Principles of Planning

F.P.Furniss
Learning Outcomes

• Understand the principals in why Planning and

Periodization is important to deliver successful
performances
• Understand the concept of Macro/ Meso and
Micro cycle planning
• Be able to construct a basic Meso cycle for you
club/squad
• Be able to construct a basic set to monitor your
athletes fitness

F.P.Furniss
Why do we need to plan ?
• Makes the progression to the next level easier
• Ensure that we are providing the correct
amounts of intensity/skill/efficiency at the
appropriate times
• Makes us aware that swimmers develop at
different rates
• Early years formative training (broad range of
outcomes, all round ability). Later years
specific phase (target outcomes, event
specific)
• Excellent form of communication, builds
strong relationships with swimmers
• Makes swimmers aware of training needs
• Allows swimmers to take ownership, with a
plan they understand the requirements of the
season
• A well organised programme will provide the
assurance and stability
F.P.Furniss
What We Must Do
• Plan to the needs/ability/ development age of the
swimmers.
• Biological - Chronological
• With young age group swimmers do not copy or
use the sessions and cycles of senior swimmers.
• Plan for the future, with age group swimmers,
provide balanced work programmes that will allow
the correct stages of development to take place
• Emphasise the basic principles of aerobic
conditioning/technique/speed
• Correct training zones relating to swimmers age.
Skill, efficiency and recovery in youngsters is
paramount.
• Tough swimming is I/M based A2 A3 intensity in
training.
• Teach tactical awareness holding efficiency
F.P.Furniss
Planning Will Provide

• Focus
• Pattern & Structure
• The opportunity to set
realistic Goals
• Enhances Programme
Delivery
• Allows for Identifying
Weaknesses and
Strengthening them
• Provides an attention to
detail
• Provides the opportunity to
improve performance
F.P.Furniss
Developing Your Planning Skills
• Planning is one of the key
elements of effective coaching,
it is a skill you have to develop.
• Allow yourself reflection on
you planning, learn from
mistakes
• Planning the Annual cycle
should include all the
ingredients that will contribute
to a successful targeted
performance.
F.P.Furniss
Activity – What Important Aspects Do
You Think Should Be Included When
Designing Your Annual Plan ?

(5 – 10 Mins)

F.P.Furniss
 Planning Essential Aspects
• To plan effectively it is essential that you develop your knowledge of the
energy systems utilised in training and competition.
• You have to understand its all about working the right systems at the
right time.
• Use the correct system that a young swimmer can physically deal with
• The energy systems concentrated on for a Senior swimmer will differ to
the ones that an age group swimmer will focus on.
• This will be event driven the older the swimmer gets.
• Different age / different outcomes in relation to energy systems I/E
working at A2 Level maintenance will feel harder for a age grouper in
relation to perceived effort than it will for a senior athlete.
• You would envisage more technically competent and physically stronger
athlete would handle this better than a small under developed age
grouper.
F.P.Furniss
F.P.Furniss
Age Group to Senior

•A Senior swimmer will predominately focus

on the energy systems used in relation to
their event
•Age groupers will work more of an aerobic
plan that incorporates over distance type
training, 4 stroke development and skills

F.P.Furniss
Periodisation

F.P.Furniss
Periodisation

•What is Periodisation ?, where does it fit

into the planning of the swimming year.
•Periodisation is when we divide the annual
plan into more manageable parts.
•These parts are called Macro, Meso and
Micro cycles.
•Lets look at these in more detail

F.P.Furniss
F.P.Furniss
Periodisation

• Most major Swim

programmes work on 4 year
cycle
• Annual Cycle—1 Year period
• Macro Cycle—The Annual
Cycle broken into three year
periods of 15—20 weeks
• Meso Cycle—2—8 week
periods
• Micro Cycle—1 week period

F.P.Furniss
Macro Cycle
• Macro Cycle—aim to finish with
competition or time trial
• Provides an opportunity for the
swimmer to achieve his
performance goal for that cycle.
• Macro Cycle will assist coaches to
plan test sets, strength &
conditioning, and the different
types of training over the 15—20
week period
• Allows the opportunity to decide
on the annual competition plan and
target events as a progression to
the major meet
F.P.Furniss
 Annual Plan

• Macro Cycle 1- Sept to Dec

(Target Meet SC)

• Macro Cycle 2- Jan to April

(Target Meet Trials or
Regional)

• Macro Cycle 3- May to

August
(Target Meet Major Games
or Nationals)

F.P.Furniss
 Meso Cycle

• Many Ways to periodise Meso Cycles, this will depend on the

duration of the Meso cycle and the objective of developing or
improving a specific aspect of fitness, or a progression in
terms of repeats and intensity
• Meso Cycles can range between 2—8 weeks in duration
• The key aspect is progression that these smaller blocks of
work contribute to in the success of the Macro Cycle
• Need to consider—swimmer ability, experience, age, events,
individual training needs
• Have the ability to review, could be an idea to randomly
change to ‘freshen’ up the training week

F.P.Furniss
Example Meso Cycle Planning Youth /Senior
Meso Cycle Emphasis Weeks
Meso Cycle One Aerobic Phase 6 weeks

Meso Cycle Two Anaerobic Phase 4 weeks

Meso Cycle Three Race Pace Preparation 3 weeks

Meso Cycle Four Comp /Taper Phase 3 weeks

F.P.Furniss
 Example Meso Cycle Content
Age -Grouper
• Sept – Dec – Technique Single Stroke and I/M
progressive from 50-200, aim to progressive increase
the distance of hard repeats
• Jan –March – Single stroke Focus and I/M switch work,
teach efficiency on this and Tactical awareness
• Mar –onwards – More full swim I/M have the ability to
progress to required main set distances under
pressure IE progress from 10x100 to 10x200 I/M turn
round times dependent on ability

F.P.Furniss
Meso Cycle Planning Very Young Age
Groupers

• If you are dealing with very young age groupers

8 – 10 year olds doing say 3-4 sessions weekly
• Progress the strokes and skill objectives through
the week with recap on previous work.
• Do this over a 4 – 6 week period

F.P.Furniss
Micro Cycles

• Normally 1 week in length

• Breakdown into workouts—Very individual to your
programme
• Provide the correct balance between intensity and
rest
• Decide when and where Land conditioning will be
integrated
• Weekly cycle content will change through the year
(Early season to later in the season)
• Coaches Philosophy, methods and style, athletes
events, experience etc
F.P.Furniss
 Typical weekly cycle plan Age to Youth
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday

A.M session A.M session A.M session A.M session A.M session A.M session A.M session

Aerobic recovery Kick set:

Recovery set:
(sometimes session off Endurance kick sets Speed sets (short bursts)
Aerobic skill set No session (recovery) high skill level, No session (recovery)
depending on week of with some speed in Endurance skills sets
minimum speed work
cycle) middle

P.M session P.M session P.M session P.M session P.M session P.M session P.M session

1st half of session

Lactate set or speed set aerobic set Back end speed sets or
Heart rate set Aerobic endurance set No session (recovery) No session (recovery)
(alternate weekly) 2nd half of session stroke rate sets
critical speed set

F.P.Furniss
Example Micro Cycle – Youth/Senior
WEEKLY TRAINING LVSC PERFORMANCE

Coach's Name: Support Staff: Week Commencing:

Fred Furniss 29/08/2011 Week 1-4

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday

Session emphasis & Volume

A1/2IM Speed Kick

A1 Fr Long Swims A1 Fr and IM/Starts
Drills/Skills HVO Off Off No 1 Threshold Set Off
Quality Kick HVOS x 10 HVOS x6
Finishes x6

AM metres 0 0 0 0 0
Session emphasis & Volume

Descend To Thresh Set Fr/IM Descend To A1 Recovery/Des Kick/Mix

No 1 Short Race Pace MVO2 Test Set Off Off
Pace - Turns Threshold/1200 Kick IM Work And Skill

PM metres 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

DAILY TOTAL 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
TOTAL WEEKLY METRES: 25-30000

WEEKLY SUMMARY OF METRES AT EACH TRAINING INTENSITY COMPETITIONS

Type of Work Total Metres Swum % of Total Metres Heats Semis Finals
Race Speed 1000 3% of PB 2% of PB 1% of PB
Aerobic No. races swum
Race Pace 8000 No. Within % of PB
F.P.Furniss
7000 Long Course 6500 Short Course
 Example Micro Cycle Youth/Senior
WEEKLY TRAINING LVSC PERFORMANCE

Coach's Name: Support Staff: Week Commencing:

Fred Furniss 19/03/2011 Week 30-49

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday

Session emphasis & Volume

Descend To Threshold
VO2 Max Set/Max Kick
A2 Set Fc/No1 50BBM A2 Set 50BBM/Skill Set With Race Pace Set
Off Off Set(Change Emphasis Off
(Set Duration 3.0K) (Turns) (Move to Pace Set Later In
Later In Cycle)
Cycle)

AM metres 7000 6500 0 0 7000 6500 0

Session emphasis & Volume

Heart Rate Set Eg 30x100 Threshold Set(30BBM)

Lactate Production/Lactate
@1.40 (Work 2 on 1 off/1 Split Between Dist/Mid Recovery/Skill/Speed Recovery A1/2 (Starts) Off Off
Tolerance Later In Cycle
on 2 off later in Cycle) Distance

PM metres 6500 7000 6000 4500 6500 0 0

DAILY TOTAL 13500 13500 6000 4500 13500 6500 0

TOTAL WEEKLY METRES: 57500

WEEKLY SUMMARY OF METRES AT EACH TRAINING INTENSITY COMPETITIONS

Type of Work Total Metres Swum % of Total Metres Heats Semis Finals
Race Speed 1000 1.74 3% of PB 2% of PB 1% of PB
Aerobic 48500 84.35 No. races swum
Race Pace 8000 13.91 No. Within % of PB

F.P.Furniss 7000 Long Course 6500 Short Course

Age And Cycles
• Age should have an effect on the number of cycles you do in
your annual plan.

Suggested
8 to11yrs 8x6 week (rotate strokes)
11 to13 yrs 2x24 week cycles
13 to Youth 3x16 or 4x12 (or near)

The main point is to cover the

required work at a specific time

F.P.Furniss
Taper And Age Group Swimmers

• Fewer sessions at this age, less the need to taper

• Development stage of the age grouper focus on technical
efficiency which lacks the maximal stressing of muscles and
the cardio system in most of their sessions.
• At this age meters should be kept fairly high, this can be
achieved by long warm ups and swim downs with stroke
efficient recovery swims between shorter intensity sets.
• This age important to retain focus and concentration,
excessive rest periods leads to boredom and distraction, key
objective is to maintain the mental approach to competition.
• Sleep is an important aspect at this age.

F.P.Furniss
Taper And Age Group Swimmers
• True physical taper is not required, muscle mass at this age is not
large enough, in comparison to Youth/ Senior swimmers.
• Total time in the water through a typical training week is up to 50%
less than their Youth/ Senior counterparts who will be training both
AM/PM, the total metres output each hour (density ) is also
considerably less,
• Age group swimmers should maintain aerobic work up to 2/3 days
prior to the target meet then reduce by 25-50%
• Intensive anaerobic swims of 50metres and longer should not be
increased in the immediate days before the target meet, this will
excessively tire age group swimmers.(best performance will be left in
the training pool)
• Race Pace work should be conducted as a teaching strategy, a
moderate amount of alactic sprints (less than 25 metres) can also be
done with out adverse effect

F.P.Furniss
Competition

• Develop the correct thought process in the

individual prior and during competition
• Goals and targets should be process driven
• Warm Up ( Importance in this )
• Performance heats – Semi – Finals mentality
• Swim a range of events
• Swim down protocols ( Habit/routine/
importance of this)

F.P.Furniss
Activity – Have A Go At Planning Your
Season, What Do You Include

F.P.Furniss
Planning for a season
STEP BY STEP

F.P.Furniss
Start With A Blank
Planning Sheet

F.P.Furniss
 Planning for the Season - Step by Step
MONTH SEPT OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUNE JUL AUG
DATES

MICRO 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52

14-Nov
21-Nov
28-Nov

15-May
22-May
29-May
WEEK

12-Sep
19-Sep
26-Sep

12-Dec
19-Dec
26-Dec

13-Mar
20-Mar
27-Mar

14-Aug
21-Aug
28-Aug
10-Oct
17-Oct
24-Oct
31-Oct

16-Jan
23-Jan
30-Jan

13-Feb
20-Feb
27-Feb

10-Apr
17-Apr
24-Apr
1-May
8-May

12-Jun
19-Jun
26-Jun
7-Nov
5-Sep

5-Dec

6-Feb

6-Mar

10-Jul
17-Jul
24-Jul
31-Jul
7-Aug
3-Oct

2-Jan
9-Jan

3-Apr

5-Jun

3-Jul
COMMENCING

MAJOR
NATIONAL
COMPETITIONS

EVENT

Macro
PERIODISATION

Training Phase
Strength
Endurance
Speed
TESTING

Step Test

20 x 100m

70
60
VOLUME

50
40
30
20
F.P.Furniss
10
Add your key dates

F.P.Furniss
 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52

28-Aug
21-Aug
AUG

14-Aug
7-Aug
31-Jul ASA National Age Groups
24-Jul
JUL

17-Jul
10-Jul
3-Jul
26-Jun
JUNE

19-Jun
12-Jun Regional Age Groups
5-Jun
29-May Regional Age Groups
22-May
MAY

15-May
8-May
1-May
24-Apr
17-Apr
APR

10-Apr
Planning for the Season - Step by Step

3-Apr British Trials (EYOD Qualification)

27-Mar
20-Mar
MAR

13-Mar
6-Mar
27-Feb
20-Feb County Championships
FEB

13-Feb

F.P.Furniss
6-Feb
30-Jan
23-Jan County Championships
JAN

16-Jan
9-Jan
2-Jan
26-Dec
19-Dec
DEC

12-Dec Scottish Winter Open Meet

5-Dec
28-Nov
21-Nov
NOV

14-Nov
7-Nov
31-Oct
24-Oct
OCT

17-Oct Inter County Competition

10-Oct
3-Oct
26-Sep
SEPT

19-Sep
12-Sep
5-Sep

Training Phase
COMMENCING

Endurance
NATIONAL

20 x 100m
Step Test
Strength
MONTH

EVENT
LOCAL
MICRO

Macro

Speed
WEEK

70
60
50
40
30
20
10
DATES COMPETITIONS PERIODISATION TESTING VOLUME
Planning your macro cycles

F.P.Furniss
 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52

28-Aug
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 T 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 T T 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 R R T T

21-Aug
AUG

14-Aug
7-Aug
31-Jul ASA National Age Groups
24-Jul
JUL

17-Jul
10-Jul
3-Jul
26-Jun
JUNE

19-Jun
12-Jun Regional Age Groups
5-Jun
29-May Regional Age Groups
22-May
MAY

15-May
8-May
1-May
24-Apr
17-Apr
APR

10-Apr
Planning for the Season - Step by Step

3-Apr British Trials (EYOD Qualification)

27-Mar
20-Mar
MAR

13-Mar
6-Mar
27-Feb
20-Feb County Championships
FEB

13-Feb

F.P.Furniss
6-Feb
30-Jan
23-Jan County Championships
JAN

16-Jan
9-Jan
2-Jan
26-Dec
19-Dec
DEC

12-Dec Scottish Winter Open Meet

5-Dec
28-Nov
21-Nov
NOV

14-Nov
7-Nov
31-Oct
24-Oct
OCT

17-Oct Inter County Competition

10-Oct
3-Oct
26-Sep
SEPT

19-Sep
12-Sep
5-Sep

Training Phase
COMMENCING

Endurance
NATIONAL

20 x 100m
Step Test
Strength
MONTH

EVENT
LOCAL
MICRO

Macro

Speed
WEEK

70
60
50
40
30
20
10
DATES COMPETITIONS PERIODISATION TESTING VOLUME
Adding in your planned volume..

F.P.Furniss
 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52

28-Aug
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 T 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 T T 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 R R T T

21-Aug
AUG

14-Aug
7-Aug
31-Jul ASA National Age Groups
24-Jul
JUL

17-Jul
10-Jul
3-Jul
26-Jun
JUNE

19-Jun
12-Jun Regional Age Groups
5-Jun
29-May Regional Age Groups
22-May
MAY

15-May
8-May
1-May
24-Apr
17-Apr
APR

10-Apr
Planning for the Season - Step by Step

3-Apr British Trials (EYOD Qualification)

27-Mar
20-Mar
MAR

13-Mar
6-Mar
27-Feb
20-Feb County Championships
FEB

13-Feb

F.P.Furniss
6-Feb
30-Jan
23-Jan County Championships
JAN

16-Jan
9-Jan
2-Jan
26-Dec
19-Dec
DEC

12-Dec Scottish Winter Open Meet

5-Dec
28-Nov
21-Nov
NOV

14-Nov
7-Nov
31-Oct
24-Oct
OCT

17-Oct Inter County Competition

10-Oct
3-Oct
26-Sep
SEPT

19-Sep
12-Sep
5-Sep

Training Phase
COMMENCING

Endurance
NATIONAL

20 x 100m
Step Test
Strength
MONTH

EVENT
LOCAL
MICRO

Macro

Speed
WEEK

70
60
50
40
30
20
10
DATES COMPETITIONS PERIODISATION TESTING VOLUME
What are your plans to test?

F.P.Furniss
 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52

28-Aug
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 T 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 T T 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 R R T T

21-Aug
AUG

14-Aug
7-Aug
31-Jul ASA National Age Groups
24-Jul
JUL

17-Jul
10-Jul
3-Jul
26-Jun
JUNE

19-Jun
12-Jun Regional Age Groups
5-Jun
29-May Regional Age Groups
22-May
MAY

15-May
8-May
1-May
24-Apr
17-Apr
APR

10-Apr
Planning for the Season - Step by Step

3-Apr British Trials (EYOD Qualification)

27-Mar
20-Mar
MAR

13-Mar
6-Mar
27-Feb
20-Feb County Championships
FEB

F.P.Furniss
13-Feb
6-Feb
30-Jan
23-Jan County Championships
JAN

16-Jan
9-Jan
2-Jan
26-Dec
19-Dec
DEC

12-Dec Scottish Winter Open Meet

5-Dec
28-Nov
21-Nov
NOV

14-Nov
7-Nov
31-Oct
24-Oct
OCT

17-Oct Inter County Competition

10-Oct
3-Oct
26-Sep
SEPT

19-Sep
12-Sep
5-Sep

Training Phase
COMMENCING

Endurance
NATIONAL

20 x 100m
Step Test
Strength
MONTH

EVENT
LOCAL
MICRO

Macro

Speed
WEEK

70
60
50
40
30
20
10
Periodising your work

F.P.Furniss
 Planning for the Season - Step by Step
MONTH SEPT OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUNE JUL AUG
MICRO 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51

WEEK
12-Sep
19-Sep
26-Sep

12-Dec
19-Dec
26-Dec

13-Feb
20-Feb
27-Feb

13-Mar
20-Mar
27-Mar

15-May
22-May
29-May
10-Oct
17-Oct
24-Oct
31-Oct

14-Nov
21-Nov
28-Nov

16-Jan
23-Jan
30-Jan

12-Jun
19-Jun
26-Jun

14-Aug
21-Aug
10-Apr
17-Apr
24-Apr
5-Dec

1-May
8-May

10-Jul
17-Jul
24-Jul
31-Jul
5-Sep

7-Nov

6-Feb

6-Mar

7-Aug
3-Oct

2-Jan
9-Jan

5-Jun
3-Apr

3-Jul
COMMENCING

NATIONAL
LOCAL

British Trials
Scottish Winter Open Meet

ASA National Age Groups

Inter County Competition

County Championships

County Championships

Regional Age Groups

Regional Age Groups

(EYOD Qualification)
EVENT

Macro 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 T 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 T T 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 R R T
Training Phase A A A A A A AN AN AN R R R R TC TC A A A A A AN AN AN AN AN R R R R TC TC A A A AN AN AN AN AN RRRRRRR R R R TC TC TC
Strength
Endurance
Speed

Step Test

20 x 100m

70
60
50
40 F.P.Furniss
30
And there you have
an Age Group Plan!

F.P.Furniss
 Developing a Weekly
Template with Young Age
Group Swimmers

F.P.Furniss
 Developing a weekly template

Work on the basis of three key areas of

work:-
•Aerobic Conditioning
•Technique Development
•Basic Speed
Attach a ‘skill’ requirement to all aerobic
development sets

F.P.Furniss
Summary

• Plan for progression and future success

• Decide on the number of cycles relevant to
age/ability
(2x24, 4x12, 8x6 etc)
• Use the correct energy systems/training zones
relevant to age.
• All sessions should promote efficiency and
consistency.

F.P.Furniss
Summary

• Identify the most important competition of the

season and work your plan backwards to the
start.
• Determine each larger training block (Macro
Cycle) and set appropriate objectives.
Construct smaller training blocks to target
areas for specific physiological and technical
development, each of these may conclude with
a smaller competition.

F.P.Furniss
Any Questions

F.P.Furniss