When creating a seasonal plan, it is always best to think about where you want the team to be at the end of the session and work backwards from that point. So, for instance, if you have a big meet at the end of a session, you can start backwards from there. Big Meet <- Taper <- Final meet prep <- Work Phase <- Technique prep <- Base prep <- Day 1. Now that is oversimplifying it a bit but essentially, if you think about the goal and communicate the goal and present the plan...it is much easier for the coach to develop the plan AND for the swimmers to follow it.

You can think of a seasonal plan as a master template for the group. Then under that template you can create the sub-plans for the individual swimmers. Some swimmers may be transitioning into the new season riding a massive base build or may be coming in pre-taper because their big meet is a few weeks late. You always have to be able to adjust and the more flexible the season plan for the group, the easier it is to be flexible for the individual swimmers.

Conversely, the more you try and apply the same template at a group level and an individual level, the greater the likelihood that many of the swimmers will fail and/or not reap the benefits of the plan. You always have to consider the individual development of every swimmer and understand that their development may directly or indirectly contradict the master plan. The best coaches are flexible enough to perform this almost daily shuffle.

Below I have provided two four month seasonal templates I wrote back in 2006, taken from a 12 month macro-cycle, which were then distributed to the other coaches. These are the GROUP templates. Many of my swimmers beneath these group templates were on individual plans that differed in varying degrees from the master plan due to meets, tapers, etc. This was a model I used for several years when the group was much larger but no longer use. Since I now have limited my group to 24 swimmers, I just have 24 individual plans. The only commonality between swimmers is that we train the base phase together. Beyond that, the separations are distinct.

Please feel free to download and modify for your own use.
Summer Training Cycle – Macrocycle Phase 2 – Attachment(pdf)
Fall Training Cycle – Macrocycle Phase 3 – Attachment(pdf)

In addition, when I create the individual plans for the swimmers underneath the master plan, I have two templates that I like to use. One is the macrocycle master individual template created by Bob Bowman (not sure when he created it but sometime before 04 or if he is the original author but thats where I got it) and the other is one I developed to ensure that the contract between myself and the swimmer is well understood. I used to use a seasonal matrix which was broken down into periodizations but was not nearly as comprehensive as Bowman’s.

Please feel free to download and modify for your own use.
Master Individual Template – Attachment(Excel)
Training Plan Contract – Attachment(pdf)

Good luck and remember…Russians don’t take a dump, son, without a plan.