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?
Do you see where I'm getting at? They're not growing the sport. They are making it so that people like me trying to grow it and get others to do things end up failing, to where the adults are the ones who get put out first.
Nope, I don't. And I actually disagree with you much more strongly now than I did, initially. I would have quit every single endeavor I have ever undertaken and quit every job I had ever had had I let those who didn't try as hard as me, or were more risk averse than me push me out. I share resources every day with people who don't, but I fully recognize that they pay as much for those resources as I do, and have as much right to them as I do. Maybe they have different goals. I don't know, and I don't care. It isn't my business. I certainly appreciate those who show courtesy while using said resource, and I try to reciprocate. The difference that I see here is that I don't let it bother me.
Pat Hogan, former head coach of MAC and director of club development for USA Swimming has said "I think 50 to 75 percent of summer league swimmers who choose to swim year-round do so to get better for their summer league." It reads to me like you would classify these kinds of swimmers under the "problem" grouping. I'm sorry, but these kids grow the sport, as adult counterparts (e.g. triathlon or fitness).
"Can't" is a bit of a semantics game. It can mean literal ability, will, justification, or sacrifice. I "can't" do meets because my kids activities (swimming!) are a higher priority for me. I "can't" swim with a locals masters program because it would mean my kids would have to give up the sport. I don't think that makes me a problem for USMS. I "can't" justify the cost of some things because I'm unwilling, not unable to pay for them. I don't think that makes me a problem for the economy (of course, I'm sure the local Porsche dealer would say I'm a problem!). I "can't" do a 200 Fly because......well I'm not physically able to, at least legally. Not liking one's reasoning does not make it less valid.
Again, the only problem I see is letting things beyond one's control affect their enjoyment of things they can control. It is disheartening to read that others think that people who at least make an effort to participate are a problem. I sure would hate for "can't" to start having a peer group judgement criterion, but that is what it reads like.
Do you see where I'm getting at? They're not growing the sport. They are making it so that people like me trying to grow it and get others to do things end up failing, to where the adults are the ones who get put out first.
Nope, I don't. And I actually disagree with you much more strongly now than I did, initially. I would have quit every single endeavor I have ever undertaken and quit every job I had ever had had I let those who didn't try as hard as me, or were more risk averse than me push me out. I share resources every day with people who don't, but I fully recognize that they pay as much for those resources as I do, and have as much right to them as I do. Maybe they have different goals. I don't know, and I don't care. It isn't my business. I certainly appreciate those who show courtesy while using said resource, and I try to reciprocate. The difference that I see here is that I don't let it bother me.
Pat Hogan, former head coach of MAC and director of club development for USA Swimming has said "I think 50 to 75 percent of summer league swimmers who choose to swim year-round do so to get better for their summer league." It reads to me like you would classify these kinds of swimmers under the "problem" grouping. I'm sorry, but these kids grow the sport, as adult counterparts (e.g. triathlon or fitness).
"Can't" is a bit of a semantics game. It can mean literal ability, will, justification, or sacrifice. I "can't" do meets because my kids activities (swimming!) are a higher priority for me. I "can't" swim with a locals masters program because it would mean my kids would have to give up the sport. I don't think that makes me a problem for USMS. I "can't" justify the cost of some things because I'm unwilling, not unable to pay for them. I don't think that makes me a problem for the economy (of course, I'm sure the local Porsche dealer would say I'm a problem!). I "can't" do a 200 Fly because......well I'm not physically able to, at least legally. Not liking one's reasoning does not make it less valid.
Again, the only problem I see is letting things beyond one's control affect their enjoyment of things they can control. It is disheartening to read that others think that people who at least make an effort to participate are a problem. I sure would hate for "can't" to start having a peer group judgement criterion, but that is what it reads like.
