What to do when you disagree with a Coach?

It is not wrong to opt out and do your own thing as long as you are not disrupting your lane mates. But, what's the harm? It's only a week. I strongly believe that swimming all three strokes has a positive overall impact. Breastroke is not a swimming stroke, it is noodling without the noodle.

Breastroke is not a swimming stroke, it is noodling without the noodle. I knew eventually I'd find something about you I liked. :thhbbb:

. Since it is highly unlikely that I will ever compete in Satan's stroke in an individual event other than surviving 25 to 50 yards/meters on a 200 IM, but I intend to compete in *** stroke, is it wrong to opt out and swim breastroke? Thoughts? Don Not at all. Tell your coach that it's not your thing, and that you have more fun and a greater challenge trying to keep up breaststroke. BTW, I always thought that breaststroke was the evil one.

i agree with ande do what you want as long as you don't get in the way of others in your lane Having said that, you may decide as I did to shop around a bit and find a place where the coaching style is more to your liking. The group I'm with now is flexible. They will work us as hard as we feel like, and don't mind if you want to do your own thing towards the end, especially after a number of people have gotten out early and some space has opened up. Recently when preparing for the 100 fly, I would disregard the last 20-30 minutes or so of the workout and just do a lot of butterfly, 50s and eventually 100s. At least for me, butterfly is something I have to practice regularly to even be able to complete a 100, and the normal workout of the day may or may not include much butterfly.

I had this experience this summer with *** stroke. My old lady *** stroke was slow and weak. No wonder I didn't want to swim it in public! I just sucked it up and did the drills. I did the stroke and kept working on it. My first workout, I hed to stop early because my back hurt. Now I can get through with the slower group. My stroke has improved, and I am more comfortable with it. I am still a flutter kicker, the whip kick does not feel natural to me, but it is better than early in the summer when I started. Now we have to go indoors and back to the 25yard pool. Nor I have to address the dreaded flip turn.

Any stroke where you can't see where you're going is truly the evil one. As far as I see it, the four strokes are breaststroke, freestyle, butterfly and warmdown. :mooning: any stroke that lets you see your splits at the 50 off the turn is ok by me! :)

I want to add, you always want to respect the coach have a talk after practice or send an email or a text so they understand be appreciative it's a bad idea to mutiny, even worse take a group of swimmers with you I saw a swimmer get kicked off the team for this be low key be nice explain your reasons in advance 1) I'm injured and I can't ... 2) I'm tapering ... 3) I have to leave early because ... 4) I'm focusing on speed and strength and don't want to do any training that will break me down 5) ... I did swim the drills & sets *** stroke and accomodated the speed of my lane mates. Although there were a few friendly comments from the lanes about my challenging the coach, I believe it was all in good intent. I also emailed the coach after the practice and discussed my goals. I last competed in the 30-34 bracket at our SCY zone meet in 93. I am back in the water and in the 50-55 bracket. There are a finite number of swims I will probably do. If & when I do compete will revolve around a schedule that includes getting the daughter through her senior year, serving on the church vestry, and getting 1200 plus boy scouts through a service program each year. Competition will be where I left off, in the 50, 100, and 200 ***. I figure that I will spend quality time in purgatory swimming backstroke and doing calculus problems to atone for my sins.

Since joining an new group, I have run into an old problem. What to do when the coach has a workout designed that is something that it outside your swimming goals? We are focused on Backstroke this week. Since it is highly unlikely that I will ever compete in Satan's stroke in an individual event other than surviving 25 to 50 yards/meters on a 200 IM, but I intend to compete in *** stroke, is it wrong to opt out and swim breastroke? Great thread/topic, Don. I don't find it wrong to opt out of something at all, and looks like you make it work with the intervals and kept up with your workout group. Every set has its benefits, but if you're bored w/ or physically can't do something, by all means, improvise. When I had a knee injury last year, I swam every workout from Oct-Dec w/ a buoy, substituted backstroke and free for all breaststroke until November, and was doing *** w/ dolphin kick from then until March. Like folks have already mentioned, it is masters and you can do (and you DID do) whatever you want. But what I would like to also point out that for those who focus on one discipline, it does not hurt to every once in a while work on other things and the strokes you're not good at. If nothing else, it works more muscles, relieves some of the repetitive stress on your shoulders and gives you a more complete workout. An example - think of a distance/ow swimmer who does 5x5000y workouts in a week and only 200 of it is not freestyle. That is a RC issue waiting to happen.

Since joining an new group, I have run into an old problem. What to do when the coach has a workout designed that is something that it outside your swimming goals? And to address this separately... It doesn't seem like you (Don) have a larger problem, but for those who do... If your coach does not know your goals, it is hard for he/she to write workouts you'll like. Also, everyone on your team has different goals, and as long as you are not being flat out ignored, keep that in mind. Not every workout is going to be geared to you, but the overall picture probably is. Some thoughts if you are ready for help... Start by ponying up some $$ a private 30 minute session so they can focus on you alone for a diagnosis. Talk about your background, what you like/don't like about their workouts, and work together to set some intermediate and long term goals. Ask for some new drills, and be proactive during practices. Ask questions. Follow up with other private sessions. Get video instruction. Attend professional clinics. Every coach has a different background, mentality, and intensity - find the parts of each you like, and help your coach bring those out to help you swim better!

If you want to be coached, I think it best to go along with the workout unless you have an injury that keeps you from doing what the coach suggests. Lots of top coaches have their freestylers train some backstroke as they believe it helps the swimmer's freestyle, so don't assume that it is a waste of time to train it, even if you don't race backstroke individually. Also, if it is a weak stroke for you, working it can only improve your I.M. You could also privately suggest to the coach that when he/she wants the group doing non-freestyle sets perhaps he/she could make it non-free choice. A masters swimmer's time is limited so it is understandable why you would not want to waste time doing something you believe will not help you. Again, privately make suggestions to the coach as communicating is better than not saying anything at all. You may not be the only one that feels the way you do and good coaches usually appreciate feedback. And finally, many masters swimmers are very independent and are happier training on their own. This enables them to do what they want when they want. Many masters swimmers swim several workouts a week on their own and then once a week, jump into the group practice to get a push. If you want to know what the group is going to be doing before you show up, try to contact the coach in advance to find out. Happy waves!:)