I am a newbie, so I'm gonna ask a newbie question. What is the best way to learn the language of workouts and drills. I swam as a kid, but apparently never to the level of learning the insider shorthand. When I look at drills posted on a board, a lot of it may as well be in Mandarin! Help!
Thanks for the hand up!
This could take a while... do you have a local team/coach that could walk you through a typical posting?
If not, post what you find confusing, and we can respond in kind...
Yeah, it takes a while. I can't call myself a newbie any more since I've been swimming with a team 2 yrs now, but I still sometimes see a notation that I don't quite get. There are two different coaches and they may use slightly different shorthand for things. I will simply stop and ask what's that. They are always happy to clarify.
LANES, a Boston-based club, used to have a great breakdown on their website. Can't find it anymore! Foo.
This gives a good general idea. (First page is abbreviations, which I'm not sure are used consistently everywhere, second is 'this is how to parse each set/description'.)
The coached workouts here on the forums generally have a "sticky" post that describe the terms used in their workouts. While most of the lingo is somewhat universal, a particular team many have their own phrases. One of the great things about most Masters groups is that swimmers are happy to answer questions and help translate things that don't make sense...just ask!
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