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.)
10687
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?
...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.
I have already posted 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.
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. ... So I'm not sure what kind of engineer designed that, but I suspect it wasn't one from Ga Tech!!!
Hopefully the noodler was sculling and not skulling. And while it used to bug me that noodlers were taking up valuable pool space, I’m now of the belief that anyone getting exercise in the water is doing a good thing!
As for no T’s or crosses at the turns, I suggest bringing a couple of diving bricks to place in the corners as reference points. Or if you have a few extra bucks, invest in a Pace Pal, you can put it in the pool as a turn reference point and a pace clock.
4 feet at the ends and 5 in the middle, that’s deeper than the Y I swim at. Count yourself lucky!
As for the Ga Tech engineer, my son was a “Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech and a hell of an engineer…” also a decent swimmer on their team. I’m sure he’d design a pool that was unswimmable, just to spite us. And, it seems like most pools get designed to be Olympic ready, but through budget cuts the end up being a Motel 6 kidney bean.
...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.
I have already posted 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.
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. ... So I'm not sure what kind of engineer designed that, but I suspect it wasn't one from Ga Tech!!!
Hopefully the noodler was sculling and not skulling. And while it used to bug me that noodlers were taking up valuable pool space, I’m now of the belief that anyone getting exercise in the water is doing a good thing!
As for no T’s or crosses at the turns, I suggest bringing a couple of diving bricks to place in the corners as reference points. Or if you have a few extra bucks, invest in a Pace Pal, you can put it in the pool as a turn reference point and a pace clock.
4 feet at the ends and 5 in the middle, that’s deeper than the Y I swim at. Count yourself lucky!
As for the Ga Tech engineer, my son was a “Ramblin' Wreck from Georgia Tech and a hell of an engineer…” also a decent swimmer on their team. I’m sure he’d design a pool that was unswimmable, just to spite us. And, it seems like most pools get designed to be Olympic ready, but through budget cuts the end up being a Motel 6 kidney bean.
