A couple months ago I purchased a block of four adult swim lessons from FINS in the Woodlands. The Groupon deal fit my aspirations to complete a triathlon this fall. I also wanted formal coaching before developing bad habits while trying to figure it out on my own.
I arrived early and sat in the parking lot reading a book. Everyone I saw walk in was less than eight years old, which made me nervous. To make matters worse, a glass viewing area was sandwiched by the two SMALL pools. As soon as I signed in, the staff started pushing a “4-month package deal”. I dodged the sale and made my way back to the waiting area (the viewing room).
My instructor (Mike) was young, but had significant swimming credentials. He has been swimming since he was eight years old. From there he swam in high school and then swam for the University of Hawaii.
Both the front office staff and Coach Mike seemed like they were out of their normal routine with adult swimmers. The eldest staff member was MAYBE 25. I was happy with my small group of three. This was the second session for one of the females and session three for the other female, yet we all did the exact same drills. We did not practice the drills, we did them once and then moved on. This was very frustrating for me as a new swimmer.
It’s late and I'm tired, so I’m going to finish this post by putting the overall swim experience in a pros and cons list:
Pros:
Inexpensive (with Groupon)
Small group size
Coach had significant swimming experience
Cons:
Expensive and they didn’t waste any time pitching for additional money
Didn’t like the fact that 10-15 people were watching from the glass room
Coach lacks adult coaching skills
Salt water pool, it was weird to taste and “feel” salty
VERY small pool. Soon as I kicked off the wall I took a few strokes before reaching the end of the pool
Too far away. Not their problem, but it is for me when fuel is $3.50/gallon
I’d rate the experience as 4 out of 10. I’m not giving up on the lessons, but it is not what I expected. As an adult, I’d like to learn one drill and work on it until I have mastered it before moving on.
I’ve held off as long as possible, I need to get a gym/pool membership soon.
Bill I went to the FINS is Spring and had similar experience. The young girl instructor only had me and another 20-something guy (training for his Special Forces entrance test!)show up. He'd been coming for several sessions but we did same drill. Since I can swim somewhat probably worked OK. I got some good tips and felt like even though same environment as you describe (lots of kids and parents, small pool, minimum adult students), I will follow through with package but find something closer to home to continue.
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