Hi everyone,
I just joined the site and have to say great group. Was a stalker until today.
I wish I had the time to join a masters, especially after hearing of the astronomical improvements people make, immediately after joining such groups.
My question is, aside from reading books and the net. What else would you all recommend to improve my form. I started swimming with a purpose 3 years ago, did a few OW triathlons and finally did my first dedicated OW 1mi swim. OMG! - What an eye opener. I finished 102 of 108.
I have a new goal of moving up to at least a middle of the pack (preferrably front of pack), one day....in this life time.
I've come a long way since I started, when I was winded after 25yd but this race, this past week proved how much further I have to go still.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
If you are swimming at a pool, there are likely going to be swimmers you can talk to and emulate. Learn their workouts and do them.
Have someone look at your stroke and make recommendations. You don't want to develop bad habits.
Also, do 25 yd short intervals but at a good pace and plenty of rest. Learn what it feels like to swim with good pace and reinforce good form at this pace. As a new swimmer (even advanced swimmers) it can be difficult to swim very tired and maintain great form. With good form established up the interval to 50's then 100's. Get to the point where you can do a main set of 10x100's with 30 sec rest holding all the same.
Start posting your frequency of workouts, times, stroke count across the pool etc. Post as much info as you can. There are alot of experts here ready to give good help.
I have never done OW, but it seems to me if you are going to swim OW, it might be good to find a place to practice it every once in a while. Having no walls has really got to take its toll so swimming in real conditions would be helpful.
My question is, aside from reading books and the net. What else would you all recommend to improve my form. I started swimming with a purpose 3 years ago, did a few OW triathlons and finally did my first dedicated OW 1mi swim. OMG! - What an eye opener. I finished 102 of 108.
Were you at the Lady Liberty Swim? Don't feel so badly -- that was a challenging one-miler. The water was rough. And 10 people didn't finish, so you were more like 102nd out of 118. :applaud:
Reading about technique will help to a certain extent, but you really need to have someone look at your stroke and tell you what you can improve. If the Masters schedules don't work for you, it might be worth it to pay for a handful of private lessons from someone who can give you technique tips and drills that you can later use on your own to improve.
Yes,get someone knowlegable to look at your stroke. You might want to get videotaped and post it here for comments. Swimming by yourself the pace clock is your best friend.I totally agree with RTODD,get pace and form and then increase distance.
I wish I had the time to join a masters, especially after hearing of the astronomical improvements people make, immediately after joining such groups.
So, what’s stopping you from making your wish come true? Join a Masters club, make the time. If your goal is to improve as a swimmer and move up to the middle or front of the pack, the best way is to become part of a coached swim program.
As for the time commitment, we are all adults here and we realize that we have lots of priorities in our lives. Masters isn’t like age group swimming; your parents won’t get a call of you skip a practice. You get to swim as much or as little as your schedule allows.
And at the risk of sounding blunt, if you wish to be faster by all means keep reading books and the net; however if you want to achieve a goal to be faster then get with a coached Masters swimming program.
