Swimming...??

Question

i am joining the swim team next fall at school. i love to swim but this swim team is A LOT of work, and i need help getting in shape so when it comes time it wont be as hard. lets get this straight im 4'11" 90 pounds, people say i wont make a good swimmer cause of that. but i am very flexable i got 13" inches on the toe touch, so thats good. but anyways i need some ideas and plans to get me prepard for the hard work, i've got 4 months... so yeah lol. please help me. :)

Answer 1

Try training in the pool over the summer. Learn all of the strokes so that you are used to them, and work on what comes natural. Your height will definanlty be a disadvantage, but with enough hard work you can overcome that.

Answer 2

work out & keep on practicing i guess

Answer 3

I am 6'3 and I was a very good at swimming when I was younger. However there were two twin guys that were 5'3, an entire foot shorter than me. As it is only natural I could destroy them at sprints any day. However they were both great at long distance and so it was that both of those guys got full ride scholarships to college for swimming and I did not. If you are determined you will become very good! Oh the best way to build endurance is to swim swim swim and train yourself to run a 10k.

Answer 4

more practice, the more the tougher u get!

Answer 5

Join a USS (United States Swimming) team this summer.  They practice year-round and will whip you into shape in no time.  Good luck!

Answer 6

You can practice drills with a kickboard, or even walk the length of the pool.  

Find out the size of the pool - and discover what measurement it will take to walk one mile in that pool.   Start walking.  Set a small distance goal at first -- and meet that goal.  When you can meet that goal easily - increase your walking distance.   One mile in the water is equal to 2 miles walking on land.   You can go to the golfing department and purchase a little black golf score keeper on a little chain - and keep it in your hand to click for every lap you take - which will help you keep up with the miles you walk in the pool.   Also - if the pool does not have a clock -then purchase yourself a water-proof watch and keep up with the time it takes you to walk your miles.  You will be surprised what great exercise this is -- and it helps you get in shape for swimming.

Beginners should start with vertical strength-training exercises in the pool - which are things like walking or jogging a length of the pool in waist-deep water, or doing some strengthening by sinking in up to the neck.

Instead of  tryig to start-out swimming with improper technique - you will need to get vertical strength before you start putting your face in the water.

Fun exercising in the water, done faithfully daily, will strengthen you.   You will need to increase what you do every few days - or weekly.

Answer 7

exercise

Answer 8

Train ur holding breath ability. It Helps alot when i started swimming i could hold it  for like 40 sec but  now i can 3m+ I never tried more because im afraid of passing out

Answer 9

Alrighty. First of all I am 14 and am on a USS team as metioned. USS teams are all about speed and endurance, and the teams are usually VERY crowded. At least in my case. If it is the same with your close USS teams, the coaches sometimes tend to especially coach WELL only to swimmers who are very, very, very, very, very good because of the large groups, they dont get to everyone. Since you are a beginner I think it would be better for you to join a rec (recreational) summer team, or a clinic first, so you can start with a bit less intense competition and focus more on stroke technique, and also you will get more attention from coaches because of the smaller amount of swimmers.

Also do alot of ankle streching. That's key. Sit on your ankles 5 minutes a day and when that starts becoming comfty- lean back on them instead. It shows great improvment and really helps butterfly and backstroke kick. Even crawl (freestyle) and breaststroke in some cases. I wish you alot of luck! Swimming is really a great sport, I hope you enjoy it.

(Oh- and breathing (which is seeming kind of controversial) will come with time. Just concentrate on technique and the rest will come if you are focused. Breathing bubbles under water-as baby-like as that sounds- really did help me at first tho!)

<3 lotsa luck!

Answer 10

im a gymnast and so im a good swimmer bc of my incredible flexiblity. id try to practice back bends ( arch backs ) bc they are useful in swimming bc u twist and stuff.also id lift wieghts and get lots of upper arm and leg strength. also id get speed by running <3

Answer 11

ok i am also very short, but I have a friend who is like 5' 2" and she is one of the best on our team and we have a pretty good team (not to sound like I'm bragging or anything..)  Don't be discouraged by people telling you you can't do it because you're short.  Just get as much pool time from here until your season starts and go for a distance swimmer rather than a sprinter.  Sprinting does tend to work better if you're tall... but I'd say if you want to work up your endurance talk to a coach and ask how you can improve that.  When you practice, don't do the shorter sets because they look easier, do the ones that get some yards in and that will build up your endurance.  For the first few weeks of the team, you'll feel extremely tired and you'll be really sore, but don't give up!  A lot of swimmers swim year round to stay in shape, because when you get out of shape it takes a while to get back in shape.  Good luck to you!

Answer 12

Be certain to understand that there is no such thing as instantaneous success.  One responder suggested you join a USS swim team ... that is an exceptional suggestion.  You might also consider joining a local summer recreational league swim team.

Regardless of which team you join, you MUST learn proper stroke technique.  Many USS swim teams are large and do not offer enough individual attention for one to develop proper stroke mechanics.

As  coach for 30+ years, I know that I have patterns to my coaching and one is that the kids who swim closer to the walls get more of my attention as I can see them better.   I'm a nut on proper stroke mechanics because, without them, you cannot go fast!  

Some responders suggested you practice, practice, practice.  Well, if you practice the wrong things, they become bad habits.  YES, you must practice but you must practice the correct things.

Start off slowly ... top level swimmers swim 15,000 to 20,000 yards per day.  Beginners swim 2,000 to 3,000.  Be certain that you get into a beginners group or, trust me, you'll die ... you'll burn out ... you'll be afraid to swim.  Do the right thing, learn the correct stroke mechanics and start off slowly.

OH ... and one more thing ... breath holding has NOTHING to do with quality swimming.  Don't get me wrong, not breathing in crawl (freestyle) and butterfly does make you faster.  However, the ability to hold one's breath does not make you a candidate for being a better swimmer.  

Actually, drills that many coaches do to increase breath holding ability do not improve one's ability to hold their breath.  Breath holding drills are, however, necessary for fast swimming as you learn that you can hold your breath and endure the pain associated with that last push at the end of a race where the little bit of time gained by not breathing may be the difference between winning and not winning.

Answer 13

JUST PRATICE OVER THE SUMMER