Beyond the Pancakes: How Does Todd DeSorbo Train Sprinters?

In Practice + Pancakes, SwimSwam takes you across the country and through a practice day in the life of swimming’s best athletes. It breaks down training sessions, sub sets, and what every team is doing to be at their best. But why are they doing things that way? What’s the philosophy behind these decisions, and who’s driving this pain train? In Beyond the Pancakes, we dive inside the minds of coaches and athletes, getting a first hand look at why they do the things they do, and where their minds are pointed on the compass of evolution as a swimmer.

It’s what so many swim fans want to see: the very fastest possible, and then get faster. Training sprinters to be as fast as they possibly can comes in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and philosophies. For UVA head coach Todd DeSorbo, it means going as fast as you can. All the time.

DeSorbo started our interviewing by sharing a piece of a conversation he had with a track coach years back. DeSorbo asked the coach how he coached sprinters, and the track coach replied that he focused most of their time on the first 15-20 meters of a 100 meters race (in swimming terms, the start and breakout). This resonated with DeSorbo, for in his mind, building power and explosiveness takes much more time than building aerobic capacity.

This leads us to DeSorbo’s method. He uses lots of resistance coupled with maximum effort to train a sprinters body to explode off of the blocks and walls. When they aren’t going 100%, they are doing thoughtful drills and skill work to hone in on technique. In the weight room, DeSorbo tells UVA’s strength coach that he want’s his athletes to be able to dunk a basketball, with an emphasis on their vertical leap.

See Todd DeSorbo’s power workout with Olympian Jack Conger here.

See SwimSwam’s 1st Practice + Pancakes with University of Virginia here.

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D1 Swimmer
4 years ago

Nobody cares!

GOD IS #1
4 years ago

i like how he relates track to swimming. they are quite alike. UVA!!!!!

Jason Zajonc
4 years ago

Coaches have been over training sprinters for years…you think runners who run 100 meters run miles slow? Train for what you race I say. Good technique and power with speed does the trick from what we have seen from sprinters now. Great articles! Keep them up

Coachy
Reply to  Jason Zajonc
4 years ago

Are you saying fast runners are better than fast swimmers? Do you have anything to prove that if 100 meter guys did run slow miles that it wouldn’t make them faster? Your argument could easily go both ways……

BWPolo
Reply to  Coachy
4 years ago

Ya, we have about 30 years of exercise science research that says train for your specific speed. The results are only pointing in one direction.

Coachy
Reply to  BWPolo
4 years ago

I’m not saying he’s wrong, did I say he was wrong? Nope. I’m just saying the logic used for his argument is poor. Read what I wrote, don’t imagine what I meant.

sven
Reply to  Coachy
4 years ago

You asked if anything would prove that 100 meter guys wouldn’t go faster with a lot of slow work, and Bwpolo read what you wrote and then answered the question. Jason’s logic is fine.

Coachy
Reply to  sven
4 years ago

He claimed sprinters were over trained because 100 m guys don’t run the mile slow. That doesn’t prove anything. Just saying they do X doesn’t make them right. There are plenty of reasons to do what he said but he didn’t mention those, he just said track does X so swimmers should also do X. I could easily say “think how fast 100 m runners could be if they just did more aerobic work”. That’s a flawed argument.

And I didn’t ask anyone to prove anything, i just stated that the logic in the original argument was poor. You obviously were trying to imagine what I meant as well. Jason was stating we should train like track athletes. Why?… Read more »

sven
Reply to  Coachy
4 years ago

“Do you have anything to prove that if 100 meter guys did run slow miles that it wouldn’t make them faster?”

I dunno, man, that sure sounds like you are asking someone to provide evidence for something. Which is why Bwpolo read what you wrote and pointed you in the direction of the massive weight of scientific evidence that specific stimuli yield specific adaptations.

You’re right, though, that you could easily say “think how fast 100 m runners could be if they just did more aerobic work,” and that that would be silly. Jason’s logic is still fine because it’s based off of a premise that, again, specific stimuli yield specific adaptations.

Aquajosh
Reply to  sven
4 years ago

There are impact forces in sprint running that swimmers just do not experience. These impact forces and their resultant wear on joints and cartilage are what prevent sprint runners from doing the same type of training swimmers do. The question you should be asking track coaches is: If impact forces in track were the same as swimming, would you train your athletes in the same manner you do now, or would you train them in a similar fashion to most swim programs?

googoodoll
4 years ago

These new fangled fads come and go. The best training regimen is always started with GENETICS and MINIMAL PASSIVE AND ACTIVE BODY DRAG…

Ol' Longhorn
Reply to  googoodoll
4 years ago

It’s not “new fangled.” Jack Nelson was doing it with Andy Coan in the mid-70’s. Salo’s been doing it practically as long. Rushall just put a new name on it.

shasha
Reply to  Ol' Longhorn
4 years ago

I thought Andy trained with Pinecrest, and Jack coached at Ft Lauderdale?

Ol' Longhorn
Reply to  shasha
4 years ago

Jack coached Pine Crest Prep and Ft. Lauderdale Swim Team (the AAU club — it was originally Jack Nelso Swim Club). He left Pine Crest in 1975, but continued on with FLST..

Billy Howard
4 years ago

I’d be interested to hear his thoughts on how this philosophy applies down into age group swimming based on his recruiting experiences. Do swimmers from volume-based programs end up thriving more in his opinion, or would he rather work with kids who grew up with this same philosophy?

OrcaUp
Reply to  Billy Howard
4 years ago

I’ve been involved with Todd’s camps since he first started them with Bobby Guntoro at N.C. State, and his comments regarding this have been, we want the kids that can train 6000-7500 yards, then we’ll decrease the volume and increase the intensity, turning them into sprinters once they arrive on campus.

Mikeh
Reply to  OrcaUp
4 years ago

Exactly.

Justin Ress
Reply to  Billy Howard
4 years ago

I can say from personal experience that it works fairly well coming from volume-based programs 😅

2 Cents
4 years ago

Seriously though, everything he says makes sense and everything he says makes me regret ever being born… at least when I was… If I had this training system or a coach with this philosophy, then who knows… as I am sure there are 1000 others out there thinking the same thing. Sprinters only doing 5k max per day, yes please… I dont care if it is all at max effort for a 2-3k practice. That is what my taper was like and they are doing this mid season.

My only thought is that once this method or training style catches on more and you start seeing clubs do it… the improvement when they enter college will go away. I… Read more »

Will 37
Reply to  2 Cents
4 years ago

Agreed! Also we can see that more and more elite sprinters trained like that. Ben Proud, Manaudou, Fratus..etc
I feel like more coaches need to be able to accept new types of training, instead of always believing in the same thing

PVSFree
Reply to  2 Cents
4 years ago

Counter argument: if you’re only swimming a 50/100, is an aerobic base really necessary? Michael Andrew’s USRPT is a more extreme version of Desorbo’s philosophy and he’s never really done much, if any, of the heavy yardage aerobic training. He’s turned out fine.

If the swimmers enjoy it, I say use the high intensity training philosophy. A happy swimmer is a fast swimmer

Anonymous
Reply to  PVSFree
4 years ago

It seems to me that talk may or may not be completely true. For example, the kid who says he threw a rock and left out “broke the window”. Not really a lie and not the whole story. Unless you are there everyday, I think it’s a grain of salt what they say/write about training.

coacherik
Reply to  PVSFree
4 years ago

Recently he has let on that he is lifting/considering lifting, but looking at it from a general athletic/durability stand point. What Michael Andrew is doing is nothing like what Desorbo is doing. They both believe there shouldn’t be any wasted time for sprint training, from an aerobic training stand point, but their approaches are nothing alike.

PVSFree
Reply to  PVSFree
4 years ago

On a spectrum from the 1970’s 10k yard days to Michael Andrew’s USRPT 2-3k days, Desorbo is closer to the MA end of the spectrum. The use of more equipment, like buckets and paddles, seems to be a technological innovation in the sport, not a fundamental shift in training philosophy.

spectatorn
Reply to  PVSFree
4 years ago

in January, MA posted a vblog about his morning workout and saying in the description that “All week we have been grinding 90 x 50s at 200 pace (30 x free, 30 x back, 30 x IM order)”. And I think he did some warmup and other things at the end that makes it a 5K workout.
5K, all speed/pace work – that’s quite a lot. What was skipped are the extended warmup and warm down or pure kicking/pulling/drill works.
(video link – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2ih5S4Na6k)

BWPolo
Reply to  PVSFree
4 years ago

Based on the short video, Todd’s philosophy for these swimmers is very similar to the conditioning elements of USRPT for 50 and 100 swimmers. However, USRPT’s priorities are 1) Race Technique Repetition 2) Racing Psychology and 3) Race-Specific Conditioning. Todd says the words “technique” and “drills” but he’s just explaining a conditioning program in the video. He doesn’t mention any specific technical elements the swimmers are working on. [I’m sure he instructs technique off camera]

A single 50 doesn’t need a volume-heavy “aerobic base” in the central system but swimming dozens of 25’s at your 50 pace in a session does require a significant aerobic capacity in the peripheral muscle. Otherwise, your training sessions are too short to elicit significant… Read more »

Ol' Longhorn
Reply to  BWPolo
4 years ago

Have no idea why you got downvoted. Grew up doing traditional 15,000 meters/day swimming for 100 meter events, moved to USRPT as a masters. Anyone who things trying to do 30 X 25 at 100 race pace with 15 sec raest doesn’t tax your aerobic capacity, hasn’t ever done it. Principle difference with Desorbo is the use of in-water resistance and equipment.

Mikeh
Reply to  BWPolo
4 years ago

Well said.

Mikeh
Reply to  PVSFree
4 years ago

That’s a good question, and I argue that it is necessary. An aerobic base enables an athlete to recover far more quickly that an athlete that is not well conditioned. There is also the neuromuscular adaptations that come with thousands of yards, necessarily swim more slowly, with perfect technique.

It’s no accident that Michael Andrew is mist competitive in the 50s. He trained in the anaerobic zone throughout his developmental years. To be sure he has some aerobic fitness from USRPT, but not the normal amount for a swimmer at his level. And that’s fine; he has followed a different path.

IDisagree
Reply to  2 Cents
4 years ago

I think if you can combine MA’s USRPT regime and Desorbo’s regime you would find a good balance between the two that would be ideal for a lot of people out there. Improve your top end speed + learn to maintain that speed for longer periods of time. Kind of what Phoneix swim club does, but with more additional capacity work to improve your top end speed. There’s a place for capacity work and speed endurance work in training programs

Mikeh
Reply to  2 Cents
4 years ago

“ I feel like this only works with the base that they build in HS and with their club teams.”

I agree. I fear age group coaches will adopt this philosophy only to short circuit their athletes development. The anaerobic-first approach works well with physically mature athletes who have put in the work to obtain neuromuscular adaptations.

I wonder if Ryan Hoffer is a victim of a club coach who got greedy for breakout swims, and pushed anaerobic power workouts on a body that was still developing and needed more general training to acquire the neuromuscular “grooves” in his system through slower, longer, technically perfect training. I realize I am making assumptions from the outside, however Hoffer has just barely… Read more »

Idisagree
Reply to  Mikeh
4 years ago

Interesting point. I see where you are coming from, expect the body treats at slow and fast swimming at completely different techniques. Plus, he was really physically mature at 16, a 41.2 isn’t a easy time to break through. I don’t think he has a problem with aerobic capacity given his ability to perform over 13 races at NCAAs

Coachy
Reply to  Mikeh
4 years ago

Hoffer going to one of the best schools in the country on a hefty scholarship doesn’t qualify him as a “victim”. A club coaches job should be to get a kid in to the best college possible with the largest amount of scholarship. So make them as fast as you possibly can. If the college coach can’t get them faster then that is their problem and they need to get better as a coach. I doubt Todd is offering more scholarship money to the 22.5 kid doing 8000 yards a day that he is to the 21.5 kid doing 4000 yards. The faster kid gets more money and opportunity, coaches may want “no weights, aerobic base” but until they pay… Read more »

Mikeh
Reply to  Coachy
4 years ago

Hoffer could have gone two seconds slower in the 100 free, and attended any school he wished on a full ride. 41.2 was unnecessary at 16, and might have truncated his development. Can’t say I know for sure but it is possible.

Coachy
Reply to  Mikeh
4 years ago

He also could have gone 43.2 in HS, not got any faster in college, lost scholarship money, be in more financial debt than he is now. “can’t say I know for sure but it is possible”. Best bet is to just make the kids fast. There is also a good chance that if he was 43.2 in HS and is now a 40.2 that his scholarship wouldn’t have been increased at all. Get the many you can when you can kids!

SwimGeek
Reply to  Coachy
4 years ago

The 21.5 kid isn’t getting any money either 😉

Mikeh
Reply to  SwimGeek
4 years ago

Would Hoffer have gone a 21.5 with slower, more aerobic training? No, he would have gone far, far faster. Fast enough for a four year ride to any school in the country. I am more than prepared to sell a kit out for speed if that is what it takes to get him or her a scholarship. But that is not always necessary.

Ol' Longhorn
Reply to  Mikeh
4 years ago

Of course, he may also have dropped out of the sport.

Austinpoolboy
Reply to  SwimGeek
4 years ago

A girl would!

Ol' Longhorn
Reply to  Mikeh
4 years ago

“Neuromuscular grooves.” There’s a new one.

ChompChomp
Reply to  Mikeh
4 years ago

Also, Hoffer was as physically developed as most college freshmen by the time he was going those times. He was an early bloomer. A very talented one. That’s why he was so fast in high school. And, mind you, he’s STILL very fast. To say that he should have waited until the end of his period of rapid physical development to start training sprint makes an assumption about his physical development that doesn’t appear to be the case.

JSWIMMER
Reply to  2 Cents
4 years ago

Ahmen, I swim 3000ish yards 4-5 times a week post college and have beaten several best times. I warm up and then get right into pace/speed work or whatever i think i need rather than garbage yardage just to brag about how much i can swim.

SwimGeek
Reply to  JSWIMMER
4 years ago

Agreed. It is amazing how fast you can go with just focused 30-45 min workouts as a Masters swimmer (if you keep you races at 100 or less)

spectatorn
Reply to  2 Cents
4 years ago

I think the key is what he said at around 6:25 in the video – in short – it is hard and mentally taxing to do 100% maximum effort, 100% discipline and 100% focus on execution, all the times. He quoted an example of 12 strokes with 1 minute rest – those 12 strokes need to be max effort, perfect technique, or the swimmer is not going to get anything out of it.

now this come back to whether and how many high school kid get that concept even if the coach ask for it, and how many do it day in day out. I am sure some of the rising stars we see now got it and thus show… Read more »

I_said_It
Reply to  2 Cents
4 years ago

And Salo has been saying it since the 80’s

Coachy
Reply to  I_said_It
4 years ago

👆🏻

2 Cents
4 years ago

Shhhhh

About Coleman Hodges

Coleman Hodges

Coleman started his journey in the water at age 1, and although he actually has no memory of that, something must have stuck. A Missouri native, he joined the Columbia Swim Club at age 9, where he is still remembered for his stylish dragon swim trunks. After giving up on …

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