Hey, solo swimmers! :wave: Welcome to the thread for all of us who train solo. Whether you train on your own due to a lack of a Masters team in your area (or for any other reason), this is our virtual locker room. Please post training tips that you think would be helpful, or anything else you would like to share with the rest of us. Have a rant? Go ahead and vent here! :rantonoff:
I'll start with a tip:
The most frustrating thing for me training solo is not having a coach on deck to evaluate my stroke and keep me on track, so I bought a waterproof camera and enlisted the help of my husband to periodically shoot video of all four strokes. Shooting underwater video became a knee/back buster, so I bought a camera mount and attached it to PVC pipe, so my husband could stand up straight to shoot underwater video. The camera gets dunked underwater, and he twists the pipe to pan the camera as I swim by.
Today, I bought a 2-pack of 12-inch "Gear Tie" reusable rubber twist ties (available at Home Depot), so I can tie the PVC pipe to the pool ladder (located in the corner of the pool) and shoot video myself. (If I angle the camera just right and keep it on wide angle, I can video me coming and going.)
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After each video session, I upload the videos to my desktop computer and compare my stroke to my favorite Go Swim stroke videos to see what I'm doing well (or not). I also post them on the Forums for feedback.
Ok, solo swimmers, what's your tip?
nice idea for a thread elaine ! … i retired and moved to savannah 6-7 yrs ago and the county pool is just 8-9 minutes away and its wonderful facility. the masters team practiced at 5:30 am, i tried for 3 months but it was way to early … now i practice (alone) about 9 am … M thru Thur the “lap” pool is 16 lanes with an added 2 lane wide area between the 2-8 lane 25yd courses for the odd noodler … on F and Sat it 8 lanes LC … i’ve never had to share a lane SC and once or twice a year share a LC lane (last year i swan the 10 K postal and had my own lane for over 3 hrs) … all that is great but without a coach my free has gone down the tubes and since it bothered my shoulders starting this year i’m a back/flyer … with the county weight lifting center 2 minutes away its like i died and wound up in swimming nirvana ... to swim fly more race like i do my main fly sets after a short warm up and later during the workout i'll swim fly with short fins other than that its all back with 200-300 free at the end of the workout , just in case i'm swimming any free relays
nice idea for a thread elaine ! … i retired and moved to savannah 6-7 yrs ago and the county pool is just 8-9 minutes away and its wonderful facility. the masters team practiced at 5:30 am, i tried for 3 months but it was way to early … now i practice (alone) about 9 am … M thru Thur the “lap” pool is 16 lanes with an added 2 lane wide area between the 2-8 lane 25yd courses for the odd noodler … on F and Sat it 8 lanes LC … i’ve never had to share a lane SC and once or twice a year share a LC lane (last year i swan the 10 K postal and had my own lane for over 3 hrs) … all that is great but without a coach my free has gone down the tubes and since it bothered my shoulders starting this year i’m a back/flyer … with the county weight lifting center 2 minutes away its like i died and wound up in swimming nirvana ... to swim fly more race like i do my main fly sets after a short warm up and later during the workout i'll swim fly with short fins other than that its all back with 200-300 free at the end of the workout , just in case i'm swimming any free relays
