Our master team is dying.

RE: Our master team is dying.

Former Member — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 15:58:08 GMT

Make master swimming to be mainly a social club. The workouts are secondary to the group when this happens the club will grow. I was there for the Sunday morning coffee and the gathering of the group. The group also had a pub night once a month that was fun. No one ever got sloshed. We had 3 workouts a week and the rest was lap swimming during other hours. The only thing I did not like was the 4 stroke work outs with everyone having to do strokes I did not want to participate in.

RE: Our master team is dying.

MAC swimmer — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 08:17:57 GMT

Thanks everyone...just to give everyone an idea of our "Masters" practice here are just some of the swimmers and their abilities that our coaches have to juggle (not easy): 10 year old age groupers who missed practice 15 year old high school swimmers who missed practice (can come in on 1:15 over and over again...) some AA times. 40 year old masters swimmers (can come in on 1:15 1-2 times and then fall off the pace) 40 year old triathletes who can barely swim but are trying very hard to improve. 40 year old fitness swimmers who can swim 30 minutes and then get out or float. a guy who is training for an ironman (ex-collegiate swimmer). Basically, everyone is in their lanes working hard so we need a social event just to know who they are. It will have to be milk and cookies too because my lane mates are always my friend's kids.

RE: Our master team is dying.

Former Member — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 13:36:33 GMT

The NASTI'S (the team I'm on) practice 3X per week officially right now. Tues/Thurs is at 7 p.m., and Saturday at 10 a.m. We do not have an official coach however we have a nice core of members who will bring workouts and run them while swimming. How does a team like this make it over the years? Simple answer: Lots of fun parties and socializing amongst the members! Some folk refer to us as "The Drinking Team with a Swimming Problem!" Possible your group should get together outside of swimming more often? Just a thought........................... :angel: x2 on this. We have BOARD MEETINGS at least once a month. BOARD MEETINGS usually consist of Pizza and Beer after the workout.

RE: Our master team is dying.

Former Member — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 13:25:18 GMT

I swim masters with 2 main groups and both have a few triathletes. But I notice that stroke work is kept at a minimum. In a typical 3,300 yard workout there's a 300-400 yd FS warmup, 200-300 yard pull and a 200-300 yard kick drill to start things off. A transition set might have catch up drills or simply state "drill" for some sets of 50's or 100's. But that's usually it for drills as the main set is all FS or with some IM mixed in. The Masters programs here are very cool with the Triathletes and don't expect them do do IM stuff, nor are snotty about it. To get your numbers up I suggest appealing to the local triathletes which means you might have to reduce drills/strokework etc. I understand the need for strokework but sometimes you've got to change the menu to attract customers. Triathlon is a very fast growing sport and might get a kick start this year if Lance Armstrong signs up for KONA. O.K. I mis-interpreted "stroke work" for drills etc. But again, when all others are doing butterfly, backstroke, breastroke etc. the triathletes are doing freestyle. It sometimes is a challenge due to ability (fs vs bs in same lane) but we seem to work through it O.K. I've seen many triathletes take on stroke work just to mix it up a bit, even butterfly! The key is to make them feel comfortable in the group.

RE: Our master team is dying.

kgernert — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 07:49:36 GMT

We have several tri-athletes that train with our team too. In general, they simply do the entire workout freestyle when the rest of us change to stroke work. Our coaches support them and helping each swimmer in the pool reach their personal goals (be it fitness, stroke competition, or competing tri) becomes the focus of our team and our coaches on deck.

RE: Our master team is dying.

Former Member — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 14:29:13 GMT

Have you considered changing the fee structure? If people have to pay for all four workouts even when they can only make one or two per week it may make them feel pressured and resentful. Especially if the coach introduces something like a new drill in one session and expects everyone to automatically know about it in subsequent sessions. Some of the people in the club I currently belong to can barely swim. They've joined in hopes of improving, which is probably why most people from a non-competitive background join swim clubs. Does your club have something to offer people like that or is it just workouts? People don't improve from just swimming a lot. I agree that making some of the workouts distance oriented will attract more triathletes, but doing work on other strokes won't necessarily turn them off. There's a triathlon club that works out in one of the pools I swim in, and they do strokes other than free. Many triathletes do want to try other forms of swimming, especially in winter when they have time to experiment and play around a bit.

RE: Our master team is dying.

Former Member — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 06:52:26 GMT

The price really depends on the area. I am happy paying more then your club for 3 practices a week as we have a good coach. My team practices Mon/Wed/Fri from 9-10 pm in the winter and 7:30-8:30 pm in an outdoor pool in the summer. My coach does a lot of best stroke sets. This should keep triathletes happy as they can still do free.

RE: Our master team is dying.

MAC swimmer — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 12:55:43 GMT

Bobinator, I love parties! Excellent idea. While we are all drinking, we could recruit other boozehounds...whether they swim or not! Just sort of throw them in the deep end. Seriously, though, I appreciate the feedback. I have heard this from others as well.

RE: Our master team is dying.

Bobinator — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 11:46:24 GMT

RE: Our master team is dying.

Former Member — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 10:43:38 GMT

What are the workouts like? If you have too many workouts focused on other than swimming 25s or 50s, but instead focus on sets of, say, 200s - you will lose many of your more "mature" swimmers.

RE: Our master team is dying.

Former Member — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 08:36:58 GMT

USMS has a Club & Coach Services staff that may be able to assist you. It is headed by Mel Goldstein. Contact Mel by email at: ClubCoachDev@usms.org

RE: Our master team is dying.

Patrick W. Brundage — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 06:29:01 GMT

I'm all for long workout, but 13.5 hours seems a little excessive!Only chaos does those kinds of Saturday workouts -- forums.usms.org/blog.php.

RE: Our master team is dying.

knelson — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 06:01:25 GMT

Sun 8:00am - 9:30pm. I'm all for long workout, but 13.5 hours seems a little excessive!

RE: Our master team is dying.

fatboy — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 05:58:16 GMT

The time slot is not ideal but not impossible. Our team is doing well and our workouts are 7:30pm-9:0pm Mon & Wed and Sun 8:00am - 9:30pm.

RE: Our master team is dying.

Redbird Alum — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 01:05:20 GMT

Sounds like you are narrowing down your focus a little, but I was wondering about the coaching turnover. Are most of your coaches "player-coaches" who swim in the workouts (and thus the turnover as they left) or are there actual coaches on deck?

RE: Our master team is dying.

Former Member — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 11:45:55 GMT

# The triathlon group in town has 60 + members. # Triathletes get discouraged because of the stroke work Suggestion: Get rid of the stroke work and spread the word. That's a good focus group to breathe new life into your program. With cold weather kicking in, bike season should be quieting down and indoor swimming should be ramping up. In my experience the happiest masters groups at our Y were the ones who enjoyed the practices. About 90% of them have no intention of going to meets anyway. That's how and why our coaches have made the "swimming class" a successful part of the facility. We have a big triathlete base as well. As others noted, that hour is a tough time block to offer a workout but every facility with age group teams seems to be under time limitations. Mornings would be much better. Good Luck.

RE: Our master team is dying.

MAC swimmer — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 08:23:17 GMT

Your replies are great. I thought so. Our workout time is horrible...bed time for children, people's body temps are dropping...everyone is tired. You are confirming my suspicions. Most of the people left because of the workout time...it used to be 8-9pm! I agree with you guys that the answer is with the Tri crowd. I could coach them myself and guarantee time drops, but then I couldn't workout. Most triathletes are terrified of masters workouts so it would have to be completely non-threatening. (We could start off with a nice warm up like 10 x 100 descend or 1000 for time...hee hee) Kidding, I'm kidding. Hadn;t considered the price problem....

RE: Our master team is dying.

Patrick W. Brundage — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 08:20:45 GMT

I don't know how many lanes you get or if your coaches are OK with this, but offer more than 1 option during each workout -- for example, one oriented towards freestyle/tri-crowd and one oriented towards "pure swim" crowd who are OK with stroke work. The sets could actually be largely the same, just change intervals and maybe add in some extra stuff for the free/tri crowd. I think the tri crowd is your best bet for beefing up the program, so make sure you're catering to them. I have no idea what pricing is like for that area, but ~$43 per month (assuming you meant 4 month trimesters) for only four workouts a week seems steep. Granted, we have better pool access out west, but I pay $60 per month and have access to 11 workouts a week year round, plus an additional 5 during the winter months. When I travel around the country, drop-in fees (when there are some) seem to hover around $7 per workout. Can you get your fees to $30 per month? would that make a difference?

RE: Our master team is dying.

orca1946 — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 05:54:14 GMT

Do you go to events such as open water & tris to get more people?

RE: Our master team is dying.

knelson — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 05:34:43 GMT

Any thoughts of changing the workout time? Workouts that late might be great for a few, but I think the vast majority would feel it's too late.

RE: Our master team is dying.

debaru — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 05:33:41 GMT

Any suggestions from anyone? Here's the deal: What are we doing wrong? The program is on life support! PS: Personally, I am never going to stop, ever. The first item may have a lot to do with it. That's pretty late to be working out. The second and third are also big issues. 4 workouts a week..ALL at 7:45 pm. One of our coachs is great, the other is only fair. 6 coaches in 5 years. Is there a way for you to contact the folks who used be members? They may be able to give you solid reasons why they quit. Good luck! Glad to hear you're not dissuaded.

RE: Our master team is dying.

Speedo — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 04:54:15 GMT

Why did the original crowd leave?