Coaching Opinion

What Makes a Great Swim Coach? Creating Positive and Mentally Tough Swimmers

John Bradley wrote a great post about how it is important for age group swim coaches not to just focus the amount of yardage that you do with younger athletes; rather, focus on the effort over a period of time. Using this approach, John’s swimmers have had a lot of success in swimming races like […]

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Training Young Age Group Swimmers – How Do You Write Your Workouts?

Assumption – We are talking about skilled 8 to 12 year old athletes who average 85 – 90% attendance seasonally,
How many of us train our athletes based solely on yardage totals and percentages? Is this the correct approach?
Consider this –
1. Most athletes are not even close to […]

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Working With Less Than Ideal Practice Environments - Part 1 - Crowded Lanes!

For most swim coaches, a pool like the ones enjoyed by many top flight college teams is a pipe dream. Recreation concerns and high school programming force awkward schedules, and pool temperatures that cater to senior citizen comfort rather than age group performance can make things difficult. Here are some thoughts on how […]

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Breaststroke - Simple Things To Do To Make Anyone’s Breaststroke Better!

For many swimmers, breaststroke is a constant source of irritation and/or frustration.
First - Keep this in mind to effectively demonstrate skills:
It is important to remember that many children learn with their eyes first, then with their ears. When demonstrating skills, be sure to pay close attention to what your hands are doing, how you […]

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What Makes a GOOD Age Group Swim Coach?

By Age Group, I mean a person who works with predominantly 14 and under aged swimmers on a regular basis. While I would consider myself one step above a novice coach, I think I have benefited from a few things that perhaps not all novice coaches have access to, and many things that young coaches […]

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