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!
Denise, what you may be missing when GGS5T and Aquageek talk about ridicule and teasing is that no one is really being ridiculed at swim workouts. Any coach who truly ridiculed his/her swimmers would have zero team in a matter of weeks.
If our coach is not teasing or needling us, we check his forehead for signs of fever. And our swimmers adore him. We grew from about a dozen swimmers to 160+ swimmers in about two years. Obviously our coach is not putting people off by his teasing. We have all ability levels from those who can barely swim and want to do a triathlon to world champions. All get the same level of attention (and teasing) during workout. I've been to masters workouts all over the country in the past 26 years. They've all be welcoming to all levels of ability.
If you do, by some chance, find yourself at a program that is less than welcoming, it is the exception and not the rule.
Denise, what you may be missing when GGS5T and Aquageek talk about ridicule and teasing is that no one is really being ridiculed at swim workouts. Any coach who truly ridiculed his/her swimmers would have zero team in a matter of weeks.
If our coach is not teasing or needling us, we check his forehead for signs of fever. And our swimmers adore him. We grew from about a dozen swimmers to 160+ swimmers in about two years. Obviously our coach is not putting people off by his teasing. We have all ability levels from those who can barely swim and want to do a triathlon to world champions. All get the same level of attention (and teasing) during workout. I've been to masters workouts all over the country in the past 26 years. They've all be welcoming to all levels of ability.
If you do, by some chance, find yourself at a program that is less than welcoming, it is the exception and not the rule.
