Why Coaches Change Training: Some of the Best Weigh In
Home Improvement
As a seven-time Olympic coach with 15 NCAA men’s titles at the University of Texas, Eddie Reese knows something about getting better. And early in his career, he learned it from an unlikely source: “Back in the days when the Russians were winning all the weightlifting contests, their motto was ‘When you go into the weight room and do the same thing every day, the body adjusts and you don’t get the benefit. So you must upgrade from there.’ I agree with that,” says Reese.
“When the discussions arose that brain wave patterns, not muscle memory, accounted for significant change, we began doing race-pace—or close to race-pace—training on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It remains a staple of our training. Before, we had not done anything like that; we just worked hard.
“These days, any changes we make will depend on who it is and what we are doing. I always try to stretch ’em. For our 50 and 100 freestyle men, we have a test—a 300 straight. The COVID year, we didn’t go to the NCAAs, but we had five guys go 2:32 or better. That was probably my best team,” he says wishfully.
ANOTHER VOICE
Jason Weber’s University of Chicago men and women finished third and seventh, respectively, at this year’s NCAA D-III Championships. “It was a very successful and exciting year for both teams,” he says. “We’re always looking to make training changes, even after successful years. Our goal is to become more efficient with our time, create a more manageable schedule/training plan for our student-athletes, and improve in areas where we were lacking the previous season.
“I’m always open to feedback from our coaches and athletes to making adjustments and finding new ways to improve. I don’t think what we do is the best way, but I’m also trying to find what will work best for our program,” he says. “The schedule and training we did when I first started is drastically different from what we do now. Any change has to be something that I believe in and can communicate effectively to the athletes so they understand what we’re trying to do and will buy into those changes.
“Even during a season, we may make changes from week-to-week based upon how the team is performing in practice and competitions and what’s going on in school and their lives. We have an overall training plan for the season and each week, but we may have to make changes to get the most out of the team at any particular moment. Any changes we make are always in the best interest of the team, but we try to individualize training as much as we can as well. This can be difficult with a team of 70+ athletes and a small coaching staff. Still, our main priority is to make sure the student-athletes are enjoying their experiences and getting the most they can out of training and competitions.
AN ENGINEERING APPROACH
As in Chicago, change in training is a way of life with MIT head coach Meg Sisson French and her Engineers, whose men finished in a tie for fifth and women eighth at this year’s D-III Championships.
“We’re always trying to mix up our training and get better and faster every year,” says French. “At the end of every season, our coaching staff takes a long time to process the ups and downs of the year. We ask ourselves:
- What worked well and why?
- What didn’t we do enough of?
- Did we focus on one area(s) too much?
- How can we be better?
“We look at our season plan, training groups and main focus points of each year and analyze what can be better. Currently, I’m looking to be more efficient with our dryland training—‘How can we apply it to what we do in the water, making sure we’re getting the most out of each workout?’ I also want to optimize how we train fly, back and breast so we can do more specialized technique work throughout the year,” she says.
DELIBERATE ADJUSTMENT
Scott Armstrong is in his seventh season as head men’s and women’s swimming coach at Johns Hopkins. In March, the Blue Jay men and women secured fourth- and 11th-place national finishes, continuing a decades-long run of aquatic excellence.
Like many of his coaching compatriots, he understands training changes are a must—and approaches them with caveats. “The most important thing is to make sure whatever you change is intentional,” he says. “I always try to start with the ‘why’ for anything we do. If I can come up with a better ‘why,’ we will change what we have planned. However, I believe that you should make any changes to your plan well in advance.
“Change for change’s sake or in mid-season just because you saw some successful coach do something different is a bad idea. And it’s important to stick to any change for a significant amount of time so you can evaluate its effectiveness.
“I would also suggest sometimes it may not feel like a change, but in practice, it may be. For example, adjusting the ratio of anaerobic versus aerobic work or what days and where you place types of work could make a big difference—but may not be recognized as change to the athletes completing the work.
“Also, sometimes change is forced upon you, and there is a good outcome. During COVID lockdowns, we learned quite a bit about intentionality. We had so little time to train that we had to make the very most of every moment. This taught me to be a bit more flexible with conflicts and make sure the amount of super-focused work stayed the same,” says Armstrong.
SWIMMING WITH SHARKS
Brent Boock’s Elmbrook Swim Club girls have won the last two team championships at spring NCSAs. In 2022 and 2023, Texas recruit Campbell Stoll won the meet’s high-point award, and EBSC placed two other swimmers among the top 15 in individual scoring. Along the way in various spring and summer championships, the team also set four medley relay NAG records. As one might expect, Boock does not rely on same-ol’-same-ol’ training. “Every season, we change a few variables to keep improving and also to keep training fresh,” he says.
“A few questions I often ask of myself following a season and in preparation for the next are:
- Did we have any weaknesses (as a team or individually)? If yes, how can we systematically address next season?
- What are the individual and team goals for the next season? Is the work we put in last season acceptable to achieve these goals? If not, what/how do we need to change?
- Were there any points in the season where the group dragged, lost focus, etc.? How can we adjust to keep everything fresh through the season?
- Did I witness anyone (another team or athlete) who stood out? If yes, I make a call and ask questions (if I haven’t already asked the questions on deck). We can always get better by incorporating the great work that others have developed.”
IN THE PROMISED LAND
NISCA Outstanding Service Award winners Ron and Rich Blanc are co-head swimming and diving coaches for boys and girls at Santa Margarita Catholic High School in Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif. In May, the girls’ team extended their state CIF consecutive title run to four, while the boys also claimed first. “Our run with our girls has been such a blessing (also 2022 Swimming World mythical national champion). We know that it will end eventually, but it is fun to see our boys slowly catching up to the standard the girls have set,” says Ron Blanc.
“For us, change is an ongoing process that takes place each year. As a young coach, I took to the phrase, ‘What isn’t broke doesn’t need to be fixed,’ and I applied it to my training philosophy. I strived to find a training regimen that was ideal, and once I ‘found’ it, I figured I would be set and never have to keep looking for better. I was aiming for a perfect recipe for success. Of course, finding that perfect recipe never happened, and ironically, my pursuit of a recipe that would never have to be altered or adjusted led to my current training philosophy to continually adapt and change.
“Our dryland is a perfect example. As recently as last year, I had detailed plans of all of our exercises and routines, including how long we would go through training cycles before changing to a new routine. This past year, everything changed,” Ron says. “Working with our strength and conditioning coach, we felt that the talent and dedication level of the team warranted more challenging routines, so we implemented them this year with outstanding results. As successful as we were this year, winning both boys’ and girls’ California state titles, we are revamping our dryland training again next year, adding another four-week cycle to our calendar.
“In the pool, every day’s workout is changed and altered from the year before. We keep track of our workouts from the prior year on a daily basis, but each day, we revamp and restructure the workout. Most often it is to increase the rigor and intensity, but we will also add different stroke drills, kicking sets, etc., when we see fit. No workouts are the same from one year to the next. I learned several years ago that the human body adapts to workouts if intensity or rigor doesn’t change. So in order for a swimmer to continually grow and develop, their bodies need to be continually challenged. New stroke drills and continued education on the part of the coaching staff to learn different and better ways to work on technique is imperative and ongoing,” he says.
“Lastly, we also look to change aspects of our program that are not specifically targeted to training, but has major ramifications on changing our team’s mental outlook for the new season. This past year, we were sponsored by TYR, and the kids were thrilled with their new TYR swimsuits, tech suits and warm-up jackets. We even had the Santa Margarita logo placed on the tech suits to give our kids pride in their team.
“We also arranged to swim a dual meet with state powerhouse Loyola High School in the 1984 Olympic pool on the campus of USC. The excitement of the meet venue and competition led to lifetime bests—and a national high school record in the 200 free relay for the girls—all in a high school dual meet.”
Change: a key to getting better all the time.
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Michael J. Stott is an ASCA Level 5 coach, golf and swimming writer. His critically acclaimed coming-of-age golf novel, “Too Much Loft,” is in its third printing, and is available from store.Bookbaby.com, Amazon, B&N and distributors worldwide.