Set Of The Week: Mid-Pool Bob’s

Photo Courtesy: Cindi Dayton

Welcome to Swimming World’s Set Of The Week! This week’s set is a short warm-up set of relatively continuous swimming that is broken up by mid-pool bobs:

8 x 100 starting from the middle of the pool

Rest = 8 bobs off the bottom w/ streamline

→ hold streamline tight, engage the core, maintain the lines

Aside from being fun to watch, the bobs serve to keep your swimmers engaged in what they are doing. While the bob’s are technically the “rest” between the 8 x 100’s, in reality they are there to break up the swimming and get your athletes more aware of their body position. Each bob should have a tight streamline and a powerful push off from the bottom of the pool. In explaining this to your athletes, it may be helpful to compare the movement to pushing off of the wall after a flipturn. Your swimmers should have a tight streamline with each push off and try to maintain a long, linear body position as they shoot through the surface of the water.

This can be a different way to change up warm-up and get in some thoughtful, continuous swimming to start your workout. During longer training sessions, this can also be good active recovery work to reset between main sets. While it certainly is not reinventing the wheel, athletes of all ages will appreciate the change in routine. Happy swimming!

Coaches and swimmers should take precautions to avoid shallow water blackouts when performing underwater drills. All training should be conducted by a certified and experienced coach. Coaches and swimmers who use these drills should do so at their own discretion. Learn more about shallow water blackouts

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