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!
Somewhere back in here was mentioned that everyone on the team goes on the same intervals? That seems a bit off and sets off warning bells in my head. The top level doesn't want to be in a constant state of near taper and the speed challenged won't necessarily improve much if they are constantly on the gas without much rest. Everyone on 15 seconds rest, would be acceptable. But everyone's set of 10x50 on 45 seconds doesn't seem realistic. It's starting to sound like a case of new-coach-itis or someone who has only worked with a squad of similar abilities. You'd need to have a pretty tight range of talent to pull off a single interval for everyone. That would be the first thing I would be asking the coach to explain the method behind. Maybe the coach is assuming she's giving the fastest interval and each lane will adjust by 5 seconds without having to discuss every single lane and he figures you are all the most amazing team ever for keeping up. I know my high school coach was like that..(this lane always add 5 seconds per 50 unless I say otherwise, this lane 10, etc.).
Absolutely agree. It's always hard to judge what the coach's philosophy is without seeing him/her in action, but having the entire team go on the same intervals will be a recipe for frustration. Masters swimming should be about inclusiveness, not just catered to the top performers, the main cliques in the team, or those willing to adhere to a specific atmosphere or dynamic led by certain members of the team. I think Flystorms really gave a heartfelt and telling post earlier on the thread, describing how the workouts were taking the fun out of what Masters swimming should be for her.
A good coach will maintain an open channel of communication with the swimmers so that she can better explain her point of view and her philosophy for the good of the entire team.
Somewhere back in here was mentioned that everyone on the team goes on the same intervals? That seems a bit off and sets off warning bells in my head. The top level doesn't want to be in a constant state of near taper and the speed challenged won't necessarily improve much if they are constantly on the gas without much rest. Everyone on 15 seconds rest, would be acceptable. But everyone's set of 10x50 on 45 seconds doesn't seem realistic. It's starting to sound like a case of new-coach-itis or someone who has only worked with a squad of similar abilities. You'd need to have a pretty tight range of talent to pull off a single interval for everyone. That would be the first thing I would be asking the coach to explain the method behind. Maybe the coach is assuming she's giving the fastest interval and each lane will adjust by 5 seconds without having to discuss every single lane and he figures you are all the most amazing team ever for keeping up. I know my high school coach was like that..(this lane always add 5 seconds per 50 unless I say otherwise, this lane 10, etc.).
Absolutely agree. It's always hard to judge what the coach's philosophy is without seeing him/her in action, but having the entire team go on the same intervals will be a recipe for frustration. Masters swimming should be about inclusiveness, not just catered to the top performers, the main cliques in the team, or those willing to adhere to a specific atmosphere or dynamic led by certain members of the team. I think Flystorms really gave a heartfelt and telling post earlier on the thread, describing how the workouts were taking the fun out of what Masters swimming should be for her.
A good coach will maintain an open channel of communication with the swimmers so that she can better explain her point of view and her philosophy for the good of the entire team.
