Swimming Coach: 20 Things to Make Them Happy
In this article, we’ll highlight 20 things that a swimmer can do during training to make their swimming coach happy.
Competitive swimming can be a gruelling sport, requiring swimmers to undertake many hours of repetitive training each week, in pursuit of excellence.
Most coaches spend many, often unsocial hours on the poolside/deck for little or no monetary reward.
The primary role of a swimming coach is to impart their knowledge and experience, to help the swimmers in their charge to reach their full potential.
Therefore, it’s important that swimmers make the best of each training session in order to achieve their swimming goals and in doing so make their swimming coach very happy.
Before training
Swimmers need to ensure that they consume the correct foods at the correct time. Proper swimming nutrition is essential for optimum swimming performance. It provides the swimmer with the energy they require to cope with the rigours of training and competition. Proper swimming nutrition also helps create new muscle and helps maintain and repair existing muscle.
Swimmers need to ensure that they keep hydrated at all times during the day. A fit and healthy body needs to be well hydrated to perform at its optimum. Although most of a swimmer’s training is conducted in the water, they still lose a great deal of body fluid through physical exertion. It’s important that this lost fluid is replaced, as dehydration is one of the most common causes of poor performance.
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We have produced related articles on swimming nutrition and swimming hydration. Which you can view by clicking these links: swimming nutrition | swimming hydration.
Swimmers should ensure that when training that they are working towards achieving their swimming goals. Setting swimming goals helps establish clear targets, priorities and expectations. They are a useful tool in enabling both the swimmer and the coach to gauge the swimmer’s progress and development towards achieving their goals.
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We have produced a related article on the benefits of setting swimming goals. Which you can view by clicking this link: swimming goals
To help swimmers train at their optimum, they should go to training with a positive attitude. Many of the world’s top swimmers, use a variety of psychological self-motivational techniques, such as visualisation and self-talk, to help them increase their confidence and motivation.
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We have produced related articles, on a number of swimming psychological self-motivational techniques. Which you can view by clicking these links: swimming self-talk | swimming visualisation | swimming quotations.
Swimming training requires a lot of kit, goggles, fins, drink etc. Swimmers should take the responsibility of packing their own kit bag, to ensure that they have all the equipment they will require.
It’s important that swimmers arrive on time to their swimming sessions. They need time to change, prepare and warm-up properly before the training session begins. Sometimes this needs a bit of pre-planning to achieve, especially for morning training sessions.
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We have produced a related article, on morning swimming training. Which you can view by clicking this link: morning swimming training.
Swimmers should ensure they conduct a proper warm-up before entering the pool. Warm-ups are of key importance to swimmers because, in order to swim fast, swimmer’s muscles need to be warmed. This increases their flexibility and enhances their range of movement, making them more efficient whilst swimming. Swimming with warm and supple muscles reduces the chance of injury. An effective warm-up also prepares the swimmer’s heart to pump larger amounts of oxygen-rich blood throughout their body whilst swimming.
Related article on swimming warm-ups
We have produced a related article on the benefit of swimming warm-ups. Which you can view by clicking this link: swimming warm-ups
Starting Training
Before the swimmers enter the water, they should familiarise themselves with the pool warm-up set, to ensure they can perform it to its optimum.
Swimmers should start their training session promptly. There is nothing that annoys a coach as much as watching swimmers, adjusting their goggles or their caps/hats on the poolside/deck while they miss valuable pool warm-up time.
During Training
It important that swimmers train using a great technique. Training requires the swimmer to perform repetitive technical and physical drills, to master a set of key skills, which enables them to perform to the best of their ability while under the pressure of competition.
During training, whenever a swimmer gets the opportunity to perform sets of their own choosing, they should work on their weaker strokes at least once or twice a week
Lane etiquette
Swimmers should make allowances for the varying abilities that can occur in their lane. Slower and less experienced swimmers have as much right to be treated with respect as any other swimmer.
Pay attention and listen to your coach. Be courteous to the other swimmers and don’t chat while the coach is giving instructions. Apologise to your coach if you turn up late to training.
Inform your coach if you are injured or ill. Inform your coach if you have to leave the training session early. Thank your coach at the end of the training session.
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We have produced a related article on lane safety & etiquette. Which you can view by clicking this link: lane safety & etiquette.
The don’ts
Some swimmers attempt to cheat, by walking along the bottom of the pool. For those who do, here’s a message. HELLO, the pool is filled with clear water and the coach can see you, which doesn’t make them happy!
Swimmers should stay focused on the set/rep they are currently performing and ensure that they don’t’ lose count of the number of lengths/laps they’ve completed.
Swimmers should stay focused on the set/rep they are currently performing and ensure that they don’t’ misread the pace clock and take a longer rest interval than they should.
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The do’s
Swimmers should ensure that they start drinking early during training, within the first 15 minutes. They should aim to drink around 500 ml per hour (A standard sized sports water bottle). Swimmers should drink little and often, ideally every 15 to 20 minutes. They may also wish to consume a sports drink during a long training session.
Related article on swimming hydration
We have produced a related article on swimming hydration. Which you can view by clicking this link: swimming hydration.
Swimmers need to replenish their fuel levels and should ensure they refuel, ideally 20 minutes after training.
Many top swimmers review their training performance. To help them with this process many swimmers have a training evaluation sheet, which they keep in their swimming log.
Related article on the benefits of a swimming log
We have produced a related article on the benefits of keeping a swimming log. Which you can view by clicking this link: swimming log.
A swimmer wishing to continue swimming at their optimum needs to practice invisible swimming training. Invisible swimming training is a series of disciplines to help ensure that swimmers receive the correct levels of nutrition and hydration, in combination with rest, recovery, relaxation and sleep.
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We have produced a related article on invisible swimming training. Which you can view by clicking this link: invisible swimming training.
Takeaways
Competitive swimming can be a gruelling sport, requiring swimmers to undertake many hours of repetitive training each week, in pursuit of excellence.
The primary role of a swimming coach is to impart their knowledge and experience, to help the swimmers in their charge reach their full potential.
Therefore, it’s important that swimmers make the best of each training session in order to achieve their swimming goals, and in doing so make their swimming coach very happy.
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