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Print this entrySwimming Question of the Week - April 29, 2009
Depending on your age, and your swimming goals, which is more important, training or competing?
Responses
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Training, competing is a product of all the hard work from the training phase both physically and mentally. If you don't get the training right, competition can become a heartfelt disappointment. This outlook is coming from a 49 year old. |
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This question actually popped up in my mind over the past couple weeks. Personally, I was supposed to swim in a big meet a couple weeks ago, and because of a small medical problem, I had to miss the meet. This meant that I trained all season long, missing EVERY meet the entire season for that single meet, that I ultimately couldn't go to. I was thinking was it worth it? Training all that time for no competitions? Ultimately, for a 47 year old, like Rob, it is. For me, even without competing, which I absolutely LOVE... I'll continue training just for health. |
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um... dunno :D I just hope I will be able to go to my big swim meet. |
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You can train without competition, but you cannot compete without train. |
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Dunno really but coach says both are very important cos if you keep going to meet all time, you will gain a experience and more confident enough to go a big meet |
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If you go to a meet without training you will surely not come up to expectations (although some rest is good at times). To maintain training at a high intensity you need a goal. In my opinion that is usually a target meet or meets although for some it may be just to keep fit. I can't see that myself but then I am very competitive and want to see how I compare with others in anything I tackle and competition is an ideal way to measure this |
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I don't compete so for me training is basically swimming for health reasons and no matter how much I do or don't do I always feel better emotionally too when I swim. |
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Most of the people who I swim with, including the really fast people, do not compete and it is a shame. I guess they feel that they have nothing to prove or they are too nervous. Whatever the reason it is their choice. Competition is important to me but not to most of the swimmers that I know. I guess it depends on your goals.
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DC... in reference to your question... I think would be determined by how satisfied you are with your current state of technical proficiency. |
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En mi opinion es mejor la formacion aun que recordemos que depende de cada quien aun que comparto la opinion de cesar. |
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I think we are fooling around :P we are just asking our selves who came first the chicken or the egg , what i mean that no competetion without training and no training without a competetion to see your level ! by the way i am 19 :D |
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At 19, I can totally see the chicken and the egg idea. However, at 47, training without competition means I live a better, more healthy life. At 19... training with competition would be pointless. |
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I think the answer is in the question - it depends on your swimming goals. As Glenn says, if you are satisfied with your current technique, then perhaps training isn't so important (perhaps you train for fitness). If you are training to go faster, then training IS important and entering a competition can be motivation to extend oneself...including getting to bed earlier through out training, looking after one's body better to try and avoid getting injured (good warm-up, dryland and strength training) and there's nothing like the extra adrenalin of a meet to assist one in challenging that PB. You can learn a lot of things about yourself from a competition that you might not have known before if you didn't do them... So to me, both are equally important. Having said that, at the moment I am trying to become a more efficient swimmer, so training is more important! |
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Juan is saying (hmm, this is a tough one; I'll butcher it I am sure), "In my opinion, focusing on form and technique is better, even though we remember that that depends on each person, even though I share the opinion of (??? stopping racing) (??or training but not doing excessive numbers of drills)." |
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Do-over translation. Aha! Juan is agreeing with Cesar, not suggesting "cesar" (to stop). So he's saying technique is more important, but it depends on each person, and overall he agrees with Cesar's opinion that you can train without competing, but you can't compete without training. |
Rob Oyler
Glenn Mills
sprinter
Cesar
James Stuart
juan
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