JasoninHalifax wrote:
agree to disagree. I don't really care about stoke count (when I bother to count I'm typically about 14-16 strokes per length, a little less if I try and stretch it out or extend the underwaters). I know if my pace is falling off or picking up to a finer degree than a watch can tell me, and more importantly why its falling off / picking up. By the time you get around to looking at the data post workout, it's too late, becasue you won't remember what that felt like, and to me, linking the pace with what the pace feels like is critical to swim performance. That's stuff you need to know NOW, IMO. If you were able to link that data in RT to a display on deck, that might be useful to me. but until we get there, I don't see a heck of a lot of value.
The one area that I think a watch could be useful, maybe, is for a triathlete trying to manage overall training stress, but even then, if you are doing somewhat consistent workouts, it may not give you that much more than just plugging a TSS number into TP based on how long the practice was and the subjective intensity of the day.
I wear a Garmin Vivoactive. Like most swim watches it does not get kicking lengths, so it is usually off a bit since I will kick at least 100, usually more like 500 over the course of my 2x3,000 yard weekly swims. It does not particularly like the short axis (fly/breast) strokes either. It also seems that my 'swolf' score is off. And, it seems as if my paces are off also. I guess if you tracked the data and scores enough to know what to ignore then it would be somewhat useful for improvement metrics. I have it for 'exercise' time. I didn't really ever swim with a watch when training/racing seriously. Now, it's for shits and grins. I start it when I jump in, and I stop it when I get out and don't check it in between. If/when I wore a watch in serious swim training/racing it was for the same thing.
Re. TSS. I don't think that they are accurate enough, unless you can get a truly accurate heart rate. I tend to assign a TSS per 1,000 based on a swimmer's ability and/or how difficult the workout should be.
Really though, I am more in the camp that a watch is there to be used essentially as a pace clock, not as a hit the button at the end and beginning of every lap. Tim Floyd and I don't always agree, but he posted something on this or the other thread about paying attention to what you are doing...counting lengths/laps, stroke count, etc. I agree with this. #GrumpyMarsh thinks that athletes are relying too much on their digital toys and less on their brain. I guess what I'm saying is I agree with a lot of what you've said.
Real men don't eat quiche either...is there proof of that anywhere? It's a generalization, and one that you will find is 'generally' true on most swim teams and for most competitive swimmers. They aren't real swimmers because they wear or don't wear a watch...it's because they're freakin fast. I'd hazard a guess that most of the AGers worry more about their swim watch, power meter, run metrics, and they do about paying attention to what they're actually doing. #GrumpyMarsh out.
Edit. Went to check...no watch in the swim...
Brandon Marsh - Website | @BrandonMarshTX | RokaSports | 1stEndurance | ATC Bikeshop |
Last edited by:
-JBMarshTX: Oct 25, 18 12:22