On our masters team , we have a pre-team to aid swimmers that are new to team swimming & all 4 strokes. We have them learn the correct strokes & the associated drills that they will use when they move up to the regular team practices. This seems to help a lot of new swimmers into the world of masters team swimming. They meet twice a week for how ever long it takes till the asst. coach says they are ready to move into the workouts of the "seasoned" swimmers.
Do other teams have this to aid new masters swimmers work their way on the team without the fear of getting run over or not knowing drills?
Dan, how often do you hold that Master's Light? Or do you hold it in conjunction with your regular workouts and just have a lane dedicated to this group? How many people do you usually get at these workouts and then get them to stay with the club?
I think it's important to hold the Masters Lite workouts at a different time than the regular sessions. It takes away the "fear factor" of getting in with seasoned and well conditioned swimmers and allows the coach to take more time with the new swimmer without ignoring the rest of the team. We swim the ML sessions MWF 7-8AM right after the regular session ends. I would prefer to hold them in the evening but the pool is booked till way too late for that. I do encourage the stronger ML swimmers to also attend any of the regular practices especially the Sat am one. Their fees allow for any ML swimmer to attend any of the regular swims. Sometimes we also get a few regular swimmers show up for the ML swim for various reasons. I keep them a few lanes away and give them their own sets.
