool time or space available. Your coach probably has to share the pool with the community, swim lessons and maybe even the high school team. You can help your coach and yourself the most by being ready to start practice at the exact scheduled time. If practice is at 8:00 a.m., that usually means swimmers are jumping into the water at that time. If you show up at 7:58 a.m. get changed, get your equipment ready, put your goggles and swim cap on…... All of a sudden, you're starting at 8:10 a.m. while the rest of the team has already swum 500 yards.

Even if your swim mates and coach are not aggravated by this behavior (which they totally are, take it from me) 500yd a day for 6 days a week ends up being almost 14 miles of lost training over the course of a 6-month season. If you think your competitor is skipping those miles, you are wrong. If you think you're swim mates are happy to swim those miles while you are skipping them, you are wrong. If you think your coach is going to be more willing to help you because you are showing that you don't care to start practice on time, you are very wrong.

So, what you are going to do is show up 15 to 30 minutes early to practice. During that time, get changed, get your equipment ready and spend some time getting ready for the workout by doing things like stretching, getting an early look at the workout, talking to your coach about what you need to work on that day and catching up with your friends because once you're in the water there won't be much talking.

No phones in the locker. This is not just a rule your coach made. Many of the swimming organizations we will talk about later on mandate that using your phone is not allowed in locker rooms. This is a good chance to practice some self-discipline and leave the phone in your bag, preferably for the entire practice. When you come to the pool, make it about the swim team. Your phone can wait.

A swim practice typically runs 1.5 to 2 hours. Your goal is to make the most of this time. Nobody just gets out of bed and is ready to go and do their best. Imagine a race car driver who never warmed up the car before the start of the race. Is that car really going to run well? Your body is the same way. If you get out of bed and 5 minutes later you're in the water, your body will definitely not perform well. So, spend some extra time stretching, doing some warmup on the deck and giving your yourself enough time to wake up. We will talk about nutrition and in more detail later on, but keep in mind that getting something to eat at the right time is important.

Here's a list of common swim equipment that most swimmers should have ready at every practice. There is an entire world of specialized swim training equipment, some of which is made by yours truly, but we will just focus on the core necessities common to almost all swim teams:

Swim Caps

There are two main types of swim caps, one made of latex and one made of silicone. The latex caps are thinner and less durable while the silicone caps last much longer but are more expensive. Over time, all caps will stretch and eventually tear. It is a good idea to have several caps on hand that you only use for practice and several caps that you only use for racing.

While your coach will make the final decision, we highly recommend that you look like you want to belong to your team; a team where everyone wears the same swim cap. You want to help build a culture where everyone is working their butts off towards a unifying goal. If y'all look different, it is tough to show yourself and others that you care.

Goggles

There are many many types of goggles. Competitive swimmers use goggles that sit inside the eye socket, so try to avoid the larger or scuba type goggles. There are all kinds of shapes and you're just going to have to find the ones that work well for you. The goal is to have a set of goggles that are comfortable, don't leak and will last. Just like some caps, it is a good idea to have several extra pairs of goggles because they tend to break over time as well. It is also good to keep a separate set of goggles for practice and ones for racing. Some people can never find a goggle that fits right and doesn't leak, but using a swim cap with it can help a lot. If your goggle falls off or flips onto your forehead when you are diving into the pool, it is not properly fitted…or your dive needs some work!

Hand Paddles

Hand paddles also come in many shapes and sizes and some even come with forearm attachments. In general, you want the size of the paddle that will give you a little extra grip but won't cause a major change to your stroke. You may have to talk to your coach to decide what the best size is for you. You may even need to keep a couple different sizes for different types of sets whether they are for speed or for distance swimming.

Paddles are notorious for causing shoulder problems. The bigger the paddle, the more strain it will put on your shoulder, so you don't want to start with something that is too big. You can always start small and move up, but if you start big and injure your shoulder it is tough to move down to a smaller paddle in order to let that shoulder heal.

Pull buoys

The idea behind a pull buoy is to keep your feet from kicking and to force your arms to do most of the work. These are usually combined with paddles in long distance sets to help build the upper body of swimmers. Pull buoys are made out of foam and create some buoyancy to hold the legs up. You don't want to use one that is so big it is altering your body position and messing with your technique. So, choose a buoy that will keep your legs up but won't lift you out of the water.

If you find that you are starting to have shoulder pain and problems when using a pull buoy, ask your coach if you can ditch it and use your feet to kick. This helps initiate your body's rotation and alleviate the pressure on the shoulder. On our team, we don't use pull buoys at all and find that it very much helps avoid shoulder problems in general. But this will be for your coach to decide.

Kickboard

Again, there are a million designs for kickboards. The key here is to use them correctly which is to have your hands grabbing the top of the kickboard with your forearms resting on the board. The kickboard should be almost horizontal in the water with the front edge just cutting through the surface. Don't push the board underwater and don't hold it from the bottom so that it is pointing upwards. You want it to be in the most hydrodynamic state where it is supporting most of your weight.

Fins

The length of the fin can greatly alter your kicking technique. Some fins are much better designed for certain types of kicking like underwater dolphin kicking. In general, a longer fin is good for short quick kicks like in freestyle, while shorter fins are better for training your dolphin kick. Of course, if you are looking for the most powerful kicking fin out there, you will want a monofin.

Fins are notorious for causing foot cramps and for slipping off. In general, you want a fin that is tight enough that it won't fall off but loose enough that it won't block your foot arteries which causes the cramping. Test, test, test until you can find one that is a good fit for you.

Practice suits

Many suits are made from materials that don't last very long. Over a relatively short period of time, they can stretch out and become “see-through”/sheer, which is something most people like to avoid. When buying a practice suit, look for the endurance label; it should be made of 50% Polyester/50% PBT.

Do not get suits that are made of a mixture of nylon and Lycra fabric. These will stretch out and won’t last. They may be a little cheaper, but don't fall for the trick.

Racing and tech suits are very different, and we will discuss those in the swim meet section.

Time for Practice!

Now that we have shown up early, warmed up, got our goggles on and all our equipment ready to go, it's time for a real practice! Except, coach has written up a bunch of stuff on a whiteboard and while everybody seems to know what he's talking about, you are confused.

Because swimming pools are so expensive and the space is so limited, it is necessary for swimmers to share lanes and operate in a very coordinated manner in order for everyone to get the training they need while also staying out of each other's way. In the next section we will talk about how to read a clock, read a set and go over proper lane etiquette.

How to use a Clock

In practice, we are all slaves to the clock. It tells us when to go, when to finish and judges us on how we are doing. Not until the swim meet do we get to own the clock and tell it what to say. But for the majority of your swimming journey, you will live by the clock!

In the olden days, clocks used to be round with numbers on them and they had clock hands that would go around and around in a circle. When the clock hand pointed up at the 60 second mark, this was called the top. When it pointed down at the 30 second mark this was called the bottom. Nowadays most clocks are all digital and most swimmers don't know these terms, but they are still very common in swimming. If your coach says we are leaving on the top, that means you should start the next swimming rep when the virtual clock hand is pointing up to the 60 second mark. If the coach says leave on the bottom, you leave at the 30 second mark.

Sometimes, it may be necessary to start at a different time point and your coach will say so. For instance, they may say leave on the 15, that means when the clock hits 15 seconds that is when you go. Another common phrase is to say leave on the next top. That means let this top pass and then leave on the next one.

As we will see in the next section, swimmers usually do multiple reps of swims with each given a set time. For instance, maybe coach will ask us to do 10 x 50s on a minute freestyle. What this means is that coach wants us to do a 50 swim, stop and wait until the full minute has passed to restart the next 50. This is assuming you can do the 50 in less than a minute. You repeat this 10 times to complete the full swimming set.

Swimmers are expected to leave for each swimming rep at almost exactly the moment you're supposed to. The reason for this is you and your coach should be keeping track of your speed throughout practice. For instance, if each 50 is taking you 40 seconds, but coach wants it to take you 35 seconds, you need to leave at the exact right time for the numbers to be accurate. If you leave early, you will be cheating yourself. If you leave late, there may not be enough room behind you for everyone to leave at the right time. Long story short, it can get very messy if you lose track of the clock and don't leave at the right time. A good rule of thumb is to keep an eye on the clock and to visually see the number one second before going under the water and pushing off. For instance, if we were going to leave on the top (60 second mark) then we would wait to visually see 59 seconds on the clock and then drop under the water and push off. If you were leaving on the bottom, you would wait to see 29 seconds and then push off.

Sometimes the timing can get more complicated. Let's say coach says to do 8 x 25 on the 45 second mark and you're going to start on the top:

1^st 25- start on 60s mark (the top)

2^nd 25- start on 45s mark.

3^rd 25- start on 30s mark.

4^th 25- start on 15s mark.

It can get very confusing very quickly. But, with practice comes expertise… and you will get lots of practice!

Digital clocks also keep track of the minutes that are going by, so your coach may instruct you to leave at a certain minute time instead of a certain second time. This is most commonly used at the beginning of practice when coaches say we will start in 5 minutes and give an actual minute number to leave on. This way everybody on the team knows exactly when to start and everybody can look like a team, act like a team, and start as a team.

How to Read a Set

In cross country, runners may be given a set number of miles to run or a set pace to hold. It is very simple and easy to do because there is so much space and everyone can basically follow their own individual workout. In swimming, we don't have that luxury or space.

To make things more confusing, most coaches like to be very creative with their workouts and have swimmers perform different drills or swimming strokes throughout the same set. So instead of saying just swim back and forth until I tell you to stop, coaches have specific instructions for each piece of the swimming workout. This is called a swimming set. Different coaches have different styles and ways of organizing their sets, but in general each set can be divided into one or more line items which can be repeated to make multiple rounds. Let us take an example and build up a set one piece of time so you can understand:

3 rounds

4x 50 @ 1:00 butterfly drill

2x 25 @ :45 butterfly sprint

Here is a simple butterfly set. There are two line items which will be repeated for three rounds. Each line item has the same components: the number of repeats, the length of the rep, the time allotted for each rep and the stroke or drill that is being performed.

So, this means we are going to swim 50 yards at a time while stopping and resting between each 50. We will do it four times in a row. We have designated one minute to perform each 50 rep. If you do the 50 in 45 seconds, that means you have 15 seconds of rest before the next one starts. A common misconception is that the 50 should take a full minute to perform. That is not true, the one-minute allotment is telling you when the next 50 should start.

After we have completed all four of the 50s, we will immediately start the next line item of the 2x25s. Now, each rep is a lot shorter, and we are only doing two of them. And each of them is going to be allotted 45 seconds instead of a full minute. After we have completed the 25s, we repeat the entire round starting from the beginning with the 4x50s.

Let's try a tougher example:

4 rounds

3x200 @ 3:00 just make it

30s rest

3x100 @ 1:45 hold 1:20

30s rest

3x50 @1:00 hold :30

1min rest

Wow! This just got serious. Now we have all kinds of different rep distances, different times and instructions for everything. Starting from the top, we see that coach wants us to do a 200 swim where we are just swimming for completion trying to stay under the 3-minute threshold and we will do this three times.

Generous coach gives us 30 seconds of rest and then we start 3x100 where we have to hold a certain pace. Because of the 30s of rest, the 100s will start on the bottom. Coach wants us to swim each hundred in less than 1 minute and 20 seconds which means we will have about 25 seconds of rest between each 100.

After another generous 30 seconds of rest, coach wants us to speed up even more and do the last 3x50s trying to hold under 30 seconds. After all 3 x 50s are done, we get one minute of rest before starting the whole round again, doing three total rounds before the set is complete.

Different coaches have different styles, but in general most do a warm-up set and 2-3 workout sets each day. How to write these sets and plan for them throughout the season is up to your coach and is the topic of another book. It is your job however to trust the process, trust your coach and if you have questions, make sure to ask them before practice starts. There's nothing more annoying than starting a set and then swimmers stopping to ask what they are supposed to do next. Many times, these sets are on a very tight schedule and timing. If you have to stop and can't make the next interval it can get very annoying. It also looks like you are trying to skip out on workout by playing dumb! Don't be that swimmer, make sure you understand the set before you start.

Lane Etiquette

If each swimmer was able to swim in their own lane, we could skip this section. Unfortunately, pool space is very limited and you will most definitely have to share the lane with many other swimmers who are hopefully your friends. In order to perform complex sets while staying out of each other's way requires everyone to obey certain rules of the lane.

The first step is to organize yourselves in a line from the fastest to the slowest swimmer. The lane leader is at the front of the line and they have the most important job of all because for the most part, they will be the only one paying attention to the clock and when to start each rep of the set. If they mismanage their time, leave early, leave late, get distracted…they will mess up the rest of the group.

Rule #1: Leave 5 seconds apart

By convention, after the lane leader starts each rep, each swimmer in line will leave 5 seconds apart (sometimes 10 seconds if there are only a few people in lane or if you are swimming in a long course pool). So, if the lane leader leaves at the top, the second person leaves at the 5-second mark. The third person leaves at the 10-second mark and so on and so forth. This makes sure that each person has a little bit of space to swim and so that each swimmer in the line can keep track of their times.

Rule #2: The person swimming always has the right of way

Always try to stay out of the way of the person swimming. If for some reason you have to stop to fix your goggles, talk to the coach, put your fins back on… make sure you stay out of the way of the people swimming. If they come in for a flip turn and you are in their way, it is their right to use you as the wall!

Rule #3: Circle Swimming

Obviously, if there are more than two people in a lane you will not be able to just split the lane in half and share. Instead, we circle swim which means just like driving on the road, swimmers swim along the right side of the lane and when they turn around at the other end, they will also swim on the right side staying out of the way of the other swimmers. This creates a big circle in the lane so that you can have a continuous line of swimmers that avoid headbutting each other.

Rule #4: How to pass and be passed

Ideally, the group of swimmers should be organized from fastest to slowest before the set starts so that swimmers don't catch up to each other and cause a traffic jam. Unfortunately, we sometimes don't know what the exact lineup should be until we start the set. To make it more confusing, plenty of swimmers can be faster than each other doing different strokes, drills or kicking sets. So, what do we do when we catch up to the person ahead of us or someone has caught up to us?

Because we are circle swimming, simply trying to swim around the person in front of us can be very dangerous since there is oncoming traffic. So, we need a better way to safely pass each other.

If you catch up to the person in front of you, lightly try to touch their feet as they are swimming. This signals to the person in front of you that you have reached them and that you want to pass them. When you reach the next wall, the person in front should pause quickly and out of the way in the corner for the person behind to turn around and get ahead. The problem with feet touching is that it is very very annoying to the person who has their feet touched! So please, try only to do it once or twice. And if you are the person who had their feet touched, be a good teammate and let the person behind you go ahead of you. If you just try to stay ahead while people behind you need to pass, you are only hindering their training, and this is not very team like.

Rule #5: Work as a team!

Remember what we said about the Navy Seals training and who made the best warriors? It was those who, in their exhaustion, were still able to encourage their teammates to do better. If you see your teammates on the wall skipping the set, fiddling with their goggles, not doing their best, it is your job to cheer them on and encourage them to be better! In the same way, it is your job to also put 100% of your effort into the set because the goal of every day of training is to work together and to make each other better so that when the swim meet comes around, you can all do well.

Rule #6: Peeing in the pool

Yes, it happens.

No, we don’t talk about it.

Post workout

And just like that workout is over! Who knew 2 hours can go by so fast... haha just kidding. But just because workout is over doesn't mean your job is finished just yet.

The first thing to do is to clean up the pool area. Most pools schedule a lot of other programs that probably start immediately after you are done. That means all the equipment needs to be picked up and put away and most likely the lane lines need to be removed or adjusted based on your pool and what is starting next. It is very common on some teams to have a few swimmers who help with the lane lines every day and others skip out on the help. Don't be that swimmer. You are never too good or too fast or have too many gold medals to skip helping with the lane lines or picking up the equipment.

Next, if you feel that there is feedback you wanted to get or there are goals you wanted to go over, now would be a good time to talk to your coach. Don't try to do these things during workout because you and your coach have other jobs to do at that time. But now that workout is over, this is the time to address these issues. Coaches love it when swimmers really reflect on their training and their goals and want to review what they can do better on a regular basis. Now is the time to take advantage of the opportunity after practice is over.

Make sure to always talk first with the coach who is directly in charge of you. There may be a head coach in charge of the entire team, but most teams have multiple assistant coaches, and one of them will be directly in charge of your group. Talk to that coach first. Always follow the chain of command and don’t skip the line.

Lastly, jump starting your nutrition recovery after practice is very important and we will talk a lot more about it in a later chapter. For now, just know that this should be something that is on your post-workout schedule every day.

Setting Goals

Since we just mentioned talking about goals, let’s go over that concept now. A goal is just something you want to achieve (duh), but not all goals are created equal. Goals should be specific, measurable, difficult but attainable, time-based, written down, and a combination of short-term and long-term goals. Many little goals should feed in together to achieve a few larger goals. Goals should focus on positive changes rather than getting rid of negative behavior: “I’m going to do three dolphin kicks off every wall” instead of “I’m going to stop breathing on my breakout.” The trap of goal setting is that we can sometimes become motivated by the goal instead of by the “process” to reach the goal, which is infinitely more powerful and important in maintaining motivation (more on that later).

There are three types of goals listed from biggest to smallest:

1.     Dream goals.

2.     Results goals.

3.     Process goals.

A dream goal is something you hope for but realistically is out of your wheelhouse, like win a gold medal at the Olympics. While it’s ok to have a dream, it’s not ok to see yourself as a failure when it doesn’t happen. That’s just silly and immature. Dreams are totally ok, as long as you know they are based on hope alone.

A results goal is something you want to achieve long term or every season. Results goals can be purely time based (break a minute in the 100) or achievement based (earn a DI scholarship). These goals should be MOTIVATION during the daily grind. Whether you reach them or not is actually not that important. What is more important is whether they help you struggle just a bit longer during a set, push you harder during a race or wake you up a little earlier to stretch and take care of nutrition before morning practice…

Process goals are by far the most important. These are the short-term goals we create as stepping stones to reach our results goal. A process goal is not a time we want to achieve, it should be a training achievement. Once achieved, a new process goal should be set. You can have multiple process goals running at the same time for different strokes, training sets or even just kicking. Here are a few Process goal examples:

1. Attend practice 80% of the time this month
2. Force four dolphin kicks off every wall from warm up to cool down
3. Don’t “dolphin dive” on my butterfly in my next race

Why are process goals so important in swimming? Because we can’t see our progress as well as other sports can. Take weightlifting for example. If you have 100lbs on the bar and bench-press it, you can bench 100lbs. If you want to bench 110lbs, you put that weight on the bar and it’s real. It’s something you can touch and feel and be scared by. But when you successfully bench it… that’s it. Forever and ever you can bench that much weight. In weightlifting, this happens every day with 100s of different lifting variations at different reps…etc. We don’t get the same experience in swimming. We can’t see our progress as clearly as a weightlifter, but we can use process goals to act as a replacement.

A key point to making good goals for yourself is to work with your coach in setting them. Your coach is there to help and guide you and bring years of experience from their coaching methods and from past swimmers’ experiences as well. Not every plan will work out exactly the way it is supposed to and that is okay. If you are not failing at least some of the time, that means you're not trying. Only people who don't set high expectations and high goals avoid failure.

Don't be afraid to fail, come to workout excited to be there, encourage your teammates to be their best, trust your coach and their training, respect where you train and keep it organized and clean…do these things and you'll have a great workout every single day!

Swimmer's Starter Guide book here!