New masters swim coach with different philosophy.

HFHill, beyond the need to speak directly with your coach, I think you came to the right place to express your concerns. You obviously love swimming with your team and this is something that is of concern to you. By asking the opinion of the forum, you've discovered the full array of opinions - some people who have denigrated you, some people who have empathized and supported you. Now you'll be prepared, regardless of where on this spectrum your coach will lie. The one important thing is - you are absolutely NOT a wimp and you deserve to express your concerns with whomever you wish.

+1! Your post resonated with me. I am a breaststroker (like you) and compete in all three breaststroke events; so, I need to do those Fortress-style all out sets with long rest. On the other hand, I also LOVE competing in the Georgia Games Open Water Swim and racing the 3K & 1K back-to-back. I absolutely love racing open water and those training days were I do a "time trial" 3K race in the pool. That "zen-like world" you describe is exactly what I thoroughly enjoy. Variety is the spice of life in swimming, too! :wiggle: I agree, Elaine. I could probably be faster in competition if I did more speed work and USRPT-like training. But, I would not enjoy training that way day in and day out. Racing just isn't as important to me right now as is an enjoyable work out experience :)

I've liked the coaches in my group because they mix things up--while there are simple sets of straight freestyle, they also include other types of things--stroke, drills, etc. I'll admit I'm more freestyle oriented, although I'm willing to try the different strokes (hey, the coach needs comic relief). ;) But I think if every practice gets to be EXCLUSIVELY stuff I'm not comfortable with, I could see myself getting very frustrated. So maybe good to have a talk with the coach, bring your concerns. I'll sometimes tell the coaches of my club if I'm feeling frustrated with a set--not that I don't want to try but will ask if they can offer a bit of help/feedback--i.e. what might I be doing that's holding me back from acquiring the skill they want me to develop? What changes might I make? I would really have a problem with someone remaking every workout so it's completely unfamiliar, and I think there needs to be some understanding with such diversity of age and some swimmers maybe being more injury prone that coaches need to adjust workouts and be flexible. I've been lucky with my coaches--they will challenge us to get out of our comfort zone, but they don't spring new stuff on us all at once.

From a coach's perspective, using this approach towards the swimmers on the team should not be an option. As an actual Masters coach and not someone marketing a product, change is good for Masters swimmers. The worst thing that can happen to a team is the same workouts year after year. Training methods change and a Masters coach should be up to speed on the latest thinking and practices of competitive swimming. I also take issue with aztimm and his years-long diatribe about how few USMS members compete. That is a pure fallacy. While only 1/3 may do swim meets a significantly higher percentage may do swim meet, running races, triathlons, etc. On the huge team I am a member of I'd say probably less than 10% are total non-competitors, in anything.

The worst thing that can happen to a team is the same workouts year after year. Roger that. I'm back in the water once or twice a week. Seeing basically the same warmup and similar main sets all the time gets old real fast. I hope they are more creative with the age groupers... Skip

I'm not sure how it is on other teams, but every masters team I have been a member of had no problem with "masters rules" whereby you alter a set if you don't like it as long as what you are doing doesn't interfere with those in your lane who are doing the practice as written. You can't change big things -- a set of 25s can't morph into a set of 500s very easily -- but if, for example, you don't like equipment or can't do butterfly due to injury (or lack of interest), you can just change that part of the workout...again, assuming it doesn't affect those around you. Every masters coach I've had has been fine with that, though there may be others out there who will take offense. I can't tell which type of coach the OP has. Masters swimmers who have been swimming for a long time can get set in their ways, particularly if they are not interested in competition but "just" fitness. Like some others who have posted, I think it is good to shake off the cobwebs give new things a chance, training has advanced in the past decades. I also agree with whomever said that the OP should talk about his concerns with the coach, if he hasn't already.

I've worked as a masters coach for many years in the UK. I always ridicule and tease my swimmers throughout every workout. They expect this of me, and they love it! Wow. Ridiculing swimmers. Maybe I'll forget about finding a team. Denise, fortunately not all coaches will take this approach. This is why it is so important to evaluate the coach's general attitude and communicate your thoughts directly to him/her.

I think you should have said 'unfortunately' instead of fortunately. Masters swimmers want to be in a club where they will see regular and big improvements in their swimming. They want to be part of a successful squad. I'll take a guess and say that your club doesn't have 5 world champions, 22 national champions, 7 world record holders all training together in the pool, just as I've had. Masters swimmers not only like being teased and ridiculed by the coach, but they also like getting together at the Christmas dinner to ridicule the coach. Dianne, if you don't have a coach who respects you as well as entertains everyone during a tough workout, you are missing out on something very special. I'm fortunate that the coaches do respect each of us and show that in many ways--and we can laugh with them... even tease back, so it's all cool. I've been to workouts where the coach ignores the slower people or (in another case) throw digs at us that suggested we weren't being taken seriously as swimmers. I can tell when there's respect and I'm grateful to have it now. I've been able to accomplish things and improve because there's both a willingness to raise the bar and challenge us, while recognizing effort. These guys work with all of us regardless of speed and will modify workouts to fit the pace/experience of both the faster and slower swimmers. I'm not crazy about IM stuff, but during training for a long open water swim, the coach included some of that in my schedule, and I trusted him enough, because I know where he's coming from, to say to myself, "Well, let's try it!" Butterfly is my worst stroke, but I would celebrate being able to do it for 25 without stopping... not beautifully, but after a fashion. My first workout with him, and coming from a running background, was a kind of culture shock b/c I was used to having longer rest periods between hard efforts in track workouts, and after 5 seconds, I'd be told "go" and think "where?" :) But now I can do fine with his workouts--largely because he didn't give up on me, just explained what he was doing and why.

Denise, fortunately not all coaches will take this approach. This is why it is so important to evaluate the coach's general attitude and communicate your thoughts directly to him/her. I don't think you coach a masters team because if you did you'd know just how important the camaraderie and competition is between the coaches and swimmers and between the swimmers themselves. I've been swimming with some of my teammates for close to two decades and coached them as well for three years. If it wasn't for our almost constant humor, crabbing, ranting, and put downs my life as a swimmer would be far less enjoyable. Our current coach is great and tells it like it is and knows how to push us. And, as bad as it is in the pool, at our weekly Saturday post workout team breakfast it is even worse, and that's what we love. Most of these people I swim with are fantastic people and will drop whatever they are doing to help a fellow teammate in a second. The other few are triathletes and may or may not have time for anyone other than themselves.

Denise, fortunately not all coaches will take this approach. This is why it is so important to evaluate the coach's general attitude and communicate your thoughts directly to him/her. I think you should have said 'unfortunately' instead of fortunately. Masters swimmers want to be in a club where they will see regular and big improvements in their swimming. They want to be part of a successful squad. I'll take a guess and say that your club doesn't have 5 world champions, 22 national champions, 7 world record holders all training together in the pool, just as I've had. Masters swimmers not only like being teased and ridiculed by the coach, but they also like getting together at the Christmas dinner to ridicule the coach. Dianne, if you don't have a coach who respects you as well as entertains everyone during a tough workout, you are missing out on something very special.