Coaches Clipboard Present: Breakout 25’s

Welcome to this week’s installment of the Coaches Clipboard!

Swimming World will be bringing you a drill, concept, or tip that you can implement with your team on a regular basis. Each article is designed to be easily understood, outlining the what, why, when, and where of each concept in addition to pictures and videos. While certain weeks may be more appropriate for specific levels of swimming (club, high school, college, or masters), Coaches Corner excerpts are meant to be flexible for your needs and inclusive for all levels of swimming. Check out last week’s article here.

This week is a high intensity drill with a sprint focus called “Breakout 25’s”. With the help of fins, paddles, and a snorkel, your athletes will start in a streamline position and accelerate from a dead stop into a full blown sprint. See the info and video below to learn how to implement this drill with your team!

The What:

This is an in-water drill that requires fins, a snorkel, and paddles. Your swimmer will float just a few yards away from the wall in a streamline position. On your call they will sprint kick for approximately 10 yards holding their streamline. The goal is to go as fast as possible before taking the breakout stroke, after which they will sprint for approximately 10 yards. Following the breakout stroke, swimmers should immediately get to race tempo while holding proper technique.

Push Further….

Do this drill without a snorkel to add in a hypoxic element to the drill. Taking away the snorkel will challenge your swimmers to perfect the little details of their swim in an environment that closely mimics what it will feel like in a race.

The Why:

This is a drill meant to create an awareness of the many small details that go into a breakout and sprint, namely a) body position, b) the breakout stroke, and c) arm tempo.

Starting from a streamline position will force swimmers to check in with their body position. Since they have a snorkel on, they don’t need to worry about their next breath and can concentrate on being tall in the water. This should be the focus for the beginning of the drill: you’ll want your swimmers to focus on stretching through their fingertips all way down to their toes, trying to be as long as possible in the water.

Once they begin kicking, maintaining a streamline position will continue to bring an awareness to their body position. After kicking the 10 yards to get to top speed, the next challenge will be taking a breakout stroke that doesn’t catch on the water and gets them immediately to race tempo.

As you watch this drill from on deck, pay close attention to your athletes’ technique and note any changes you observe. Do their hips drop when they begin kicking? How about when they take their breakout stroke? Does their head position change at all throughout the drill?

The When:

This drill is best implemented later in the season as you are developing speed and power. Consistently practicing this drill will help your swimmers hone in on race specific skills and develop greater awareness of their technique when they are swimming fast.

Push Further:

Create sets that incorporate repeats of this drill to maximize it’s benefits. Combining it with aerobic swimming or kicking as you enter regular competitions can be a great way to introduce sprinting into a season plan. As the year progresses, you will want to increase rest and decrease the number of repetitions. A sample set from the middle of the season could look like:

8 Rounds:

1 x 75 swim w/ :10-:15 rest

1 x Breakout 25 on 1:00

1 x 50 kick as 25 underwater, 25 easy on top of the water on 1:00

In Conclusion:

This is an exercise to develop sprint speed in your athletes. This drill will get your swimmers up and going fast while also increasing their awareness of their body line, breakouts, and tempo. Did this drill work for your swimmers? Comment below to share how your athletes reacted to this quiet drill and don’t forget to check back for regular postings of Coaches Clipboard!

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José Virgílio Santos Silva

8 years ago

Uma boa sugestão..a testar…