Chickened out of my first Masters Swim (Page 2)

He said it, but jokingly.  The medal stuff was made up though

Thanks for the advice.  There aren't alot of swim coaches in this area unless I want to go to LA or Orange County which are both 70 miles away.  I'm at a point now where I need some form of instruction to improve. 

Heck, it would be faster to drive over here to Palm Springs. The masters class is at 5:00 am. You should go so you can tell me how it is

No thanks!

Though I was there last weekend on a hike through that Indian Oasis.  Absolutely beautiful.

I've done that and it sort of helps.  The problem I have is you notice what you are doing wrong and correct it but the correction may be wrong as well.

You will get better if you swim with a USMS team.  I have seen dozens of dozens of tri newbies improve substantially.  Yes, it can be intimidating but a good coach will have lanes for all levels and will be willing to train you.  I swim with about 60 swimmers  a day, many former D1 and OT qualifiers.  We rarely do a 200 fly.  When I see that I take the "masters prerogative" and do a 200 back.

And, there is no such thing as a "masters class."  That makes no sense.  Masters refers to USMS, an organization like USAT.  

Great post So true! 

Update:

Yesterday I was told by my Tri Club that they are experimenting with a possible Masters Program in Redlands and the sessions are free.  I went this morning, the coach told me what to do, and did about 2000 yards.  I didn't get much instruction but didn't ask for it either.  I was probably the slowest guy there but not the point where I stood out, and was pretty comfortable with the workout.

I believe this group is more triathlon driven, although a few of the guys are pretty fast and the coaches are HS swim team coaches.  So far so good.

KSH - 2011-04-21 2:56 PM Awe, go back and talk to the coach. He/she will put you in a lane that will be good for you. From what I understand, Masters groups have slow to fast lanes. And honestly, the people in the fast lane, aren't paying one bit of attention to anyone outside of their lane. So don't think they'll be paying attention to you. You can't get better if you aren't willing to try to swim with faster people. Get in there and learn how to swim faster!

Hot girls excepted

On Mondays and Wednesdays I always swim in the lane NEXT to the masters swim people.  Since we are all at the Y at 5:00 and are usually waiting in line to check in we talk from time to time.  I usually ask them about their recent swim meets and such.  All seem really really nice.  Having said that, I'm not much of a 'group' person and since I'm swimming on my lunch hour and don't have an unlimited amount of time, I doubt I will join them anytime soon. 

As many have noted here, there are many different 'personalities' among Masters groups. Sometimes influenced by the coach's mindset, sometimes by that of the members.'

I believe there may be more good reasons to choose to practice on your own -- and a few good reasons to practice with a Masters group. I swam with a Masters group in New Paltz from the early 90s to the mid-00s. Since then I've swum on my own. I get a lot more accomplished in less time, swimming solo. However, having coached swimming since 1972, I'm never at a loss for good practice ideas.

Here are a few reasons for swimming solo

1) Masters workouts are an industrialized approach to training. They're designed to address the goals, desires and abilities of a large number of people, not to address your particular abilities and goals.

2) The primary experience of many Masters coaches - which influences their workout design and coaching style - is coaching competitive swimmers age 10 to 20. The motivations, abilities and mindset of adults is very different. 

3) While the majority of most Masters groups today are people who swim for triathlon or fitness -- i.e. whose goal is to swim a mile or more and feel energized, not exhausted, afterward . . . not to swim a breathless 100m (let alone 200 Fly) . . . the Masters program still has a strong dose of 'swim meet' in its DNA, leading to an inherent tension. If adult endurance-swimming programs were as available as typical Masters programs, I believe they'd be far better attended.

The reasons I can think of to swim with Masters include:

1) The social aspects

2) The opportunity to accustom oneself to a variety of pressures and distractions that you will face during a race.

3) The adaptive potential of swimming a range of strokes, speeds and distances can benefit even those whose goal is mainly to swim a mile or more of freestyle in open water - then ride and run.

However #s 2&3 will yield positive outcomes only after your efficiency is fairly good and fairly durable. If you can find a Masters coach who actually does coaching -- rather than mainly yell Ready Go -- there's a possibility you could achieve that while swimming with a group . . . so long as you supplement with some solo practice intensively focused on form. Otherwise you're much better practicing solo - supplemented with lessons or some form of self-help tools.