At 11 and 12, dryland gets its band (the light resistance loop that upgrades the shoulder guard), core PROGRESSIONS (hollows extending, dead bugs arriving), THORACIC mobility (the upper back's reach: where teenage streamlines tighten first), and streamline STRENGTH: the pose held under gentle load, walls' land tax pre-paid.
This session runs about an hour with a light band (or towel substitutes). The swimmer's dryland identity settles: shoulders guarded weekly, the core's line strengthened, the upper back kept reachable, ankles kept floppy. Growth-spurt weeks double the mobility and halve the ambition, stated plainly.
This plan was written for every 11 and 12 year old. ParentEdge writes one for yours.
Built around their game, their goals, and what they’re working on.
The lightest available: the guard's muscles (rotators, blade squeezers) are small and precise, and heavy bands recruit big muscles into sloppy substitution. Light-and-perfect for years beats heavy-and-approximate immediately: a towel's isometric versions substitute fine where no band exists.
The streamline rents its reach from the upper back, and teenage growth tightens exactly there first: stiff thoracic spines become shrugged, broken rockets and strained shoulders compensating. Weekly openers (threads, reach-throughs, wall slides as the exam) keep the rent paid.
As the home shadow: teams that run dryland get these movements reinforced; teams that don't get them supplied. The priorities are universal (guard, line, reach, ankles), light enough to add to any load, and the log keeps the weekly habit honest either way.