T2 Aquatics – Backstroke Kick, Drill, Swim

This is typical Kick, Drill, Swim Stroke Endurance workout for our top HS-aged athletes.

Tuesday March 19, 2013 – PM

3x:
5×100 SKIPS

3x:
1×50 (115) — :05 wall kick + 12.5 fast + 25 Free + 12.5 finish
1×50 (115) — :05 wall kick + 25 Build + 25 easy

9×50 Free-Back x25 (50) — practice breathing every 3rd hand entry on back

Main Set:
*All Distances Backstroke: #1 Kick, #2 Drill, #3 Swim
*All Drills = Kick out, plus 3R 3L Vertical Catchup, plus swim 2 strokes into flipturns
3×400 (6)
3×300 (430)
3×200 (3)
3×100 (130)

200 easy

8x: (with FINS)
50 Free (35)
50 Fly Fast (40)
100 Free (130) 5th

200 easy

WORKOUT TOTAL: 7250

Additional Comments:
We had completed a similar set earlier in the year: 9×300 (430) Backstroke: 1 Kick, 1 Drill, 1 Swim. We had decent results during the 9×300, but I felt like we could be a lot better. Many athletes in the training group have not been “brought up” in our program at T2 Aquatics….and they have had to adjust to the amount of Backstroke, Breaststroke, and Fly our Senior athletes do on a weekly basis.

This set was pretty tough, and done well across the board. Athletes who are not as comfortable on their backs had a harder time, but the athletes in the front of the lanes conquered the set and got a lot out of it. In particular, we had some nice kicking and swimming; the drilling was done “well” but it was too slow (often slower than the kicking). The drill, 3R 3L Vertical Catchup, is: 3 single arms on each side with the opposite hand in the air. Take 2 strokes backstroke swim into each flip turn, and kick out far enough to only need the 3R 3L and 2 regular strokes before the next wall.

The goal is to progress your “pace per 100” as the distances decrease. You may end up with some good times on the end, but the point of the set is to walk on the “threshold line” through the 400s, 300s, and 200s — getting a little bit stronger as you go.

This free workout was provided by T2 Aquatics Head Coach Paul Yetter.