How to Level Up Your Kicking Speed with the Plantation Swim Team

by Olivier Poirier-Leroy

Good coaches know that you can’t train all swimmers in the same manner. You need to individualize training according to specialty and strength. Jimmy Parmenter, head coach of the Plantation Swim Team, shares a flexible kick set you can use with every swimmer in the group.

Jimmy Parmenter has been coaching with the Plantation Swim Team since 1990, taking the reins as head coach in 2000. In that time he has coached over 100 swimmers to top 16 NAG rankings and has been twice named Florida Gulf Coast Age group coach of the year.

In 2002 he was named National High School Athletic Association Southeastern Coach of the Year, and has spent the last few years on the Florida Gold Coast Zone Team coaching staff.

Today he shares us a kick and swim set that can be adapted to whatever the swimmer specializes in, whether it is a fast-twitch splash and dasher or a distance swimmer.

How to Kick Faster with the Plantation Swim Team

“This set is good for sprinters, middle distance, distance and all strokes,” says Coach Parmenter, who likes mixing in high intensity kicking with swimming.

“You can do a lot of different combinations with this set. Change the intervals depending on athletes ability,” he adds.

Here is the set:

Mid-Distance / Distance Swimmers:

4 Rounds–

6 x 50 @1:00 Kick Free Hold Best Average
6 x 25 @:35 Swim Free – Sprint OVER KICK – 1 Breath Max
6 x 50 @:50 Swim Free Hold 500 Pace

Distance Athletes Do Set Straight Through.
Mid-D 1 Minute Break After Round 2
Set Total = 3000

Stroke:

2 Rounds–

6 x 50 @1:00 Kick Best Stroke Hold Best Average
6 x 25 @35 Swim Sprint Best Stroke Focus On Strong Kick
6 x 50 @50 Swim Best Stroke Hold 200 Pace

2 Minute Break After Round 1
Do the same stroke through the entire round.
Set Total = 1500

Sprinters:

6 x 50 @1:00 Kick Free Hold Best Average
6 x 25 @:35 Swim Free – Sprint OVER KICK – 1 Breath Max
6 x 50 @2:00 Swim Free #’s 1,2,4,5 EZ, #’s 3-6 Off The Blocks

Set Total = 750

A big thank you to Coach Parmenter for stopping by and sharing this collection of kick sets. You can stay up to date with the Plantation Swim team online at their website and also follow them on Twitter.

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Olivier Poirier-Leroy

Olivier Poirier-Leroy is the founder of YourSwimLog.com. He is an author, former national level swimmer, two-time Olympic Trials qualifier, and swim coach. Olivier is the author of the books YourSwimBook and Conquer the Pool. He writes all things high-performance swimming and is passionate about helping swimmers, swim coaches, and swim parents master the pool. His articles were read over 4 million times last year and his work has appeared on USA Swimming, SwimSwam, STACK, NBC Universal, and more. He's also kinda tall and can be found hitting noon-hour lap swims. You can learn more about Olivier here.

Olivier Poirier-Leroy Olivier Poirier-Leroy is the founder of YourSwimLog.com. He is an author, former national level swimmer, two-time Olympic Trials qualifier, and swim coach.