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 should introduce myself real quick! I'm Sola, I'm in my very early twenties, and since I started swimming behind all my peers, I am always training myself in hopes of catching up! I have a bundle of resources I use to keep me on track!)
Books and Videos, "Self-Coaching", Technique, Training
Swim Smooth (www.goodreads.com/.../13839162-swim-smooth), one of the best books on freestyle technique. Very easy and enjoyable to follow.
YouTube accounts I've been using include Raw Alignment (general health, fitness, wellbeing), Effortless Swimming (technique and mental training), GoSwim (I like the YT account better because it's kind of annoying to only see one video at a time on the free version...), and theraceclub (drills and speed/technique tips).
Workout Plans
Generated workouts: Swimplan (https://swimplan.com/). Free to use, the paid version is worth it if you like it. I like this more than the USMS workouts because Swimplan asks for your times in each stroke and tailors the workouts to your speed. You customize every workout, choosing the yardage, stroke, and whether or not you'll use toys like fins or kickboards, or have drills vs. just swimming.
Pre-written workouts: Websites or books about swimming often have a category set aside to provide workouts of different levels. I'm intending to look through YourSwimBook (www.yourswimlog.com/.../) as well as some other places for new workouts to follow.
Motivational
Splash!: Great Writing about Swimming (www.goodreads.com/.../82499.Splash. I can't tell you how many times I re-read "wet" by Laurie Colwin and "Water" by Maureen Stanton.
Swimming Studies (www.goodreads.com/.../13585762-swimming-studies). This book is really poetic and I often take fragments from it to just think about throughout the day. It makes me really nostalgic for swim team in HS, which in turn makes me motivated to get right back to the pool. Dryland (www.goodreads.com/.../25397016-dryland) is another book I keep close to get the same bittersweet feeling.
Swimming to Antarctica (www.goodreads.com/.../153727.Swimming_to_Antarctica). This makes all my "unrealistic" goals in swimming seem incredibly tiny and puts me in another perspective.
Clicks (www.goodreads.com/.../17596261-clicks). Science fiction and swimming, my personal indulgence. I only put it here to share that for me at least, being imaginative and telling stories around swimming makes me love swimming more.
Organizational
Printable calendar, including swim schedule. Unless you swim in your backyard, your main pool facility probably posts a monthly calendar showing operating hours, closures, and special events like a meet or maintenance day. (Here's an example from Google Images: www.spartaparks.com/.../junecalendar.jpg) I print and hang this calendar where I can see it every day, so I know well in advance when my main pool is closed or open. Every time I swim, I put a checkmark on the date, and every month I try to get a certain amount of checkmarks.
Log or journal, which in addition of normal diary-style entries could include tools such as outlining or re-outlining your goals, recording how much effort you felt you put into the day's practice, important footnotes on your overall health, and visualizing how you think your next swim will go. I prefer having it digital instead of handwritten, just remember to back it up!
Activity tracker or "pedometer" for swimming. I received a Moov Now as a Christmas gift a few years back and I would recommend activity trackers to swimmers who stray from written workouts or keeping track of counting laps, especially if the distance they swim each day is relevant to their overall goals.
(I should introduce myself real quick! I'm Sola, I'm in my very early twenties, and since I started swimming behind all my peers, I am always training myself in hopes of catching up! I have a bundle of resources I use to keep me on track!)
Books and Videos, "Self-Coaching", Technique, Training
Swim Smooth (www.goodreads.com/.../13839162-swim-smooth), one of the best books on freestyle technique. Very easy and enjoyable to follow.
YouTube accounts I've been using include Raw Alignment (general health, fitness, wellbeing), Effortless Swimming (technique and mental training), GoSwim (I like the YT account better because it's kind of annoying to only see one video at a time on the free version...), and theraceclub (drills and speed/technique tips).
Workout Plans
Generated workouts: Swimplan (https://swimplan.com/). Free to use, the paid version is worth it if you like it. I like this more than the USMS workouts because Swimplan asks for your times in each stroke and tailors the workouts to your speed. You customize every workout, choosing the yardage, stroke, and whether or not you'll use toys like fins or kickboards, or have drills vs. just swimming.
Pre-written workouts: Websites or books about swimming often have a category set aside to provide workouts of different levels. I'm intending to look through YourSwimBook (www.yourswimlog.com/.../) as well as some other places for new workouts to follow.
Motivational
Splash!: Great Writing about Swimming (www.goodreads.com/.../82499.Splash. I can't tell you how many times I re-read "wet" by Laurie Colwin and "Water" by Maureen Stanton.
Swimming Studies (www.goodreads.com/.../13585762-swimming-studies). This book is really poetic and I often take fragments from it to just think about throughout the day. It makes me really nostalgic for swim team in HS, which in turn makes me motivated to get right back to the pool. Dryland (www.goodreads.com/.../25397016-dryland) is another book I keep close to get the same bittersweet feeling.
Swimming to Antarctica (www.goodreads.com/.../153727.Swimming_to_Antarctica). This makes all my "unrealistic" goals in swimming seem incredibly tiny and puts me in another perspective.
Clicks (www.goodreads.com/.../17596261-clicks). Science fiction and swimming, my personal indulgence. I only put it here to share that for me at least, being imaginative and telling stories around swimming makes me love swimming more.
Organizational
Printable calendar, including swim schedule. Unless you swim in your backyard, your main pool facility probably posts a monthly calendar showing operating hours, closures, and special events like a meet or maintenance day. (Here's an example from Google Images: www.spartaparks.com/.../junecalendar.jpg) I print and hang this calendar where I can see it every day, so I know well in advance when my main pool is closed or open. Every time I swim, I put a checkmark on the date, and every month I try to get a certain amount of checkmarks.
Log or journal, which in addition of normal diary-style entries could include tools such as outlining or re-outlining your goals, recording how much effort you felt you put into the day's practice, important footnotes on your overall health, and visualizing how you think your next swim will go. I prefer having it digital instead of handwritten, just remember to back it up!
Activity tracker or "pedometer" for swimming. I received a Moov Now as a Christmas gift a few years back and I would recommend activity trackers to swimmers who stray from written workouts or keeping track of counting laps, especially if the distance they swim each day is relevant to their overall goals.
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