Hi, All. I am looking for some guildance. I am looking to improve my swimming technique and fitness.
I am 45 and I would characterize myself as a beginner-plus. I did swim in high school; although, I was not terribly competitive - "participate on the team" is probably a better description :) That was almost 30 years ago.
About 6 months ago, I began swimming at a local pool (SCM). I currently swim 3 times per week, as follows:
Day 1 - 2000 total meters - 500 free wu; 5x100 r0:20, 5x75 r0:15, 5x50 r0:10, 5x25 r0:05 (all free); 5x50 back r0:15 wd (total time 50+ min)
Day 2 - 2000 total meters - 400 free wu; 5x50, 3x100, 1x200, 3x100, 5x50 r0:15 (all free); 400 *** wd (total time 50+ min)
Day 3 - 2000 free w/out stopping (total time approx 45 min)
I breath only on my left side and I am breathing every time I take a stroke with my left arm. I notice that I am using my right arm to leverage/life my body to breath. I would like to step up my distance and intensity of my workouts, and I would like to learn alternate strokes (***, fly and back). I am concerned that if I increase workout distances, etc. without first improper technique, I may injure myself. I am starting to notice an ache in my right sholder and clearly my right sholder and arm is working harder than my left (and definitely feels as though it is)- that can't be good :(. Flip turns have not been in the picture :)
So, my free style technique obvioulsy needs a lot of work. My *** and back even need even more; and my butterfly is non-existent.
I have swam a few times at a local masters practice, but there does not seem to be much individualized attention - Please understand, I am not being critical, it just doesn't seem to be the way that that group is set up. Because of family commitments, my optimum routine practice time is very early in the AM; other local master programs seem to be evening oriented, and the reality is that I just cannot make those practices.
My thought is that if I could get some one-on-one attention, that I could then better benefit/participate into a group/master workouts.
My problem is that I am having difficulty locating someone that can help one on one. One option is to try to teach myself thru books/dvds, another is to attend a morning masters group and try to pick up stuff from the group practices, a third option is to work with a local TI coach. I guess a forth option would be a combination of the foregoing.
Sorry for the long post! Any help/suggestions on how to best go from here would be very much appreciated. How best would I focus my time and attention?
Thank you for your time.
I have swam a few times at a local masters practice, but there does not seem to be much individualized attention - Please understand, I am not being critical, it just doesn't seem to be the way that that group is set up.
I'd estimate that 80% of my masters workouts are pretty much do what the coach says, get out, and that's it. For at least half of our team, that could be even 100%. Some people just want to get in, exercise, get out, and get on with their lives.
But for me, that other 20% is extremely critical. I'll chat with my coach before/after/during practice, ask for feedback, tell him my goals (swimming and other things sports-wise), and it is amazing what they'll help with. When they know what else I'm doing (such as running a marathon), they may guide me towards a more appropriate swim workout before it. Heck, last summer, I was going to swim on my own the next day, asked the coach to help me with a workout before I left, and she was extremely helpful with asking what kind of a set I wanted, pool conditions (the water was warm), etc.
So I think some of the onus is on you to chat with the coach before you commit to a team, see how receptive they are to help you, if that is possible during scheduled workouts, or if you need some separate 1 on 1 time. Even when I've visited groups, the coach will usually help me with something. Most of the masters coaches I've met will really get excited when I approach them for advice.
I have swam a few times at a local masters practice, but there does not seem to be much individualized attention - Please understand, I am not being critical, it just doesn't seem to be the way that that group is set up.
I'd estimate that 80% of my masters workouts are pretty much do what the coach says, get out, and that's it. For at least half of our team, that could be even 100%. Some people just want to get in, exercise, get out, and get on with their lives.
But for me, that other 20% is extremely critical. I'll chat with my coach before/after/during practice, ask for feedback, tell him my goals (swimming and other things sports-wise), and it is amazing what they'll help with. When they know what else I'm doing (such as running a marathon), they may guide me towards a more appropriate swim workout before it. Heck, last summer, I was going to swim on my own the next day, asked the coach to help me with a workout before I left, and she was extremely helpful with asking what kind of a set I wanted, pool conditions (the water was warm), etc.
So I think some of the onus is on you to chat with the coach before you commit to a team, see how receptive they are to help you, if that is possible during scheduled workouts, or if you need some separate 1 on 1 time. Even when I've visited groups, the coach will usually help me with something. Most of the masters coaches I've met will really get excited when I approach them for advice.
