And there are so many technique points to focus on from breathing and turns to catch and body position. And if you're interested in IM events, you can multiply those technique points by four! Having good body awareness and control will be key to success. Flip turns used to be exceptionally challenging every time I did them. Finally, after doing them for 1.5 hours a day, 6 days a week, for 3.5 years or so, they've become much more natural. So it is possible to "teach an old dog new tricks" so to speak. I'm still not as good at turns as most people of my ability level, and probably never will be, but I just keep focusing in improving. It's a lot of fun to continually improve!
A lot of the other responses to this thread that encourage competing against yourself are very true. While I do use the TT times for motivation, more than anything I really love seeing my times improve as compared to what I swam previously. fatboy's post at #14 in this thread really resonates with me. I think that's sound advice!
Matt's experiences are somewhat similar to my own. It took me a long time to get comfortable doing flip turns (years in fact). It is a tough skill to learn when older, it seems.
Fatboy's post is very insightful, indeed.
I also agree that the skill development required for IM is substantial. There are just so many nuances to learn and improve upon to swim a quality IM. 4 different strokes. Starts. Turns (3 or 4 types in an IM). SDKs (front and back). I think that I was most proud of my 100IM time at Nationals precisely for this reason. And while I am proud of what I was able to accomplish, I am also excited about how many different ways there are to improve. There is a lot of potential time to be gained.
Like Matt said, it is a lot of fun to continually improve. I think that is one of the best motivators.
And there are so many technique points to focus on from breathing and turns to catch and body position. And if you're interested in IM events, you can multiply those technique points by four! Having good body awareness and control will be key to success. Flip turns used to be exceptionally challenging every time I did them. Finally, after doing them for 1.5 hours a day, 6 days a week, for 3.5 years or so, they've become much more natural. So it is possible to "teach an old dog new tricks" so to speak. I'm still not as good at turns as most people of my ability level, and probably never will be, but I just keep focusing in improving. It's a lot of fun to continually improve!
A lot of the other responses to this thread that encourage competing against yourself are very true. While I do use the TT times for motivation, more than anything I really love seeing my times improve as compared to what I swam previously. fatboy's post at #14 in this thread really resonates with me. I think that's sound advice!
Matt's experiences are somewhat similar to my own. It took me a long time to get comfortable doing flip turns (years in fact). It is a tough skill to learn when older, it seems.
Fatboy's post is very insightful, indeed.
I also agree that the skill development required for IM is substantial. There are just so many nuances to learn and improve upon to swim a quality IM. 4 different strokes. Starts. Turns (3 or 4 types in an IM). SDKs (front and back). I think that I was most proud of my 100IM time at Nationals precisely for this reason. And while I am proud of what I was able to accomplish, I am also excited about how many different ways there are to improve. There is a lot of potential time to be gained.
Like Matt said, it is a lot of fun to continually improve. I think that is one of the best motivators.
