Setting realistic goals

20-30 seconds for what? It'll be a little different if you're considering the drop for a 50 versus a 1500 (or 1650).

It's hard for most folks to know what to write with out being able to see you and understand exactly where you are, what you've done so far, what kind of training you're doing Improvements come from the following areas Improve your 1) conditioning and fitness from consistently training hard over weeks and months 2) strength, 3) swimming technique, and 4) body weight and shape. If you're over your idea weight, losing weight can help you swim faster 5) mental factors like motivation, psych, pain tolerance, correct splitting I can also promise you if you get a great coach and train in a great program with fast swimmers and train very hard at least 5 or 6 times a week and hopefully more like 8 - 10 times a week you're extremely likely to significantly improve ande

I'd like to add for me to improve I need to 1) keep training hard in the pool for a particular event 2) lose weight and be close to ideal weight i currently weight around 210 i think my idea competing weight is under 200 the most I weighed in college was 194 I MUST MAKE BETTER EATING CHOICES 3) get stronger from weight training over a period of weeks and months 4) stay healthy and injury free ande

Originally posted by jim clemmons 20-30 seconds for what? It'll be a little different if you're considering the drop for a 50 versus a 1500 (or 1650). 100 *** and the 200 free....and hopefully the rest of my times will follow suit and drop too.:D ~Kyra

I think 30 to 40 sec. would be impossible to drop so quick, unless you JUST started swimming which I know you did quite some time ago.I started swimming in August and since then went from a 1:50 100 meter free to 1:06-1:08 now, but the more I progress the harder it is to get even better. 10 to 20 sec. drop could happen but still that is quite a lot of time.I think to do that you need to dramatically improve your technique, that is probably the main thing .And of course a lot of consistent training would help too... What are your times by the way?And your splits...It could be that you are not slow first but your endurance does not let you get a good time... which leads me to think that by improving your endurance you could see some improvement, too.

And then I do not see why you shouldn't aim for an almost time drop, I always set Olympic-size goals for myself,it does not mean I am going to reach them, but I have them in my mind and going for them.It could just happen that you won't make it to the stars but could settle on the moon :-)))

Originally posted by Seagurl51 I am hoping to drop some time this summer by joining a summer swim program, which by the way...if anyone knows of good programs I'm still looking :) , but hopefully in Texas. Overall I need my times to go down about 30 to 40 seconds but I realize that is not going to happen in one summer. How much is a realistic goal to drop in one summer? I was hoping that maybe 10 to 20 seconds would be nice, or is that too much? Thanx a bunch!!! ~Kyra Are you spending the summer in Texas? If so, what city? Its a big place. You can't commute from Dallas for workouts in Houston. :p

My current times are terrible!! 100 *** (SCM)--1:47.49.....50.28, 57.21 200 Free (SCM)--2:59.76.....41.84, 45.14, 47.46, 45.32 I know that everything about those needs to be worked on. Right now I was just wondering if it is realistic to think that I can get them down 10- 20 seconds in one summer with the proper coaching. Thanx everyone for all your feedback!! ~Kyra p.s. Fred- I was hoping to go to Austin for the Longhorn Masters program.

It's realistic... if you put in the work. I've been improving my meet times at about 1% to 3% a month (depending on the stroke and my training emphasis). Not saying it's a standard, but I think it's the most reasonable way to judge improvement. You're suggesting that you improve (averaging over 3 months) at a rate of 3% to 6% for your 100 ***, and 1% to 4% for your 200 free. A 20 second improvement for 100 *** may be a bit much, but 20 seconds for the 200 free is completely possible. I'd look for a 10 second improvement on your 100 ***. 3% improvement is all I've been able to achieve so far, myself. And then carrying that improvement for 3 months straight... it's going to be work. Possible, but work. Actually, come to think of it... I think improving both events by 3% can't be done realistically. I think you're going to have to pick one over the other or look for a 2% improvement in both (6 seconds - ***, 10 seconds - free).

Originally posted by Seagurl51 I was hoping that maybe 10 to 20 seconds would be nice, or is that too much? It depends on what your times currently are. I think it makes more sense to talk about reducing your current times by a certain percentage rather than a certain number of seconds.