Maximizing Practice: Optimal Learning & Periodizing Skill Training - The Look & Feel of a 'Skill Program'

with Michael Brooks,
Weymouth Waves Head Swimming Coach;
former King Aquatic Club Head Coach;
former York YMCA Swimming Head Coach/Director of Competitive Swimming;
4x YMCA Short Course Nationals Coach of the Year ('10, '12, '13, '15);
2x Middle Atlantic LSC Senior Coach of the Year ('14, '15);
coached four National Junior Team members and 2 National Team Members

Michael Brooks, head swimming coach of the Weymouth Waves, delivers an in-depth presentation that hits on how you can maximize your swimming practices, improve your swimmers' dryland training, and incorporate periodized skill training into your normal routine. As a four-time YMCA Short Course Nationals Coach of the Year, Coach Brooks has solidified his status as an expert in swim training!

Maximizing Practice

Practices are by far the greatest opportunity that coaches have to affect swimmer learning and improvement. Coach Brooks maintains that if your swimmers don't look the way you want them to look when in the midst of competition, then the blame falls on your shoulders as a coach for not teaching effectively.

In this section of the video, Brooks lays out how to perfect practice execution, format, and prioritization. You'll gain a variety of philosophies for how to best train your athletes in groups and as individuals, plus see how to juggle training swimmers of varying skill levels at once.

Dryland and Periodizing Skill Training

Traditional exercises do not always translate directly into fast swimming. You'll learn how to design a dryland program that develops the skills your swimmers need using motor learning principles. This will help your swimmers waste less time and learn their technical skills more quickly and safely.

Finally, Coach Brooks lays out his best methods for periodizing skill training. This is broken down into a few main parts:

• Skill phase
• Coordinating phase
• Sharpening phase

This video from Coach Brooks gives you insight into the most important aspects of swimming practice, dryland training, and periodized skill training. Add it to your library today!

71 minutes. 2020.