Hi all, I am joining a masters swim program as a beginner (I know how to swim, just not experienced or good at it yet). I don't know how to go about setting goals and I am hoping that some of you might be willing to offer suggestions. I know that fitness is #1, but if I don't have goals I'll get bored. The trouble is, I have no frame of reference for what my improvement should look like.
For time availability, I can swim up to 5 times per week, 1-2 hours each time (although one hour is more reasonable, I can commit up to two if necessary). I'm tall and skinny and not naturally athletic. Right now I swim a 50 yard free in a minute, which means I'm in great shape for an 85 year old man. I am a 35 year old man though so that's not good. I can only swim at the end of a pretty exhausting day so that will probably negatively impact my abilities.
Assuming working with a talented coach, what are reasonable and appropriate goals? Should I have a goal by the week, month, 3 months, or some other timeframe? For those who have gone through this before (going from non-swimmer to swimmer as an adult, no history), any tips? Approximately how long of dedicated training did it take to reach a good swim time?
Thank you everyone who helps me out in setting some reasonable goals for myself.
Hi sarc6fu - I would suggest focusing on technique improvement first and foremost. Listen to your coach and work on the small things (which also may mean learning to relax in the water and to breathe correctly). So much of fast swimming is reducing drag and learning correct technique. Also - be careful upping your practice time/yardage too drastically. You want to ease into increased yardage to avoid injury.
It's difficult to say exactly what your goals should be at this point, but if you concentrate on swimming smarter, you'll get faster!
Hi sarc6fu - I would suggest focusing on technique improvement first and foremost. Listen to your coach and work on the small things (which also may mean learning to relax in the water and to breathe correctly). So much of fast swimming is reducing drag and learning correct technique. Also - be careful upping your practice time/yardage too drastically. You want to ease into increased yardage to avoid injury.
It's difficult to say exactly what your goals should be at this point, but if you concentrate on swimming smarter, you'll get faster!
