Coach’s Log: Indiana Breaststroke Set

*Video produced by SwimSwam contributor Coleman Hodges*

Indiana Head Coach, Ray Looze talks with SwimSwam’s Garrett McCaffrey about a tough breaststroke set that the Hoosiers did last week. The discussion covers focus points like lines and angles in the stroke and why Looze thinks it’s so important to set that line underwater. The 12th year head coach at Indiana also talks about some of the stud breaststrokers he’s got in the stable. Here’s what the workout looked like on paper:

PM, Monday, October 28th, 2013, BT Blue, SCY, CBAC

Warm up-

400 choice

200 kick BT with board

200 pull BT with black tube

200 Phelps FLY

4×50 free breathing pattern 7 :45

Relay starts

100 easy

 

Main Set-

5×200 BT 4k1b 3:30 flip turns

100 easy

150 (50k-50p-50s) 2:30 flip turns

150 swim with double pullouts 2:30 flip turns. 150’s same time!

100 (25k-25p-50s) 1:40 flip turns

100 swim with double pullouts 1:40 flip turns. 100’s same time!

75 (25k-25p-25s)1:15 flip turns

75 swim 1:15 flip turns 75’s should be same time!

50 BT kick 1:00

50 BT pull with dolphin 1:00

50 BT swim 1:00

100 easy

5×200 BT pull paddles and buoy 3:30 flip turns (Goal is to go dual meet time)

100 easy

150 (50-50-50) 2:30 flip turns

150 swim with double pullouts 2:30 continue to balance 150 times!

100 (25-25-50) 1:40 flip turns

100 swim with double pullouts 1:40 flip turns. CM 56+ BP 1:05! Nice.

75 (25-25-25) 1:15 flip turns

75 swim 1:15 flip turns

50 BT kick 1:00

50 BT pull with dolphin 1:00

50 BT swim 1:00

800 IM (200 of each stroke) kicking 15m under off each wall Recovery.

8xpullouts with resisted bands and paddles (3 quality pullouts)

Focus-tight body line, don’t break hips, dynamic pulldown, quick recovery

 

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weirdo
10 years ago

I would also like to hear a backstroke workout and philosophy about backstroke. He seems to always have good backstrokers over the years…men and women.

Adam Depmore
10 years ago

Serious question, what would it take to have Garrett commentate for the Olympics? His interview are extremely insightful and he does an impeccable job of digging into the details. Keep up the outstanding work Garrett!

Adam

PsychoDad
10 years ago

Thanks a lot – very interesting. Questions:

1. What does BT 4k1b stand for?
2. “Phelps fly”? – does that mean breathing every stroke?
3. Why flip turns? Benefits?

Like double pullouts in some drills. Nothing helps more for pullouts for our 11 year old then 25 yard underwater pullouts (4 pullouts per length). He does 15-20 of them per practice. teaches him balance, patience, and strong pull every pull.

PsychoDad
Reply to  Garrett McCaffrey
10 years ago

Sorry, did not have time to view video at that point, just did. Great questions and answers. I still however do not get benefits of flip turns. Mental benefits okay, because they will swim faster times and get excited, but no benefits for breaststroke since you have to do open turns in meets and you are not practicing them.

Liked his remark that fly and breast are like a brother and a sister, except he should have mentioned the pull as well, in addition to “hip work.” Breaststroke pull should be exactly like the fly pull, down and back, instead of useless wide sculls that do little. Upper body should be high on pull so that center or gravity shifts… Read more »

Reply to  PsychoDad
10 years ago

Flip turns used in BR (or BT) help increase speed and allow the swimmer to not worry about their turns deteriorating during a longer set. He mentions that a bit here.

Open turns should never been done at a slow pace. Same with doing slowed or tired pull outs. Barrowman did a lot of sets with flip turns and no pull outs (and then would work on those aspects on shorter repeats of 50’s and 100’s). We will also do sets with FLY too using flips turns (along with sets using normal FL turns). I usually add some 50’s later in the workout after doing some BR or FL sets with flip turns.

PsychoDad
Reply to  Donald P. Spellman
10 years ago

Thanks – nice explanation.

Reply to  Garrett McCaffrey
10 years ago

Garrett – LOVE these videos and the training ones (similar to what you posted in the past)! Keep up the good work!

Angelo D'Errico
Reply to  Garrett McCaffrey
3 years ago

Is there any chance the video is still up somewhere? I am not seeing it on this page

About Garrett McCaffrey

No one lives the sport of swimming like Garrett McCaffrey. A Division I swimmer who spent 4 years covering the sport as a journalist, now coaches club swimming and competes as a masters swimmer, Garrett truly lives the sport of swimming. After graduating from University of Missouri’s award winning journalism program …

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