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!
I've hesitated to chime in on this since this coach is mine too. I've been following to see what would come of this and honestly am a bit surprised about some of the comments - but good surprised.
I too have been frustrated with the big changes and have tried to embrace them where I could. He's a great technique coach and is working with us to improve the minute details. For some, he's really made a huge difference - mainly those who are wanting to compete in meets and are looking for the different stroke work. For those of us who are distance, OW, or fitness swimmers, the new coach hasn't seemed as good of a fit. I can't tell you how many workouts are about all-out speed. Most are very short distances which don't help those of us going any longer than a 200 (his longest distance in a set). And many of the sets are all done on the same interval so all of us are supposed to keep up. For those who are faster and can do 100 just over a minute, they get a lot of rest, even at high speed. For those of us who are at the tail end of making the intervals, it becomes a fight for survival - the stroke gets sloppy; form is negated for just making it, and to be honest, motivation is lost. It's just not fun to show up as much anymore. I'm a competitive swimmer, but just feel like I'm fighting a losing battle.
Yes, we need to each talk to him to really understand what it is he's trying to accomplish, though. I think he's getting good changes out of those on the team at the top level, again. But for many of us who aren't the top speedsters, the workouts are just too much and are taking the fun out of what Master's swimming should be.
Any coach should address the needs of all his swimmers, not just the subset of fast swimmers or sprinters or whatnot. I do believe there is pretty good evidence that one can improve aerobic conditioning with high-intensity efforts, though. Truth be told, though, if one is (for example) interested in longer OW swims it is hard for me to see how a diet of ONLY short reps at high intensity can be the best thing.
Here's the bottom line. Nothing kills a swim team more than locker room/social media complaining. This whine session will get back to your coach most likely and he/she will be stung. Most coaches, especially those who coach Masters, do it for the love of the sport and their athletes. Seeing whining on the internet as opposed to an adult conversation is destructive to the team. Your coach wants to do a good job and would likely appreciate a conversation.
Good post (i added emphasis). Though I don't think the OP was trying to start a whining session but to get honest feedback.
I've hesitated to chime in on this since this coach is mine too. I've been following to see what would come of this and honestly am a bit surprised about some of the comments - but good surprised.
I too have been frustrated with the big changes and have tried to embrace them where I could. He's a great technique coach and is working with us to improve the minute details. For some, he's really made a huge difference - mainly those who are wanting to compete in meets and are looking for the different stroke work. For those of us who are distance, OW, or fitness swimmers, the new coach hasn't seemed as good of a fit. I can't tell you how many workouts are about all-out speed. Most are very short distances which don't help those of us going any longer than a 200 (his longest distance in a set). And many of the sets are all done on the same interval so all of us are supposed to keep up. For those who are faster and can do 100 just over a minute, they get a lot of rest, even at high speed. For those of us who are at the tail end of making the intervals, it becomes a fight for survival - the stroke gets sloppy; form is negated for just making it, and to be honest, motivation is lost. It's just not fun to show up as much anymore. I'm a competitive swimmer, but just feel like I'm fighting a losing battle.
Yes, we need to each talk to him to really understand what it is he's trying to accomplish, though. I think he's getting good changes out of those on the team at the top level, again. But for many of us who aren't the top speedsters, the workouts are just too much and are taking the fun out of what Master's swimming should be.
Any coach should address the needs of all his swimmers, not just the subset of fast swimmers or sprinters or whatnot. I do believe there is pretty good evidence that one can improve aerobic conditioning with high-intensity efforts, though. Truth be told, though, if one is (for example) interested in longer OW swims it is hard for me to see how a diet of ONLY short reps at high intensity can be the best thing.
Here's the bottom line. Nothing kills a swim team more than locker room/social media complaining. This whine session will get back to your coach most likely and he/she will be stung. Most coaches, especially those who coach Masters, do it for the love of the sport and their athletes. Seeing whining on the internet as opposed to an adult conversation is destructive to the team. Your coach wants to do a good job and would likely appreciate a conversation.
Good post (i added emphasis). Though I don't think the OP was trying to start a whining session but to get honest feedback.
