Swimming Dryland Training Practice Plan for 13 to 15 Year Olds
At 13 to 15, dryland becomes the swimmer's second practice: the full shoulder-GUARD circuit (bands, rotations, the weekly non-negotiable), core ENDURANCE (the line held under fatigue: hollows, side lines, dead-bug ladders), streamline STRENGTH (wall slides, loaded holds), and land POWER's honest basics (jump-and-stick work feeding starts and turns). General strength with qualified guidance gets its recommendation as volume climbs.
This is a 75-minute session with a band and the log. The teenage swimming reality drives it: yardage is spiking exactly as growth taxes mobility, and the guard-line-reach triad is what keeps shoulders and streamlines solvent through both. The wall's sentence: fast swimmers are built in pools; durable ones are built on land, and only the durable stay fast.
This plan was written for every 13 to 15 year old. ParentEdge writes one for yours.
Built around their game, their goals, and what they’re working on.
What dryland matters most as swim volume climbs?
The guard circuit, without competition: shoulder insurance scales with yardage, and the full band menu (pulls, rows, rotations, Y-T family) twice weekly is the evidence-backed premium. Core endurance and streamline strength follow; everything else is optional beside the guard.
Should teenage swimmers lift weights?
With qualified guidance and team coordination, increasingly yes: general strength (squat, hinge, pull patterns) feeds starts, turns, and durability at this age. The home session remains the specialist (guard, line, reach); the gym adds horsepower under supervision that owns technique.
How does land power transfer to starts and turns?
Directly: blocks and walls are jump events wearing swimsuits, and stuck-landing jump work inside the streamline builds the exact explosion they spend. The pose-held-through-takeoff detail is the transfer's secret: power that leaves the shape arrives as splash, not speed.