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?
Alright, so I know I whined about the pool in which I train in the thread I started, but since this is largely a rant thread, I'll add a few more. First, there were a couple of folks doing assisted floating today. The one guy who has a noodle, paddles, fins, and a snorkle, and using all together, who does a 5 minute lap. Looks like he kind of skulls a litttle.
But here is something else. I have noticed that my stroke count, particularly in back, has been different depending on which way I was swimming. Well, I have been doing *** stroke workouts, and it became VERY obvious today how bad it is. So after breakout, in one direction, I hit the halfway tiles as I'm recovering from my second pull, pushing my arms back in front of me for my third reach. Goinig the other direction, it is a full stroke off. Very obviously when doing the sets taht are listed now, where they are batched by 25's - breakout +3 hard strokes, BO +5, BO +7, full sprint (also 50's, same except off of each wall, rather than beginning). The full length isn't as pronounced, it seems to all be up front. But iis is there, and it is real.
I have already posted that the surface is about a 36 grit, industrial strength abrasive that loves to stick to human flesh. And that there are no "+" signs on the wall, which makes judging flip turns a little easier, and that the jets are in the middle of the lane where you push off. Oh yeah, and that the steps are in a lane, rather than an "L" section, making one of teh 3 lanes useless to lap swimmers.
But get this. The pool is 4' deep at both ends. Gets to 5' at teh deepest point. Which is about 3 yards from one end of the pool. And that is where the two drains are. The drains are about 1' by 1' square. So it is apparently moving a lot of water, and since the depth doesn't change too much, it has a pretty big impact on the stroke count. Isn't as bad for other strokes, but for ***, it is vrey noticeable. I assume this is due to the time spent gliding after pushing off of the wall, rather than dolphin kicking or staying up on top of the water. So I'm not sure what kind of engineer designed that, but I suspect it wasn't one from Ga Tech!!!
Alright, so I know I whined about the pool in which I train in the thread I started, but since this is largely a rant thread, I'll add a few more. First, there were a couple of folks doing assisted floating today. The one guy who has a noodle, paddles, fins, and a snorkle, and using all together, who does a 5 minute lap. Looks like he kind of skulls a litttle.
But here is something else. I have noticed that my stroke count, particularly in back, has been different depending on which way I was swimming. Well, I have been doing *** stroke workouts, and it became VERY obvious today how bad it is. So after breakout, in one direction, I hit the halfway tiles as I'm recovering from my second pull, pushing my arms back in front of me for my third reach. Goinig the other direction, it is a full stroke off. Very obviously when doing the sets taht are listed now, where they are batched by 25's - breakout +3 hard strokes, BO +5, BO +7, full sprint (also 50's, same except off of each wall, rather than beginning). The full length isn't as pronounced, it seems to all be up front. But iis is there, and it is real.
I have already posted that the surface is about a 36 grit, industrial strength abrasive that loves to stick to human flesh. And that there are no "+" signs on the wall, which makes judging flip turns a little easier, and that the jets are in the middle of the lane where you push off. Oh yeah, and that the steps are in a lane, rather than an "L" section, making one of teh 3 lanes useless to lap swimmers.
But get this. The pool is 4' deep at both ends. Gets to 5' at teh deepest point. Which is about 3 yards from one end of the pool. And that is where the two drains are. The drains are about 1' by 1' square. So it is apparently moving a lot of water, and since the depth doesn't change too much, it has a pretty big impact on the stroke count. Isn't as bad for other strokes, but for ***, it is vrey noticeable. I assume this is due to the time spent gliding after pushing off of the wall, rather than dolphin kicking or staying up on top of the water. So I'm not sure what kind of engineer designed that, but I suspect it wasn't one from Ga Tech!!!
