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?
+1 You did it again 'bears; you beat me to it and took the words right out of my fingers! That's exactly what I was going to say. :chug:
Great minds? :) I've had some quirky diagnoses in the past from doctors - always good to hear from more than one. Especially when their first answer is to just stop doing what you are doing. :doh:
Cheers!
Find someone who understands sports/works with athletes. I'm currently in PT and taking a forced break from the pool for the first time in like 45 years due to injury with a wonky shoulder and pain that I finally couldn't live with any more. I was very specific to emphasize my swimming / athletic background at primary care so that I was referred to an orthopedist who specializes in sports medicine. I was further very focused when discussing physical therapy to get to a PT practice that works with athletes with rotator cuff / shoulder injuries. I've only just begun PT, but my PT guy works with a lot of tennis players and has worked with swimmers in the past. He's not a swimmer, but through our initial conversation, he impressed me with his knowledge of the sport, how we train, etc. I really feel like I'm in great hands and on the road to recovery.
Definitely get a second opinion and push, push, push to get to sports-specific practitioners. Swimming is the greatest all-body exercise around; it's not a perfect and you can get injured, but it is a sport you should be able to enjoy for life.
As a former runner (and triathloner), I can tell you not all of them develop knee issues (or hip issues) but many do and go on to bike.
First the doc could understand that there are paralympic swimmers who don't have an arm or arms, leg or legs, and still swim. It is possible. Some one needs to check out the Chinese Paralympic butterflyer who medals (and swims a 50 fly LCM faster than the vast majority of those I know or know of) and has no arms.
Thank you for your words of encouragement. I'm going Tuesday for a T spine MRI, though honestly, it's my lower back that hurts. I've been doing lots of bending over, picking up and unpacking boxes. I'll see what the MRI shows.
Funny thing is, the doc is one of those skinny runners with zero body fat. I wanted to tell her she'd better start learning to swim because by the time she's in her 50s she'll be heading to the pool to recover from all those running related injuries.
I went to these guys to fix what was wrong so I could go back to doing what I love. And all they're telling me is, you can't do what you love. I'm definitely going to see another doctor who's more of a sports medicine person because I don't think this woman was listening to me at all.
Very few people who do not have a swimming background have any idea what is and isn't stressed when swimming correctly. I notice neck pain when I dolphin kick with snorkel if I bob my head. Sometimes my neck hurts from free, so mostly I swim free with snorkel. This doctor has a point of view that is not based on the biomechanics of good swimming technique. I hope you can find a doctor that understands swimming and swimmers.
Funny thing is, the doc is one of those skinny runners with zero body fat. I wanted to tell her she'd better start learning to swim because by the time she's in her 50s she'll be heading to the pool to recover from all those running related injuries.
Wonder if she would tell you not to run if you were a runner. Guessing she wouldn't follow that advice herself...
Not being able to swim is the most frustrating thing in the world. My wrist tendonitis has flared up something wicked this week (due to something at work last week my boss insisted I do, when I TOLD her it would irritate my wrist, and guess what: that's exactly what happened). I'm seeing my physical therapist today. I can still swim, but very s l o w l y, doing a lot of kicking, backstroke/ breaststroke, and laying off too much pulling/ sculling. It always calms down after a week-ish, but I'm beyond angry at my boss (who I normally get along very well with) and mean to have words with her when I can discuss this matter without completely exploding. The awful thing is that it was someone else's project that I got roped into at the 11th hour. :bitching:
Nancy H, That sucks. You should make her reimburse your co-pay for pt.:soapbox: I hope pt is good and you're back in the pool soon.
gobears, I hear you. I was thinking that and wonder how she decided I was obsessed with swimming since, at most, I only did it a few times a week and only for about 20-30 laps. I only swam a mile a couple of times. I was working up to being much stronger when my shoulder kicked in. The doc said it was torn labrum which is usually the result of a fall. So it was not even swimming related. Swimming is important because of the work I put in to overcome my water phobia and develop my form. Giving up is not an option. If her partner in the practice won't see me, I'll go back to my original doctor even though he's in another state.
...I'm definitely going to see another doctor who's more of a sports medicine person...
agree!
because I don't think this woman was listening to me at all.
It may not the doc. It may be an attitude that she is forced into by corporate interests who have inserted themselves into the practice of medicine and dictate: how many patients the doc must see each hour; what drugs the doc can and can't prescribe; the order in which x-ray, MRI, PT, surgery must take place and the waiting period between each, regardless of the specific circumstances of the patient; I could get on my soap box and rant about this for quite a while.
Agree, there may be a corporate interest pushing her for more expensive tests, and she definitely doesn't understand the mechanics of swimming. I've made an appointment with my former doc in Northern Virginia for a second opinion and I'm having the x rays sent to him. If he thinks there's a reason for more tests, I'll do the MRI. Otherwise, the McKenzie technique that I've been using for my neck has worked very well and if I don't slump or push my head forward I'm pretty much pain free. My physical therapist said I'm not the first person she's heard complain about this particular doc, btw.
