The Coaching Conundrum

As one year ends it really doesn’t end so much as it runs smack dab into the next one. This is the reality of the swim coach; the season never really ends so much as it morphs into the beginning of the next one carrying with it the ups and downs of the one just finished.

We have been thinking about our team for this winter 2012. We look at the names on the roster. We then assign those names to "categories". Our team may look a lot like yours. We have several kids who are "on a mission" -- meaning they have their goal firmly in sight and they are working passionately toward it on a daily basis. We have a slightly larger group who are "on the bus" -- meaning they come to nearly every workout and really work diligently in pursuit of their success. Then we have an even larger group who seem uncommitted to their success. They write down goals but that process doesn't insure that they will act on them.

This whole exercise reminds us once again of how swim teams (maybe most teams) work and of their makeup.

We have people with ordinary talent who achieve extraordinary results; very rewarding for a coach.

We have people with extraordinary talent who achieve rather ordinary results; frustrating for a coach.

We have people with extraordinary talent who achieve extraordinary results; makes a coach look better than he/she really is. If you catch "lightning in a bottle" as it were, consider yourself very fortunate indeed.

The conundrum is how do we as a coach get the ones with extraordinary talent to pursue with a passion their craft without making it "our"swim? To "babysit" them actually does them a disservice. It is their swim, their career. Our job is to expose the opportunity to them but not enable them to "get away" with wasting their talent.

We know this much for certain ... we don’t know the answers to that question with certainty ... we suppose when we do we will have a waiting list to join our team!

Here's to our mutual (coaches and swimmers alike) success in 2012!

Is the Grass Really Greener?

In the world of sports, at least the world of professional sports, it is all too common to read about the switching of teams by coaches and players. The reasons for changing are usually money though no one cops to that, at least not outright.

In our sport of swimming one of the most common reasons for athletes to change teams is the frustration that comes with a plateau or even a drop off in performance. All swimmers begin their career with steady, often meteoric improvement. This is natural since they are starting at zero as it were. Couple this with the growth factor and by 13 or 15 years of age the expectation has been set; namely that a swimmer "should" see some kind of regular drops in time.

What often goes unrecognized is the contribution the swimmer makes to the improvement. By this we do not mean the training, the laps swum or the weights lifted. We mean the intention that the swimmer has and how he/she acts based on those intentions. Parents are the ones who usually pull the plug on the current team. They see a swimmer or swimmers who their youngster used to beat in races who are now out performing their son/daughter. And so, they decide after some discussion that it must be the coaching or the program in general that is better on the other side of the fence.

The change is made and life goes on. What too few realize is that the swimmer who moves takes with them their "stuff"; namely stroke strengths and weaknesses, racing strategies, mental toughness (or lack thereof), focus ability (or lack thereof) and training habits. Until a swimmer is willing to honestly address their whole package the change itself will do little in the way of lasting improvement. It is common to see a quick bounce but lasting change is a whole other issue.

Since the inception of $500 racing suits and professional endorsement contracts swimming's profile has changed. In this week's mainstream sports media it was announced that two time Olympian Katie Hoff, who trains at the North Baltimore Aquatic Club, has switched coaches. In a related story, Michael Phelps' coach, Bob Bowman, formerly at NBAC then Michigan has returned to NBAC. Paul Yetter, also a coach at North Baltimore, coached Katie Hoff until this week. In the stories about the changes it tells us very little. The one comment that is worth noting is Hoff's when she talks about the intensity level that Bowman is famous for and how she thinks she is now ready for that. This is the "stuff" we referred to above.

We certainly do not know enough about the intricacies of this story to comment with certainty. What we do know is that all of the players, Hoff, Yetter and Bowman bring their own skills and weaknesses to the table.

This has happened to all three of us here at SwimCoachDirect. It isn't always a bad thing either. Sometimes a swimmer who switches gets and gives relief all at the same time. What we do know for sure is that before you switch you really need to make an honest assessment of your own set of tools. Do you really need new ones or can you sharpen the ones you have? If you need new ones and they are not available in your current program that is one thing. If they need sharpening perhaps you are the one who needs to do the work and not the coach.

Something to think about...

Have a great week and let us know how it is going for you!

Playing Favorites

A while back we came across this article written by John Leonard. John has coached at all levels of swimming; indeed he still coaches some these days. However, his main focus is the American Swim Coaches Association. He is the Executive Director of ASCA which is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, FL. In a recent conversation with him we learned that while the economy is certainly a challenge these days, ASCA is stronger than ever. Membership is at an all time high as is attendance at their various clinics. They host annually the World Swim Coaches Clinic which is attended by coaches from literally all over the world. Under John's extremely capable leadership ASCA continues to be a positive force in swim coaching. He is a forward thinker and a very capable communicator. We especially liked his article on the ever present subject of coaches and playing favorites.

Please let us know what you think! - John Leonard's Playing Favorites.