OK, I'm a Dinosaur. I actually like sets like 10x100 on the same interval all the way through.
Why do all of the sets have to have some kind of break in stride or change in interval or undefined purpose today? I have been swimming in Masters long enough to know that our bread is buttered by the fitness swimmers and their singular lack of desire to compete. But do the coaches believe that we are all ADD enough not to be able to complete one set on one interval ? Or do we as swimmers really pose such a dilemma that the coaches do the very worst thing possible - try to make every one happy. The ultimate result of that is to make virtually no one happy.
If you are giving a set to your swimmers, can you tell them what it (the set) should accomplish for them? What they should get out of it? If you simply gave the same set oveer and over again every day, it would become boring, of course. But it would also become a benchmark to which each swimmer could chart his or her progress. A desireable outcome by any standard, I would venture.
I fully realise that the Masters coach is handed a bewildering array of talent and motivation with his swimmers, but you, as a coach, do not have to confuse, bewilder or befuddle your swimmers with meaningless or useless sets. Keep them simple and straghtforward, with one defining mission per set. There is nothing surer to get me to go home as a (competitive) swimmer than a set with multiple intervals and distances, changing intensity and changing strokes. And don't deny that you give such sets. Many coaches thrive on designing sets that are like circuit training in the water. I would go on and on, but I have to get up early to find out what new torture my coach has in store. Take it away, folks.
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Former Member
I hate freestyle. Really. But it's always in my workouts even though I have to modify it to save my legs for backstroke. There are elements in freestyle that aid my technique in backstroke. Breaststroke is harsh on my back, but I work some of that in too.
My coach is in the water with me, not on deck giving me sets. Sets can be done on my own time. During coaching it's all about how to get me moving faster - getting me more streamlined - and helping me believe that my goals are possible.
I declined a coach's offer to have me join their masters sessions because paying someone to give me workouts seemed pointless. Everyone has individual physical and mental limitations that need to be taken into account.
I hate freestyle. Really. But it's always in my workouts even though I have to modify it to save my legs for backstroke. There are elements in freestyle that aid my technique in backstroke. Breaststroke is harsh on my back, but I work some of that in too.
My coach is in the water with me, not on deck giving me sets. Sets can be done on my own time. During coaching it's all about how to get me moving faster - getting me more streamlined - and helping me believe that my goals are possible.
I declined a coach's offer to have me join their masters sessions because paying someone to give me workouts seemed pointless. Everyone has individual physical and mental limitations that need to be taken into account.