Medicine Ball Dryland for Swimmers - Coley Stickels

Medicine ball dryland for swimmers is one of the most versatile tools at The Race Club. In this session, Coach Coley Stickels - Pro Head Coach of the Texas Ford Aquatics breaks down a progression he has refined over years. It is built to develop power, coordination, and stability all at once.

The sequence starts with simple warmup movements. Quarter-half-full pushups flow into burpees, rolls, and somersaults. These warm the muscles and make them pliable and elastic. Then Coley layers in the medicine ball. Slam, pushup, and retrieve drills force athletes off the ground fast. The circuit then builds into off-on mounts and shoelace throws. Shot-put passes and partner bounce-pass retrievals come next. Each one adds a new demand on balance and timing.

The emphasis is on quick, ballistic movement, not high repetitions. Coley keeps sets short: three or four reps, then a 35-to-45-second rest. The goal is not to tire swimmers out. It is to make them faster, stronger, and more stable. Every medicine ball dryland for swimmers session targets the full spectrum of athleticism. That means core, power, strength, balance, and coordination.

Each exercise also has built-in progressions. You can add heavier balls, weighted vests, instability, or partner resistance. So the system scales from age-group swimmers to elite athletes. Coley is clear that younger swimmers can do this work too. They just need to progress one piece at a time. Start with the pushup on the ball, then the movement, then the timing. The ball itself matters more than you might think. Its density, width, and diameter all change how it bounces. The bounce is intentional. It forces the swimmer to react and track the ball quickly. A softer ball is also safer than a dense one. If it gets away overhead, you want it forgiving. Governing bodies like USA Swimming stress the same progressive approach.