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By Dick Hannula

Why does some of the most effective pool space get wasted? I’m referring to the short distance pool that is usually available in one form or another at every facility. The diving pool, the instructional pool, and cross-pool for the 25 yard course. Why do I consider these shorter pools to be so effective? In the case of the diving pool, or instructional pool, the space just isn’t utilised much of the time in too many situations. Placing part of the team into these short pools for specialised training and/or instruction allows smaller numbers in the main pool. Having smaller numbers in the main pool for certain training sets may result in a better training effect for that group of swimmers.

The shorter pool allows the coach to maintain personal contact and to provide very personal attention to the swimmers. The swimmers there are under much closer scrutiny because they are constantly under the direct eye of the coach. The short pool then enables the coach to provide technical coaching more efficiently. Corrections and technique tips can be given more frequently, and almost constantly, when this is the purpose.

The shorter pool also provides unique training opportunities. The momentum of the wall push-off enables the swimmers to maintain race pace with less energy expenditure. Swimming race pace, and race speed at just below goal times, will give the swimmer the feel and the confidence of swimming fast and at goal times. Swimmers need to get used to swimming at the speed necessary to reach their goals. Kicking sets can also be done at faster speeds, enabling the swimmer to get the feel of fast kicking. Examples will be provided in this article.

When deep water is available, such as the diving pool, then racing starts will give the swimmer added speed into the turning wall. This is critical for the sprinter to have the feel of making turns at the very fast race pace that he or she will have when shaved, rested, and at the championship meet. The ability to practice race pace sprint turns is very limited during the regular season when the swimmers are tired in training, and don’t yet have that shaved speed.

Variety in training is another good reason to avail yourself to some training, and some drill work in the shorter pool. This type of training can be a most beneficial change in the daily routine. Cross pool or short pool swimming speeds can be maintained more efficiently, and with less lactate cost than training at those speeds in the longer pools.

First let’s examine technique training in the shorter pool. The coach can provide feedback to the swimmer much more frequently and constantly when the swimmer is covering the shorter distances. Some technique work is especially adapted to the shorter pool. Most cross-pools are 45 feet, and some are 42 feet. My high school’s diving pool was 35 feet wide. Early in the season I always started with considerable stroke training, and much of it was done in that diving pool. One of our first drills was to emphasise the streamlined torpedo push off. The swimmers would practice the most effective position lying on the pool deck, and then would practice the push off across the 35foot pool. The goal was to reach the other side without kicking or swimming, just streamlining. Very few could attain that goal at the start of the season, but within a week or two, everyone could do it.

We would then add the kick to the streamlined torpedo push off. Next we would add the breakout strokes to the cross-pool exercise. The next step would be to add the turn with the same efficient streamlined push off, kick, and breakout strokes to the second width as the swimmers would drill over and back.

The shorter pool is ideal for making your swimmers very aware of the advantages of streamlining off every wall. Kicking underwater in very fast bursts is another great drill in this special pool. Kicking short distances in the streamlined torpedo position teaches the swimmer to keep the kick fast, and in a narrow range right off the wall. You can alternate the cross-pool burst with streamlined kicking on the surface, one and one, to enable the swimmers to attain a shorter rest interval when necessary.

When deep water is available in your shorter pool, use vertical kicking drills with and without short swim fins. Emphasise the streamlined torpedo position throughout these vertical-kicking bursts. I usually combined a trunk rotation drill with the vertical kicking. On a signal to the left or to the right, the vertical kicking swimmers would rotate their trunk, from the hips, a quarter turn. A quick twist from the hips, and not the head or shoulders, while constantly maintaining their vertical kick. This drill helped to implant the hip initiated trunk rotation for Freestyle and Backstroke.

The fast kicking drills that I frequently use are sets of 6x15, or 12 yards depending on the size of your short pool. I challenge the swimmers to cut back their interval on each set of 6x15. If we are doing four rounds of 6x15, then the first round might be on 14 seconds, the next on 13, then 12, and the last round on 11. Depending on the stage of the season, the swimmers would be challenged to attempt 40x15 on the their fastest attained send off time. In the above example, the goal would be 11 seconds for the most possible swimmers. I would like to include a longer set about twice a week. The goal could be extended to 60, or 80, etc., as the swimmers reach higher levels of fitness.

The shallow short pool is great for walking hand, wrist, elbow drills. This is a drill in which swimmers walk and stroke with their arms so that their entry is finger tips/hand, then wrist, and then elbow. It is an elbows up drill through the recovery, and then into the catch. The goal is to get the feel of walking or rotating the body past the arm, and not pulling the arm to the body. The shallow pool is ideal for this drill, and should progress from walking to swimming.

Butterfly drills across the short pool are ideal for the learner, and for the swimmer with technique flaws. Streamlined dolphin kicking can reach the quick, fast kicking level sooner over short distances. The addition of two or more breakout Butterfly strokes enables the swimmer to focus on one technique tip at a time. The coach can give the swimmer verbal commands to assist the swimmer’s attention focus frequently. Reach long, breathe late, and keep the head hinged on the platform on entry are examples. Breaststroke and Freestyle drills also have similar advantages in the short pool. Backstroke drills and back swimming are usually not desirable unless you have the capability to keep Backstroke flags properly located in the shorter pool. Backstroke kicking drills with the arms extended, underwater and on the surface, is doable. Emphasise the safety in keeping the arms extended.

Race pace swimming is very effective in the short pool. Create a race pace chart for your short pool. I use to use a 35-foot diving pool in my high school coaching days. It was easy to compute the race pace chart. I used my high school algebra knowledge. If I wanted to create the racing speed for a 1:40 200-yard Freestyle ... it was 25 seconds for every 25 yards or 75 feet. The equation would be 25:75 as X:35 and then do the math. The year that one of our swimmers broke the national high school record for the 200-yard Freestyle, he had done sets almost daily in our short diving pool. He was hand timed in sets of about 8x35 feet over about 6 to 8 rounds. Each cross-pool swim of 6x35 feet was under race pace to the feet on the wall (turns included but no push off) on only two seconds rest. Each round had 30-45 seconds rest. Some days the sets were over and back, or 70 feet on each swim ... 6-8x70 feet, and then about 8 rounds of less. The same type of goals can be set for the 100 distance, etc. Rest intervals could be increased for the shorter distances. These race pace swims work best in Freestyle and Butterfly. The underwater Breaststroke pullouts don’t permit the short pool pace work to transfer for Breaststroke swimmers. The lack of back flags restricted my using the short pool for pace work for the Backstroke swimmer.

Presently, I’ve been assisting the head coach of our swim club. Four days a week, I take about 14 swimmers out of the main pool, and work in the shorter (15 yards) shallow end. This has permitted him to give more personal attention to those swimmers qualified to swim in the sectionals, and the national championship. The swimmers in my group aren’t swimming in those championship meets, although many are qualified. They had already swum in their college, or high school championship meets, and were now preparing for the long course summer season. The swimmers have been able to establish an endurance base in our training, but more importantly they have been able to add to their technical proficiency. All have improved their swimming strokes, and turns.

If you don’t have a diving pool, or instructional pool, then take a day every now and then to go cross-pool in the main pool.

It is a change of pace that is fun for the swimmers. It is also an opportunity to do some very effective training. Set the cross pool up for special training sets. You will be pleasantly surprised at the high training levels that can be achieved.

Cross-pool sprint training over 15 yards or less is alactic. Swimmers can train at faster speeds over these short distances without building lactate levels seen in normal sprint training. Deep-water dive starts, or push speed bursts are possible.

Cross-pool sets that are continuous for a half hour or more can be solid threshold training without the physical and mental stress of the average threshold sets. An example of a recent set that I used … 6x15 kick on 15, 6x15 Butterfly on 12, 6x15 scull head up-no kick on 20, 6x15 Freestyle on 12. Do this through four rounds continuously according to send off listed. The swimmers recorded heart rates in the threshold category. I was also able to walk back and forth reminding them to focus on particular technique tips throughout the set.

Look at your facility. Are you wasting the opportunity of utilising a shorter pool in your training?

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