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TriClub vs Masters
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IvarAlmere
Oct 25, 17 6:24
Post #1 of 11 (2036 views)
I'm looking for some opinions.

I'm currently swimming 25 minutes Oly and for next season my goal is to go under 22,5 minutes.


I'm an AOS, joined a local TriClub and started swimming 2 years ago. Nice bunch of people and it's fun to see familiar faces during al kind of race events. The training sessions are okay and (of course) focused on freestyle. The Tri Club also have run and bike training, but i don't make use of these. Run training doesn't match my schedule and TrainerRoad is my friend.

This week I had a try-out of two Masters sessions. Because I'm an AOS I'm looking for lots of feedback on my technique. The group is smaller, and I've received more feedback than last year combined with the TriClub (though lots of critique on the stroke types I'm not using in triathlons). The 2nd training was focused on freestyle, and it was the first time I've had to pay attention on the pace clock. Definitely a higher quality training than I'm used to.

Problem is that these kind of freestyle-focused workouts are once every 8 sessions. Next session will be mixed or focused on another stroke.

Training frequency is the same, but the TriClub is more spread over the week where the Masters is on 4 consecutive days. Also, Master is more expensive.

I'm leaning to stay with the TriClub and keep my focus on freestyle. But I'm doubting myself because of all the positive opinions on Masters swimming I've read on SlowTwitch.

Am I missing out not joining the Masters program??
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Re: TriClub vs Masters [IvarAlmere] [ In reply to ]
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JasoninHalifax
Oct 25, 17 6:39
Post #2 of 11 (2018 views)
Working on the other strokes is "usually" good for your freestyle too. further I'd imagine that even on a backstroke or breaststroke day, there is still plenty of freestyle during the session. Flyers do a lot of freestyle in practice (usually good flyers are good freestyle swimmers too)

The quality of the session is the most important thing.
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Re: TriClub vs Masters [JasoninHalifax] [ In reply to ]
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Pinewood74
Oct 25, 17 7:16
Post #3 of 11 (1987 views)
Talk to the coach about going a little heavier on freestyle during the mixed and stroke focused days. They might be amenable to that. It should work out easy enough, take the lead in your lane and then you just get a bit extra rest. Long Breastroke sets (ie 200s or longer) Might result in you lapping folks, bit you can also just bump up to a faster lane or something.
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Re: TriClub vs Masters [IvarAlmere] [ In reply to ]
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desert dude
Oct 25, 17 9:33
Post #4 of 11 (1911 views)
Can you mix both the Triclub and masters swims to get what you need?

From what I've seen over the past decades of coaching is many triclubs and the coaches that coach the swim workouts in them have a good grasp of poorly understanding what really matters when it comes to stroke technique work, designing effective workouts and understanding what it takes to swim well in triathlon.

Most swim coaches grasp these concepts much, much better. The #1 problem I see in the masters programs & swim squads around the world that my athletes swim with is they fail to appreciate the triathletes in their programs even when triathletes are > 50% of the programs.

I've had numerous conversations with masters coaches about tweaking the training a bit to be more specific for triathlon and a bit less stroke/sprint oriented for the triathletes. Most of these conversations haven't been entirely well received. IDK why?

One of the simplest solutions, at least to me and maybe it's bc it's what I grew up with and did when I coached masters a bit, was to run 2 workouts. A distance oriented workout and a sprint/stroke oriented workout. Now sometimes they overlap in both directions but that shouldn't be the norm for either group.
Brian Stover USAT LII
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Re: TriClub vs Masters [desert dude] [ In reply to ]
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IvarAlmere
Oct 25, 17 10:34
Post #5 of 11 (1863 views)
I'm toying with the tought of doing both. It would give me more flexibility in planning my swimming and other workouts.

But it's not free. And I would need to convince the GF in spending even more money than I'm already doing.
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Re: TriClub vs Masters [IvarAlmere] [ In reply to ]
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desert dude
Oct 25, 17 10:46
Post #6 of 11 (1858 views)
Quote:
I would need to convince the GF in spending even more money than I'm already doing

You can always say "My way or the highway" to her. From my experience it's usually, well almost always, actually always the highway. ymmv
Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

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Re: TriClub vs Masters [IvarAlmere] [ In reply to ]
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doug in co
Oct 25, 17 11:55
Post #7 of 11 (1823 views)
my experience has been that stroke swimming helps with freestyle too.. biggest problem in masters was I could not keep up with my lane, swimming back or fly..

if you have already been doing the tri-club swims and stuck at 25, change something.. do the masters for a year and review after that
"It is a good feeling for old men who have begun to fear failure, any sort of failure, to set a schedule for exercise and stick to it. If an aging man can run a distance of three miles, for instance, he knows that whatever his other failures may be, he is not completely wasted away." Romain Gary, SI interview
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Re: TriClub vs Masters [IvarAlmere] [ In reply to ]
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ou8acracker2
Oct 25, 17 12:06
Post #8 of 11 (1814 views)
IvarAlmere wrote:
I'm toying with the tought of doing both. It would give me more flexibility in planning my swimming and other workouts.

But it's not free. And I would need to convince the GF in spending even more money than I'm already doing.

First mistake; not dating a wealthy enough girl. I was joking around with mine and said I needed a new Canyon when they came out and it was only $5000. She said ok - like it was nothing. I said no (because Im stupid).

So lesson: date a chick in the .0001% :-)
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Re: TriClub vs Masters [IvarAlmere] [ In reply to ]
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ZenTriBrett
Oct 25, 17 13:35
Post #9 of 11 (1774 views)
Tell the coach that you're basically only training for the mile freestyle swim. So lots of times when you're supposed to be swimming other stuff, you want to swim freestyle as your alternate stroke. Other strokes do help you, but you only need them about half as much as you just need more freestyle. To win most issues, you need to come to the table with a solution in hand so the other party can't say no or at least let you try it.

I was a freestyle specialist, so my coaches often would tell me to do more freestyle while others were doing their fly, breast, and back sets. It's been done.
----------------------------------------------------------
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Interviews with Chris McCormack, Helle Frederikson, Angela Naeth, and many more.
http://www.zentriathlon.com
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Re: TriClub vs Masters [Pinewood74] [ In reply to ]
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windschatten
Oct 25, 17 22:51
Post #10 of 11 (1671 views)
Pinewood74 wrote:
Talk to the coach about going a little heavier on freestyle during the mixed and stroke focused days. They might be amenable to that. It should work out easy enough, take the lead in your lane and then you just get a bit extra rest. Long Breastroke sets (ie 200s or longer) Might result in you lapping folks, bit you can also just bump up to a faster lane or something.

This. You are going to be the butt of the joke, but your ego should be able to take it.

Regarding Sprints ans Stroke sets:

Plenty of Triathlon Coaches do not understand or omit (at customer's request) the value of fast swimming and stroke development for overall improvement of freestyle swimming abilities.
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Re: TriClub vs Masters [desert dude] [ In reply to ]
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IvarAlmere
Oct 27, 17 1:33
Post #11 of 11 (1535 views)
Mixing both is the best solution for me. As it's only 25 euro a month it's not a big deal. Maybe try to join the run training now and then, so i get my money's worth out of the tri club.
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