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?
Hi Nancy, thanks for your post and great questions! Fins can certainly provide benefits to your overall swimming development, but a few words of caution here: I would suggest using fins only sparingly. Many swimmers love the speeds that they can achieve when they have their fins on, and they will start using fins as a crutch instead of as a tool, as knelson and Redbird mentioned. You want to develop your true kick and the only way you can do that is to avoid wearing fins all the time. Plus, depending upon your ankle and knee flexibility, fins can actually put too much pressure on these joints, causing injury. If you wear larger fins, they can change the structure of your kick to your detriment and any type of fin can sometimes tend to slow down your rate of kicking.
You also mentioned that you use mitts/gloves. I'm not sure which ones you are using, but some of them can absorb a lot of water and get heavy, which puts more pressure on your shoulder joint during the recovery phase of the stroke. So be careful about which ones you are using.
Good luck with everything and keep swimming!
Hi Nancy, thanks for your post and great questions! Fins can certainly provide benefits to your overall swimming development, but a few words of caution here: I would suggest using fins only sparingly. Many swimmers love the speeds that they can achieve when they have their fins on, and they will start using fins as a crutch instead of as a tool, as knelson and Redbird mentioned. You want to develop your true kick and the only way you can do that is to avoid wearing fins all the time. Plus, depending upon your ankle and knee flexibility, fins can actually put too much pressure on these joints, causing injury. If you wear larger fins, they can change the structure of your kick to your detriment and any type of fin can sometimes tend to slow down your rate of kicking.
You also mentioned that you use mitts/gloves. I'm not sure which ones you are using, but some of them can absorb a lot of water and get heavy, which puts more pressure on your shoulder joint during the recovery phase of the stroke. So be careful about which ones you are using.
Good luck with everything and keep swimming!
