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 think one thing I see as a huge problem is people unwilling to go out of the comfort zone. That means I'll only swim the one stroke I like, or am good at, or is easy. Continuously challenge yourself in an area. I find that is a key issue. Too many won't do it.
Honestly, I tend to think like you, and pursue things like you............but frankly, I don't think that people who don't think like me are a "problem" so much as it is a problem to let them get to you. I can tell you that from my experience, very, very few people really are capable of and know how to push themselves in a lot of facets. I remember seeing it as a kid doing competitive stuff. I remember BEING it when I was a kid doing other things. I certainly remember it in my professional life.
But........no one can be the best at everything they do. Some people's passions lie elsewhere. I personally have no desire to do a meet. I am into racing cars and stuff, and I would much rather do that if I have a free weekend (I have a very good swimmer kid, and am actually out of town at a meet for her right now). But I do push myself to try to get better when I do workouts.
So who is the bigger problem? A swimmer like me who pushes himself at a solo workout, based off of workouts I find here, but won't even attend a meet? A person who ignores their worst events to prep for bigger things in their best ones? Or a person who just is comfortable doing what they are comfortable doing, but at least goes and competes?
But speaking of my kid......she's trying to make the zones team this year, which is taken from the top 8 in each LSC based only off of the top 3 events at the LSC championship. She's a AAA Butterflyer, a AAA backstroker, a AAA/AA freestyler depending ont eh event, and a A/AA *** stroker. So would is it a "problem" that she is focusing on her Fly and Back to give her the best shot to make zones, and ignoring ***? I don't think so. I think it is pretty smart.....but we're off to a pretty poor start on the long course season so far :( But is she a big problem?
I'm not trying to be a jerk. I'm really just trying to urge you to not assume that you understand what is going on with other people and their reasoning for stuff. Jsut be happy they are there promoting the sport and helping it grow.
I think one thing I see as a huge problem is people unwilling to go out of the comfort zone. That means I'll only swim the one stroke I like, or am good at, or is easy. Continuously challenge yourself in an area. I find that is a key issue. Too many won't do it.
Honestly, I tend to think like you, and pursue things like you............but frankly, I don't think that people who don't think like me are a "problem" so much as it is a problem to let them get to you. I can tell you that from my experience, very, very few people really are capable of and know how to push themselves in a lot of facets. I remember seeing it as a kid doing competitive stuff. I remember BEING it when I was a kid doing other things. I certainly remember it in my professional life.
But........no one can be the best at everything they do. Some people's passions lie elsewhere. I personally have no desire to do a meet. I am into racing cars and stuff, and I would much rather do that if I have a free weekend (I have a very good swimmer kid, and am actually out of town at a meet for her right now). But I do push myself to try to get better when I do workouts.
So who is the bigger problem? A swimmer like me who pushes himself at a solo workout, based off of workouts I find here, but won't even attend a meet? A person who ignores their worst events to prep for bigger things in their best ones? Or a person who just is comfortable doing what they are comfortable doing, but at least goes and competes?
But speaking of my kid......she's trying to make the zones team this year, which is taken from the top 8 in each LSC based only off of the top 3 events at the LSC championship. She's a AAA Butterflyer, a AAA backstroker, a AAA/AA freestyler depending ont eh event, and a A/AA *** stroker. So would is it a "problem" that she is focusing on her Fly and Back to give her the best shot to make zones, and ignoring ***? I don't think so. I think it is pretty smart.....but we're off to a pretty poor start on the long course season so far :( But is she a big problem?
I'm not trying to be a jerk. I'm really just trying to urge you to not assume that you understand what is going on with other people and their reasoning for stuff. Jsut be happy they are there promoting the sport and helping it grow.
