<p>By Wayne Goldsmith</p><p><strong>Introduction:</strong></p><p>Every swimming coach does drills and skills work at the same time in their practices. We can do it differently and better!</p><p><strong>Three Critical Learning Points:</strong></p><p>* The typical structure — drills and skills first, main set second — means technique is generally practised when swimmers are fresh.</p><p>* Skills that only work when rested aren’t race-ready skills.</p><p>* The fix: integrate drills and technique work DURING your main sets, not before them.</p><p><strong>Time to Change!</strong></p><p>Here’s what I see at pools all over the world.</p><p>Warm-up. Then drill work — catch-up, fingertip drag, six-kick switch, whatever your favourites are. Nice and controlled. Good feedback. Technical focus.</p><p>Then the main set. Now it’s about fitness. Physiology. Pushing through. </p><p>Technique? That was earlier.</p><p>Here’s the problem.</p><p>When your swimmers are doing their drills, they’re fresh. Rested. Focused. Heart rate is low. Breathing is easy. Everything is controlled.</p><p>Then they get into the main set and all of that technique work goes out the window.</p><p>Why? <strong>Because they’ve (we’ve) never connected those skills to fatigue.</strong></p><p>Skills that only work when rested aren’t <strong>race-ready</strong> skills.</p><p>In a race, when does technique matter most?</p><p>The last 25 of a 200. The third lap of a 200 fly. The back half of a distance event.</p><p>That’s when technique falls apart — because we never trained it to hold together under fatigue.</p><p>So here’s what I want you to try.</p><p>Stop separating drills from main sets. <strong>Integrate them.</strong></p><p>Example: 10 x 100 — but every 4th one is a technique-focused 100 at controlled pace. Swimmers reset their form, refocus on one technical cue, then carry that into the next hard reps.</p><p>Example: mid-set 50m drill to reset focus and form. Right in the middle of the hard work. Not before it. During it.</p><p><strong>Connect skills to fatigue. Connect technique to pressure.</strong></p><p>That’s where race-ready skills are built.</p><p><strong>Final Thoughts:</strong></p><p>We’ve been doing it backwards. Drills first, then fitness — as if they’re separate worlds. They’re not. The pool doesn’t care when you learned the skill. It only cares if you can execute it when you’re dying. Train accordingly.</p><p><strong>Two Practical Application Tips:</strong></p><p>* <strong>Insert a “technique 100” every 4th rep in your main sets.</strong> Swimmers drop the pace, focus on one technical element, then return to race pace. Keeps the skill connection alive under fatigue.</p><p>* <strong>Add a mid-set drill reset.</strong> Halfway through your main set, stop and do 50m of your most important drill. Then continue. This teaches swimmers to find their technique when they’ve lost it — which is exactly what racing demands.</p><p>Thanks.</p><p>Wayne</p><p></p> <br/><br/>This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit <a href="https://swimminggold.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&#38;utm_campaign=CTA_2">swimminggold.substack.com/subscribe</a>