Running an effective squad training session is harder than it looks. You have swimmers of different abilities, different motivations, and different energy levels on any given night. You need to keep them all engaged, working towards individual goals, and progressing as a group. And you need to do all of this in a 90 minute window with limited pool space.
Great coaches make this look effortless. But behind every smooth session is careful planning, clear communication, and an understanding of what actually drives improvement in young swimmers. This guide covers the practical elements that separate productive training sessions from chaotic ones.
Plan sessions around clear objectives
Every training session should have a purpose. Not just “get the swimmers in the pool and work them hard”. A specific focus that shapes what you do and how you structure the session.
Good session objectives are specific and measurable. “Improve backstroke technique” is vague. “Improve backstroke body position through a series of balance and rotation drills, with emphasis on head position and hip elevation” is specific. The swimmers know what you are working on, you can assess whether they are improving, and the session has coherence.
Session objectives should fit into a broader training cycle. If you are building towards a competition, your sessions might focus on race pace work and starts and turns. If you are in a technique development phase, sessions emphasise drills, video analysis, and stroke correction. If it is the off season, you might prioritise aerobic base building and cross training.
Many coaches plan sessions the morning of training, or worse, make it up on poolside. This inevitably leads to generic sets that do not build on previous sessions or work towards any particular goal. Spend 20 minutes each week planning the next four sessions, and your training will immediately become more effective.
Differentiate within the session
The biggest challenge in squad training is managing mixed abilities. You will have swimmers who can comfortably hold 1:20 per 100m and swimmers who are working hard to break 1:50. Writing a set that challenges both without leaving one group bored or the other drowning is the art of good coaching.
There are several approaches that work:
Set different send off times. If you are doing 10 x 100m freestyle, stronger swimmers might go on 1:30, middle group on 1:50, developing swimmers on 2:10. Everyone does the same work, but the recovery time varies to match their ability.
Adjust distances. Stronger swimmers do 100s, middle group does 75s, developing swimmers do 50s. They all finish around the same time, which keeps the session flowing without long waits.
Vary the focus. Give stronger swimmers a technical challenge (breathing pattern, stroke count, negative split) while developing swimmers focus on completing the distance with good form. This keeps advanced swimmers engaged even if the physical challenge is manageable.
Use lane assignments. If you have multiple lanes, put similar ability swimmers together and adjust the set for each lane. This requires assistant coaches or a lead swimmer in each lane who understands the set, but it allows much more precise differentiation.
Whatever approach you use, communicate it clearly at the start of the set. Swimmers need to know which group they are in, what send off or distance applies to them, and what the focus is. Nothing kills a set faster than confusion about what you are supposed to be doing.
Keep sets interesting but not complicated
Swimmers, particularly younger ones, need variety to stay engaged. The same set every week becomes boring, and bored swimmers do not work hard. But overly complicated sets create confusion and waste time.
The sweet spot is sets that have a clear structure but incorporate variation. A pyramid set (50, 100, 150, 200, 150, 100, 50) is easy to understand but provides variety in distance. Mixing strokes (200 free, 200 IM, 200 free, 200 IM) maintains interest without requiring complex explanations. Progressive efforts (easy, moderate, hard, easy, moderate, hard) give swimmers a clear framework while preventing them from just cruising through the session.
When introducing a new set structure, explain it once, make sure everyone understands, then run it. Do not over-explain or try to cover every possible variation. If swimmers make mistakes in the first round, that is fine. They will figure it out.
Use drills purposefully, not as filler
Drills are only valuable if swimmers understand what they are trying to achieve and can feel the difference between correct and incorrect execution. Too many coaches throw drills into a session because it feels like the right thing to do, without clear purpose or feedback.
Effective drill use looks like this: Explain what the drill is meant to achieve (for example, single arm freestyle to improve high elbow catch). Demonstrate it or have a strong swimmer demonstrate. Watch the squad do it and provide specific corrections (keep your elbow above your hand, rotate your body more). Then transition immediately to full stroke swimming so they can integrate what they have just practised.
Drills should not be long. Three or four rounds of 25m or 50m is enough. If swimmers are still getting it wrong after that, the drill is either too advanced or you need to break it down further. Spending 15 minutes on a drill that nobody is executing properly is wasted time.
Manage rest periods deliberately
Rest is when adaptation happens, but too much rest turns training into social hour. The balance depends on what you are training.
For aerobic endurance work, rest periods should be short (10 to 20 seconds). Swimmers should be breathing hard but able to maintain good technique throughout the set. For sprint work or high intensity intervals, rest needs to be longer (30 seconds to two minutes) to allow partial recovery so they can hit the target pace on each repeat.
The mistake many coaches make is giving too much rest on everything because they do not want swimmers to complain about being tired. But controlled fatigue is how swimmers get fitter. If every swimmer is finishing every set feeling fresh, you are not training hard enough.
Equally, if swimmers are so exhausted they can barely complete the set and technique falls apart, you have gone too hard. Finding the right balance requires knowing your swimmers, monitoring how they respond to different intensities, and adjusting session by session.
Use time efficiently from the moment swimmers arrive
Effective sessions start before anyone gets in the water. When swimmers arrive, they should know immediately what the warm up is. This can be written on a board, sent via your club management system, or communicated verbally through a parent portal. But it should not involve you explaining the warm up individually to each swimmer as they show up.
Transitions between sets should be quick. Explain the next set while swimmers are at the wall catching their breath, not after they have sat around for two minutes. If you need to demonstrate something, do it while half the squad continues swimming, then swap groups.
Time wasted adds up quickly. Two minutes here, three minutes there, and suddenly you have lost 15 minutes of a 90 minute session. Elite squads maximise pool time because they know that every minute of quality training counts.
Give feedback that swimmers can act on
Generic praise (“good job”, “well done”) is fine for encouragement, but it does not help swimmers improve. Specific feedback (“your streamline off that wall was excellent, try to replicate that on every turn” or “you are dropping your elbow on the catch, focus on keeping it high”) gives swimmers something concrete to work on.
Feedback should be immediate. If you notice a technical issue, correct it between repeats or at the next rest. By the end of the session, swimmers will have forgotten what they did wrong.
Balance correction with encouragement. If you only ever point out what swimmers are doing wrong, they will stop listening or lose confidence. Acknowledge improvement, even small gains, and be specific about what got better.
Build a culture of accountability and effort
The tone of a squad comes from the coach, but it is maintained by the swimmers. If you tolerate swimmers lounging at the wall, chatting through sets, or consistently giving half effort, that becomes the culture. If you set high expectations and hold everyone to them, swimmers will match that standard.
This does not mean being harsh or unapproachable. It means being consistent. If the set says 10 x 100m on 1:40, swimmers need to be leaving on 1:40, not 1:45 when they feel ready. If you say streamlines must be tight off every wall, that needs to be non-negotiable, not just a suggestion. Tracking attendance consistently also reinforces accountability.
Swimmers, particularly teenagers, test boundaries. If they learn that standards are flexible, they will push them. If they learn that you expect effort and quality every session, they will generally deliver it.
Adapt when things are not working
No matter how well you plan, some sessions will not go as expected. Swimmers arrive tired from school. Someone is injured. The pool temperature is freezing. The set you planned is clearly too hard or too easy.
Good coaches adapt. If half the squad is struggling with a set because they are fatigued, modify it. Reduce distances, add rest, or switch to technique work instead of pushing through regardless. If a set is too easy and swimmers are cruising, add challenge mid-session. Increase intensity, reduce rest, or add a technical focus.
Rigidly sticking to a plan when it is clearly not working is a waste of everyone’s time. The session plan is a guide. Your job as coach is to read the squad, assess whether what you are doing is productive, and adjust accordingly.
Review and reflect regularly
The best coaches constantly evaluate what is working and what is not. After each session, take two minutes to note what went well and what could be better. Did swimmers respond well to that set structure? Did the differentiation work? Was the session too easy or too hard? Did you waste time on transitions?
Over time, patterns emerge. Certain types of sets work brilliantly with your squad. Others consistently fall flat. Swimmers respond better to certain coaching cues than others. Your most effective sessions have common elements that you can replicate.
This reflection does not need to be formal. A notebook, a notes app on your phone, or even a quick mental review on the drive home is enough. The goal is continuous improvement, session by session.
Running great sessions is a skill that improves with practice
Nobody is a perfect coach from day one. Every coach, no matter how experienced, has sessions that do not go to plan. The difference is that good coaches learn from those sessions, adjust, and get better over time.
The fundamentals are simple: plan sessions with clear objectives, communicate those objectives clearly, differentiate for mixed abilities, manage time and rest deliberately, give actionable feedback, and build a culture of effort. Master those basics, and your sessions will be productive, engaging, and effective.
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