The new Master's coach philosophy is to do lower yardage and more IM. Lots of kicks (strengthen the core), lots of drills, and lots of toys (snorkel, skull finger paddles, regular paddles, zoomers, regular fins, *** stoke fins, finis tempo trainer, light weight kick board...) (disclaimer...I have not bought any of this stuff, just have the normal toys). I am in my 60's, have swum forever, many years in masters, raised age-group kids through college swimming, and am very confused.
I am used to 10 x 100 or 5 x 200's or couple 500's, IM once in a while, option to swim IM or free, kicks as a set in a workout, you know what I'm talkin' bout.
Now I am exhausted doing 90 minutes of kicks and sprints and only going 2000 yards. Flipping at the end of every set, using weight balls in the water, doing 6 x 100 *** stroke kick no hands, doing tandem training, example: swimming arm in arm with the other 60 year old doing fly kicks then holding his legs while I kick and he strokes, then vise versa. Now it is not always exhausting, but it seems always to be frustrating.
Working hard is not the problem, but working hard doing fly kicks in 50 meter pools is frustrating. And my distance flog is suffering. Not just 4 x 50 fly kicks, but 10 x 50 fly kicks.
It has been 4 months with new coach. Others say that they workouts are making them stronger for races and allowing them to be tougher. I worry about hurting my back, my shoulders, and not getting in my yardage.
Fitness swimming should be challenging and fun; I am a wimp? Should I give it more time? I like my team!
sounds like ya'll need to race in a meet and prove if that type of training pays off or not.
there is only 1 yardstick and the clock isnt kind to anyone!
Hi HFHILL, I agree with Sunruh, you need to swim a couple meets to see if this training works for you.
The 2 disclaimers are:
1. If you really dislike the content of the practices and dread going to them perhaps you should find another team.
2. Different coaching techniques work for different people. There is no universal fit. It's totally possible these practices are benefitting some members of your team but maybe not you. We are adults and we know what we like, and/or need in a workout. If you are a middle distance/distance type swimmer you probably need some sets with liberal repeats of actual swimming stroke.
What is a "weight ball"?
New coach - new philosophy - that's ok but I feel he/she should adjust for different swimming abilities, and possible age differences among the swimmers. Many teams have fast workout lanes, medium workout lanes, and slow workout lanes. Sounds like your new coach is my way or the highway.
Once in a while when I workout with an elite team, like USC, or UCLA, the coaches give the same workout for everyone, but they do make adjustments for different swimmers abilities.
Try talking with your coach and see if (s)he is open to making workout adjustments.
I don't know your coach or his/her philosophy, but being new to the team, it may take some time for him/her to adjust to the needs of the swimmers. What is for sure is that two of the most important traits to look for in a coach are respect and trust. That means the coach needs to respect and trust in you and your needs as a swimmer and he/she needs to engender respect and trust from you through good communication of his/her philosophy, by adjusting that philosophy according to the level of the swimmers on the team and by ultimately showing results (whether those results are swimming satisfaction, an enjoyable team atmosphere or improvement in times). If you are feeling frustrated and your swimming does not seem to be improving, but you love being part of the team, you might want to consider speaking to the coach and communicating your hesitation. Your swimming happiness and your health in terms of steering clear of injuries are the number one priorities!
I would say it could take anywhere between a couple weeks to a couple months to adjust to adjust to a big workout change like that, so it sounds like you've done that. If you're worried about hurting yourself, tell the coach! He/she should be able to explain what the adjustments are for various levels. Although, if you've been swimming for quite some time, you're probably quite capable of the challenges but may need modifications to work up to a couple things. Pulling a teammate was a common age group drill but now, I'm not that strong and it would be asking for an injury.
But the rest of it sounds like my idea of fun. I do understand your complaint as around here there are a lot of triathletes and people who just cross train swimming and the two teams I've tried out in the past seem to cater to them with lots of freestyle and 10 x 100 or 5x 200 type sets. They love this style workout. I found it frustrating to even try to train stroke with them because of trying to deal with send-offs when everyone else was swimming freestyle - I wouldn't want to do the entire workout the same stroke, so when I finally wanted to do freestyle, it would mess up who goes first, etc. But I digress a bit.
I think as a fitness swimmer - especially if you are a fitness swimmer who avoids any weights or dryland - the multi stroke and resistance approach is well rounded to help decrease chance of injury and reduce muscle loss from aging. Maybe you could mix it up a bit and get in some yards after practice or do a self coached workout one or two days a week instead of team practice. It also may not feel fun right now because it sooooo hard to change things up. When it starts feeling not so hard, you may start feeling like it's more fun. Ultimately it needs to be fun, so I hope you find that balance.
Edited: because I asked a question that had already been answered.
This sounds similar to the workouts I design for myself. I like this kind of workout and have had good success with it at meets. Sets like the above mentioned 20X200 are just too boring for me.If your goal is to swim as far as possible,this is not a good workout,if you want to swim fast,give it a chance.
I've coached at a masters club in the UK for many years. If I give advice, instruction and spend time explaining about stroke mechanics, and trying out a few drills then we won't cover much distance in the session - possibly 2,000 metres. The swimmers are not happy with this.
If I give them 20 x 200m with a rest of about 20secs between swims, they will get out at the end of the 4,000m session and say it was a brilliant workout, and I am the best coach ever!
