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?
I'm still solo 99% of the time, but this month I signed up for a few coaching clinics. Yesterday I got some pointers, some drills, and got videotaped. It's the first time ever I saw myself in action in the pool and boy was it bad. Not awful, terrible, bad because the coach said I had improved quite a bit from last year, but it showed me I need a lot of work in a certain areas. I still can't kick in free style. After 40 years of running, my ankles are so stiff they will not bend beyond 45 degrees. That means as each foot moves down it is actually exerting a reverse thrust. I can get a kick board and motor for all I'm worth and stay dead still in the water. On the plus side, this same ankle angle makes me a rather decent back-stroker. Much, much work to do. Guess I'll have to spend more time in the pool.
I'm still solo 99% of the time, but this month I signed up for a few coaching clinics. Yesterday I got some pointers, some drills, and got videotaped. It's the first time ever I saw myself in action in the pool and boy was it bad. Not awful, terrible, bad because the coach said I had improved quite a bit from last year, but it showed me I need a lot of work in a certain areas. I still can't kick in free style. After 40 years of running, my ankles are so stiff they will not bend beyond 45 degrees. That means as each foot moves down it is actually exerting a reverse thrust. I can get a kick board and motor for all I'm worth and stay dead still in the water. On the plus side, this same ankle angle makes me a rather decent back-stroker. Much, much work to do. Guess I'll have to spend more time in the pool.
