Customer Reviews

Mastering Swimming (The Masters Athlete Series)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Several decades elapsed between my brief high school competitive swimming experience and my foray into masters swimming, and I find myself amazed all over again at the way having a good coach motivates me and improves my performance. Why does a phrase or two of technical advice or encouragement cause me to work harder and feel better about myself? Why is it that I'm willing to push myself to exhaustion just because somebody is watching?

There's something about the relationship between coach and athlete that transcends what the athlete can accomplish on his or her own. It's in that ineffable realm that the value of this book is found. I'm only halfway through it and already I've learned - and implemented - three things that have helped me improve my stroke. It's great to try something in the pool, then go back to the book and reread what the coach said and compare it to how it felt in the water.

Not only does Montgomery know how to swim - he's a triple Olympic gold medal winner, fer cryin' out loud! - but he's supremely able to TEACH people how to swim. I'd be willing to bet that if there were a waterproof edition of this book, a rank beginner could get in the pool with book in hand and learn how to swim from scratch.

I don't pretend to have much swimming expertise, but I'd also be willing to bet that these two coaches' explanation of the science of swimming represents the current state of the art worldwide. I recommend this book for anyone who's remotely interested in swimming. It's straightforward and well-written, and its techniques and teaching methods work.

I was a competitive swimmer as a kid, and now I've returned to the pool after more than 25 years to try to become a competitive masters swimmer.

The basics came back like riding a bicycle (except for the butterfly, which I couldn't remember how to do at all) but a lot has changed over the years, and my technique was clearly rusty.

I don't have a coach, doing it on my own, and this book has been a tremendous help... and I'm not even done with it!

The tips on a proper catch, and their little listening trick to correct hand entry, took 2 full strokes off my pool length in freestyle, for example.

This week I used their 4 phase method for learning butterfly to teach myself the stroke, and did my first pool lengths in fly. I'm looking forward to using their other tips to refine the stroke and start adding it into my regular workout.

This is just a tremendous book. Easy to read and follow.

I strongly recommend it for anyone starting out, or making the transition from fitness swimming to competition, or returning to the water after a long time away.

Definitely worth many times the cover price.

When I heard that Jim Montgomery and Mo Chambers were writing a book about swimming for masters, I couldn't wait to read it. I want to recommend this book highly to anyone who is a swimmer or is thinking about `taking the plunge.'

Mastering Swimming is the complete guide for newbies and experienced swimmers alike. You can read it start to finish or just go to a specific topic such as dry-land training, planning for success, or preparing for competition in the pool or open water. The layout of the book makes it an easy read and a go-to reference throughout a swimming career.

The book is loaded with practical advice and expert technical descriptions of the four strokes along with starts and turns. It also offers great motivation with insights from Olympians about swimming, training, and racing. If you want to kick up your fitness level with dry-land training, Mastering Swimming gives you the template. If you are thinking about adding open water swimming to your repertoire, Mastering Swimming gives you the blueprint for that endeavor.

The only thing missing from Mastering Swimming is Coach Montgomery's sprint effort scale, and I'd like to share that with you. As you descend your sprint 50s or 100s, start out with a fast swim. Then take it to a blast. After that take your effort to a blow chow. And finish up your set with a double blow swim. Good luck.

I've been a Masters Swimming competitor for 20 years, and have been aware of Coach Montgomery's method since the beginning. He and Mo make the four strokes simple and easy to comprehend, and does a great job of taking away the fears that many inexperienced swimmers may have when contemplating getting into the sport.

If you are at the beginning of the road with 99 curves, and want to walk the straightest path, this book and a good swim club will definitely help you find it.

This book is great and informative even for a beginner swimmer like me. I especially like the chapter 3 on "develop your water sense" that really helped me overcome the fear of water. The step by step teaching method makes it easy to understand and to practice. I now join a local master swimming program as the book suggested. I soon plan to compete in a local triathlon.

This is a very complete book on swimming for anyone wishing to improve at each training session, regardless of the age. It is very comprehensive as it covers topics such as stretching, weight training and the recently popular conditioning methods such as Pilates.

I love this book. If your aim is to be successful in masters swimming, this is the best book I've seen. It covers everything technical from a very practical point of view--strokes, turns, conditioning, prepping for competition. There are tips and fine points and tactics here you can only get from world-class coaches like Montgomery and Chambers.

The book starts out right, with inspiration and having you develop your personal vision, then a plan based on the vision. The whole spirit of the book is forward momentum, and reading it will inspire you right into that spirit. On a recent trip to Dallas, I went with a friend to watch Jim do some masters coaching at SMU. He observed about twenty swimmers warming up for about 30 seconds, and from what he saw in terms of their current physical energy and motivation, he walked over and gave each one a tailor-made goal for that practice, along with encouragement to push their personal envelopes. And by the end of the workout, it was pretty clear from their faces and body language that each swimmer had reached about 5% beyond what they thought they could do. Their faces looked exhausted but extremely happy. Solid gold coaching.

And that's what this book will do for you: help you find your limits and then swim past them. Mastering Swimming gets my very highest recommendation.

I have a fair amount of swimming experience from swimming in high school and college and a few seasons of masters. I was hoping that this book would help me get into the fastest heats at master's events and help me refine my swimming technique and conditioning. As I read it, I realized it's more geared to less experienced swimmers, maybe a triathlete who knows how to swim but not how to train or compete or someone with a little less competitive background who needs stroke refinement. I think the book is well written and a good choice for swimmers in those categories, but I didn't find it very helpful. At the same time, I purchased "Swimming Fastest" and "Complete Conditioning for Swimming". The "Complete Conditioning..." book is much more helpful for more advanced swimmers and I immediately began finding useful tips even within the first few pages. "Swimming Fastest" will be a harder read (even harder to transport around, it's like a text book) I've read the earlier versions of this book, so I know it will be helpful and more technical.

This is one of the few swimming books that I rated high. Although this is for masters athletes, but it is a general book. It is full of helpful hints and is deeper and more complete than most of the other books.

A good general book to keep.

the difference between this book and the other kindle books available on swimming technique is that it includes a section on open water swimming. I was surprised to see this. Usually that gets skipped in beginners books.