The Squad Sessions are guided by a Few Key Principles:
Principle 1: A Central Coaching Philosophy
All models are wrong, some are useful! We take influences from many coaching systems but the Trisutto philosophy is central to our sessions. We also include key themes from the Swim Smooth system.
Principle 2: Focus On The Three Keys
The swimmers who improve the most follow a rounded program bringing together in unison the three key areas of swimming development; Stroke Technique, Swim Specific Fitness (particularly a focus on CSS Critical-Swim-Speed training for distance swimming) and Open Water Skills. You can think of each of these as being worth roughly the same amount of time to you. For instance, if you wanted to take 6 minutes off your 1500m time you might look to take 2 minutes from your stroke technique, 2 minutes from your swim specific fitness and 2 minutes from your open water skills. This is far and away the most effective way to make large improvements in your swimming performances.
Principle 3: Set Goals & Track Progress
Not setting meaningful short terms goals is one of the most common mistakes swimmers make. Set yourself specific and measurable goals over a fixed time period is extremely motivating and keeps your training focused. In a club setup you can set goals for a group of swimmers or a whole swim lane. For example your goal might be: Knock 2 seconds per 100m off my CSS pace over the next 8 weeks or Become comfortable breathing bilaterally over the next 4 weeks
We measure our performances to see how we are progressing with a CSS test every 6-8 weeks. To make significant improvements we recommend three swim sessions per week, more is better, less is manageable with the right focus.
Principle 4: Use Beepers!
To keep you honest and focused we selectively use a Finis Tempo Trainer Pro or an app like the Garmin Swim Pacer to set your training pace at some of the sessions. The principle here is very simple, set a target time per 25m and push-off when the beep goes, then simply pace your swim so you dont get ahead or behind the beep every 25m. This improves your pace judgment and improves the accuracy of your training intensity.