I am working on a masters swimming story for Men's Health, and my editor wants a basic introductory workout that guys who basically know how to swim but aren't swimmers to give the sport a try on their own.
Since there is such a huge variance in skill levels, etc., I didn't want to give times for sets, etc. but maybe come up with some basic rest intervals.
Anyhow, I am desperate for ideas here. If you have coached neophyte masters, or have been a neophyte master yourself and can recall an early practice that inspired you, please let me know as soon as possible what this is.
I was thinking of the following basic approach:
warm up
possible drill set
main set (probably 50s with 10-15 seconds rest)
kick set
cool down
The whole thing designed to last maybe a half hour or so. The idea is to let these guys try it on their own, in a way that they might actually like, then urge them to look into finding a team.
Thanks for your help!
Parents
Former Member
You know this is one of the things I think USMS does not do well. If you can't do a 3,000 yd/m workout, there really isn't anything for you.
I also vote against hand paddles and pull bouys. The hand paddles have the potential to mess up a newbie's shoulders because their technique will probably not be the best and the pull bouys will probably just throw off the newbie's balance because they may not have a good sense of it. I started with blue zoomers and love them.
What really helped my swimming was pull (without a bouy), kick (without a board... zoomers allowed on some sets, not on others), swim sets... but you can't really do thoses unless you have someone knowledgeable in technique watching you and telling you how to correct what you are doing wrong... so find someone willing to give YOU at least 30 minutes every week. (I paid 30/hr for one to one coaching once a week.)
Newbies also need to know how to read the pace clock.
Once a week he/she should do a swim for a time, and should be encouraged to keep a journal, or some other record of his/her times. Should also keep record of how many laps he/she can swim without stopping. As I saw my times drop and my distance increase it was very encouraging.
Lainey
You know this is one of the things I think USMS does not do well. If you can't do a 3,000 yd/m workout, there really isn't anything for you.
I also vote against hand paddles and pull bouys. The hand paddles have the potential to mess up a newbie's shoulders because their technique will probably not be the best and the pull bouys will probably just throw off the newbie's balance because they may not have a good sense of it. I started with blue zoomers and love them.
What really helped my swimming was pull (without a bouy), kick (without a board... zoomers allowed on some sets, not on others), swim sets... but you can't really do thoses unless you have someone knowledgeable in technique watching you and telling you how to correct what you are doing wrong... so find someone willing to give YOU at least 30 minutes every week. (I paid 30/hr for one to one coaching once a week.)
Newbies also need to know how to read the pace clock.
Once a week he/she should do a swim for a time, and should be encouraged to keep a journal, or some other record of his/her times. Should also keep record of how many laps he/she can swim without stopping. As I saw my times drop and my distance increase it was very encouraging.
Lainey
