I guess I'll make this sort of an introduction thread as well. I'll make that part quick so we can move on to business.
I started swimming a year ago. By "swimming" I mean training for competitive swimming. I had already known how to swim all the strokes. I was a freshman going into sophomore year in high school at the time. What you need to know is that I taught myself all the turns, racing techniques, and starts by watching YouTube videos (NOT expert village) and practice. To prepare for my swim team in the winter, I swam 500s and 1000s to build up my endurance. I wasn't really sure what to expect, and I had know idea what stroke I would be good at.
When time came, I found myself in the distance world, swimming 500 freestyle races. I swam 6:40ish 500s. For a noob swimmer, I've found that isn't half bad, and I got like 3rd or 2nd place in my races. Bu the other 3 events I had to do I usually sucked at. My coach put me on breaststroke races, and I didn't know how to sprint. (as in, I didn't figure out until half way through the season that you need to hold your breath in sprints) So aside from the 500, I did crappy. I think the only reason I didn't fail as much at the 500 was that I had spent all summer and fall swimming 500s and 1000s in preparation.
In the spring I didn't have time to do anything, since I was too caught up in school work. But as soon as summer came again, I hit the pool just like the previous summer. This time, with a better idea of the swimming world. As soon as I started training, I found I could swim a 29 second 50 back stroke. Now, to some of you people here that are very advanced, you probably think that sucks, but I think it's good considering I've never had any formal back stroke training. So, I've decided to build off of that. That, and 500 free style. I'm going to make those my main events, and go from there.
So my main question is, what sort of workouts should I be doing to improve at this point? I've been able to hold a 37 second 50 back stroke for 10 intervals so far on the minute. But my 100s are really suffering. I'm swimming 1:20 intervals on the 100 only 5 times in a row before I have to stop. My main problem with back stroke is also the start. My dolphin kick is weak, and I could stand to improve it. Finally, my 500 is still where it was before. I'm trying to push it down sub 6:30 before the season. I'm not really sure where to start with the 500. There's nothing particularly wrong with it. I just need to increase my endurance I guess.
As I was saying, based on this whole.....essay (lol) that I've written, what sort of advice do you any of you have to give? I'm doing whatever I can at this point to improve. I don't know what it is, but I've fallen in love with swimming and just want to keep getting better. Keep in mind, I'm still a beginner, and still have a lot to learn. I really appreciate any help I get from you veteran swimmers. Thanks a thousand. :angel:
I forgot to answer this.
I train 5 times a week as of now. Saturday is weight room day. And sunday is my day off.
For backstroke, I'll swim about 3000-4000 per practice. For the 500, it's more like 5000-6000.
As for what paces I can hold, I believe I've already covered it.I'm with Kirk and James in terms of how much to work out and that your emphasis now should be on getting your technique better and ingraining that into your muscle memory. I think a total training volume on a weekly basis in the ~20K yards range is fine; you're still young and have plenty of time to increase the volume over time.
Another way for you to get technique pointers would be to have someone videotape you racing and then post it here. I imagine you'll get a lot of pointers.
Do you have access to a USA Swimming or US Masters Swimming club you can train with or are you training solo? If you can find a coach/club where you can train consistently, that should help you on a lot of levels -- technique, variety, speed, seeing other swimmers 'live' and learning from them, seeing the 'art of the possible' (e.g., you might think you'll never go under 1:00 in the 100 backstroke, but if you see a training partner do it and you know you're close to that training partner in workout, it should boost your confidence), etc.
Switch to sprinting.Purple, follow Jazz's thread on lifting (Swim Faster Stronger - U.S. Masters Swimming Discussion Forums), but stick with the 500 and backstroke focus for now. There will be much more satisfaction in dropping multiple seconds in your 500 than in dropping multiple tenths in your 50s. Plus, if you're already doing 5K to 6K workouts, clearly you don't have the swimming ADD that affects sprinters who start to get confused once the lap count goes above 4 ;) :bolt:
I forgot to answer this.
I train 5 times a week as of now. Saturday is weight room day. And sunday is my day off.
For backstroke, I'll swim about 3000-4000 per practice. For the 500, it's more like 5000-6000.
As for what paces I can hold, I believe I've already covered it.I'm with Kirk and James in terms of how much to work out and that your emphasis now should be on getting your technique better and ingraining that into your muscle memory. I think a total training volume on a weekly basis in the ~20K yards range is fine; you're still young and have plenty of time to increase the volume over time.
Another way for you to get technique pointers would be to have someone videotape you racing and then post it here. I imagine you'll get a lot of pointers.
Do you have access to a USA Swimming or US Masters Swimming club you can train with or are you training solo? If you can find a coach/club where you can train consistently, that should help you on a lot of levels -- technique, variety, speed, seeing other swimmers 'live' and learning from them, seeing the 'art of the possible' (e.g., you might think you'll never go under 1:00 in the 100 backstroke, but if you see a training partner do it and you know you're close to that training partner in workout, it should boost your confidence), etc.
Switch to sprinting.Purple, follow Jazz's thread on lifting (Swim Faster Stronger - U.S. Masters Swimming Discussion Forums), but stick with the 500 and backstroke focus for now. There will be much more satisfaction in dropping multiple seconds in your 500 than in dropping multiple tenths in your 50s. Plus, if you're already doing 5K to 6K workouts, clearly you don't have the swimming ADD that affects sprinters who start to get confused once the lap count goes above 4 ;) :bolt:
