Am I just waisting my time here?
I am 29 years old and looking to start trainingfor an event in Aug.of 2004. It has been 13+ years since I have done any training and I live in an area that does not have many places to train or the coaches that is willing to take on a washed up old swimmer. Any advice would be helpful.:confused:
Parents
Former Member
And if there isn't a Masters team convient to where you live, start asking the coaches if they would work with you privately a couple of times a month. Ask them to suggest someone who might coach you. If that doesn't work try some of the more mature life guards or even the swimming teachers at a local Y, its possible that you will find one who has some coaching experience. Thats how I found the coach I worked with... she was a guard and teacher at the Y. I was swimming laps on my own, and one day noticed her teaching two women who couldn't do anything more than stand in the shallow end of the pool. Within a couple of weeks she had them swimming laps. I thought that if she could get them swimming that quickly maybe she could help me improve my technique... so I asked her and as it turned out she had a lot of open water competition and coaching experience. Private one-to-one sessions can get a little pricey so most of the time I just did twice a month. At the end of the session the coach would give me suggestions for what I should work on myself until the next session. In between times, if she happenned to be guarding while I swam my laps she would watch me and frequently told me that this looked good, or that I still needed to work on whatever. And, I did make a lot of progress like that. However, this summer she and I worked together once a week. In one month I doubled the yardage I could do and improved my times. The greatest thing about one-to-one sessions is, it is tailored just for you. Don't be afraid to ask, tell them your goal, its worth a try.
And if there isn't a Masters team convient to where you live, start asking the coaches if they would work with you privately a couple of times a month. Ask them to suggest someone who might coach you. If that doesn't work try some of the more mature life guards or even the swimming teachers at a local Y, its possible that you will find one who has some coaching experience. Thats how I found the coach I worked with... she was a guard and teacher at the Y. I was swimming laps on my own, and one day noticed her teaching two women who couldn't do anything more than stand in the shallow end of the pool. Within a couple of weeks she had them swimming laps. I thought that if she could get them swimming that quickly maybe she could help me improve my technique... so I asked her and as it turned out she had a lot of open water competition and coaching experience. Private one-to-one sessions can get a little pricey so most of the time I just did twice a month. At the end of the session the coach would give me suggestions for what I should work on myself until the next session. In between times, if she happenned to be guarding while I swam my laps she would watch me and frequently told me that this looked good, or that I still needed to work on whatever. And, I did make a lot of progress like that. However, this summer she and I worked together once a week. In one month I doubled the yardage I could do and improved my times. The greatest thing about one-to-one sessions is, it is tailored just for you. Don't be afraid to ask, tell them your goal, its worth a try.
