First-time summer swim coach seeks advice from parents!

Hi everyone! I realize this is probably not a topic most of you are
thinking about at this time of year, but I recently got a job as head
coach of a summer swim team. I was an assistant coach last year but
have never been a head coach before. The children on my team range
from four to sixteen; I will also teach private lessons to children of
all ages (could be some very young children). I don't have much
experience working with swim team parents, and I wanted to ask for any
advice you might have. Swim parents, or even parents who've had any
swim lessons/team experience: what do you look for in a good swim
coach/instructor? What skills do I need to develop before May rolls
around? What strengths/weakness have you seen in swim
coaches/instructors? I am very excited about this opportunity and
would appreciate any advice you may have for me! Thanks so much!

Swim parents, or even parents who've had any
swim lessons/team experience: what do you look for in a good swim
coach/instructor?

These aren't necessarily suggestions that apply specifically to swim team,
although Henry did swim for a couple of years when he was in 1st and 2nd grade:

-Realize it's a recreational event, not life-and-death. If the child wants to
face it as do-or-die, fine -- but don't expect that from most of your swimmers.
They are there as much for the friendship as they are for the sport. There's
plenty of time for that in high school and college, but a summer league should
be fun.

-Communicate clearly with the parents about practice times, competition times,
and expectations of the swimmers. Do not expect each athlete to be able to
communicate these effectively to parents. Communicate in writing and do so
regularly. Make some sort of mechanism for reaching you by phone available
(although it is fine to put limits on that such as times of day, etc). And
please limit last-minute schedule changes.

-Consider different practice times for inexperienced swimmers, so that they can
get the individual attention they need in a non-threatening, non-pressure
environment.

-Don't tolerate hazing-type activity from the more experienced swimmers,
directed at younger or less-experienced swimmers.

-Be willing to bench any athlete -- even your most gifted, even in the most
critical meet -- for breaking your rules. If you can't do that then you
shouldn't enforce any rules on any swimmers.

-Here's the one swim-specfic suggestion I'd have (although it's certainly
applicable to track and field as well): If you have a race schedule ahead of
time, provide it to parents. Busy working parents want to be there for their
kids when they swim, but rarely have the entire afternoon available to sit
around and wait for the one 2-minute race their child is in. It's a Godsend to
have the knowledge that Junior's race will be some time between 3 and 4 p.m.,
rather than "some time Wednesday afternoon."

Most of all, thanks. So few adults are willing to take on this important role
for kids, and fewer still are self-aware and open enough to ask for feedback on
how to do the job well (I'll extend that criticism all the way to the college
level). Just the fact that you are asking makes me believe you'll be very good
at it.

Dawn
Mom to Henry, 11, currently a track kid, and employee of a NCAA Division I
college athletic program

(Katie) wrote:

Hi everyone! I realize this is probably not a topic most of you are
thinking about at this time of year, but I recently got a job as head
coach of a summer swim team. I was an assistant coach last year but
have never been a head coach before. The children on my team range
from four to sixteen; I will also teach private lessons to children of
all ages (could be some very young children). I don't have much
experience working with swim team parents, and I wanted to ask for any
advice you might have. Swim parents, or even parents who've had any
swim lessons/team experience: what do you look for in a good swim
coach/instructor? What skills do I need to develop before May rolls
around? What strengths/weakness have you seen in swim
coaches/instructors? I am very excited about this opportunity and
would appreciate any advice you may have for me! Thanks so much!

I never was on any swim team as a child. When my 2nd daughter was 6,
she was on a summer swim team, and I worked the meets as a timer and
stroke judge. I was a Red Cross Water Safety Instructor at the time
so I was teaching classes at the pool anyway. When she was 8, I
coached a year round swim team for about 6 years - assistant coach for
a couple of years and then head coach. I also had a summer team one
year.

If you don't have it now, I recommend that you get the Red Cross Water
Safety Instructor certification (it is one step beyond Life Saving if
it is still the same now as when I was doing it). They teach more
strokes than the swim team will use, but that won't hurt. You
probably also ought to have CPR training, and also blood borne
pathogen training.

Find out if the local swim association has any seminars or anything
like that for before the season starts. I found these very helpful.
When I was doing it, they were run by the AAU, but I think now it is
US Swimming. They gave me ideas for stroke drills and ways to run
practice, and ways to motivate swimmers etc. I also got some ideas
from a UVA swim camp that some of my children attended.

If they have training for officials, you probably ought to take that
too, so that you know what the officials are looking for and can coach
the kids to perform their strokes and turns legally.

I relied on a book written by James Councilman called "The Science of
Swimming" for instruction on how to coach. Of course he was coaching
a college age team, and I had age-groupers, so I had to modify his
actual workouts quite a bit. See if there is something similar out
there now.

I tried to run practice so that everyone was swimming most of the time
and not just kicking down the lane on a kickboard talking to their
friends or hanging on the edge or standing around shivering.

I used to do stroke drills maybe once a week. Stoke drills are things
like one arm butterfly, upside down butterfly, swimming with one foot
out of the water, breast stroke kick with your hands behind your back
etc. The kids were lined up about 5 to 8 in each lane with the
fastest 6 at the head each lane, and then the next fastest 6 and so
on. After the warmup, I'd say OK - 25 of (insert stroke drill) and
then I would start the first 6 with a whistle, and then the second 6
etc. They'd climb out at the end and line up again. (I told them the
faster they got there, the more rest they'd get before the next set).

I'm not sure what advice to give you on working with parents. I
always made it clear to the kids on the team (and the parents too)
that I would require that every kid try to learn every stroke, and
that they would be seeded in the events where I needed them regardless
of whether it was an event that they like to swim or not. You can't
have prima donnas who will only swim breast stroke for instance.

You want the parents to do some jobs and you want them there for
helping with meets. I got into the coaching thing by accident because
the coach that the team had didn't have any way of keeping records of
what the kids had done, and I started doing that. So don't be afraid
to ask for help, but try to get intimidated by the aggressive parents.

I had an advantage in that I was coaching age group teams made up
mostly of military dependents, and my husband was a fairly high
ranking officer. So I didn't have the problem that the enlisted men
who were coaching had where the fathers of the children tried to pull
rank on the coach. They couldn't do that with me because I was a
civilian.




grandma Rosalie

I've piggy backed on Dawn's post and cut of what she wrote - not
because I don't agree but for space and quoting limitations.
Unfortunately I forgot to note where I cut. Sorry.


(Iowacookiemom) wrote:

Swim parents, or even parents who've had any
swim lessons/team experience: what do you look for in a good swim
coach/instructor?

-Realize it's a recreational event, not life-and-death. If the child wants to
face it as do-or-die, fine -- but don't expect that from most of your swimmers.
They are there as much for the friendship as they are for the sport. There's
plenty of time for that in high school and college, but a summer league should
be fun.

I agree with this - I was coaching a year round team, but it still
applies. I encouraged the children to do their best and tried to
de-emphasize the winning aspect a little bit. I set a goal for each
swimmer to meet and gave them a ribbon when they met that goal. You
may not have enough information or experience to do that, but it is
nice to recognize improvement even if you can't give ribbons for it.
So you might have make up a list after the meet of the kids who have
improved their times from the previous meet.

-Consider different practice times for inexperienced swimmers, so that they can
get the individual attention they need in a non-threatening, non-pressure
environment.

I got into the whole coaching thing by helping out with the younger
swimmers. The better swimmers swam with the head coach only after
they could do a 200 freestyle in less than some number of minutes (5?
3?) I had all the rest of them to teach to swim. When I became head
coach I tried to have a parent or an assistant coach to work with the
little kids who couldn't swim well yet. In one case it was a Navy
Captain (equivalent to a full Colonel). He didn't even have any kids
on the team.

-Be willing to bench any athlete -- even your most gifted, even in the most
critical meet -- for breaking your rules. If you can't do that then you
shouldn't enforce any rules on any swimmers.

This was hard for me because my children often pushed the envelope,
but I did my best to follow this rule too. Almost my only rule was
that the kids should show up for the meet and swim what I'd assigned
them to swim. I didn't have any rules about number of practices
because those people that didn't practice didn't swim well, so it was
a natural consequence.

When I took over as head coach, the former head coach had quit because
of pressure from parents, and ditto the one before that. So I made it
clear that if I took the job, I was the boss and not the parent's
committee.

The primary problem I had was that parents wanted their kids to swim
only certain events that their kid liked and not have to swim stuff
that they didn't like. I had one little girl who never swam anything
but breast stroke, and an older boy who never swam backstroke etc. I
did lose one or two who got miffed when I made them swim backstroke or
whatever and quit.

-Here's the one swim-specfic suggestion I'd have (although it's certainly
applicable to track and field as well): If you have a race schedule ahead of
time, provide it to parents. Busy working parents want to be there for their
kids when they swim, but rarely have the entire afternoon available to sit
around and wait for the one 2-minute race their child is in. It's a Godsend to
have the knowledge that Junior's race will be some time between 3 and 4 p.m.,
rather than "some time Wednesday afternoon."

I don't think much of this suggestion. I'd want the parents there and
working at the meet - timing, record keeping getting the kids to their
events etc.

We had a local summer league rule that there was only one heat of any
event, which meant that the whole meet didn't take more than about 2
hours. I don't think that's a lot to ask. (That's also why I needed
them to swim more than just their favorite strokes. If you have 10
girls in the 10-11 age group and 4 of them only swim breast stroke,
and only 3 lanes for them to swim in their age group breast stroke,
obviously someone is not going to get to swim breast stroke.)

We also had a rule about maximum participation, and I made sure that
if it was physically possible each child swam as many events as they
were allowed to swim, which was two events and at least one relay. So
it wasn't just one race that the kid was in.

Most of all, thanks. So few adults are willing to take on this important role
for kids, and fewer still are self-aware and open enough to ask for feedback on
how to do the job well (I'll extend that criticism all the way to the college
level). Just the fact that you are asking makes me believe you'll be very good
at it.

Dawn
Mom to Henry, 11, currently a track kid, and employee of a NCAA Division I
college athletic program

grandma Rosalie

Rosalie B. wrote:
(Katie) wrote:


Hi everyone! I realize this is probably not a topic most of you are
thinking about at this time of year, but I recently got a job as head
coach of a summer swim team. I was an assistant coach last year but
have never been a head coach before. The children on my team range

from four to sixteen; I will also teach private lessons to children of

all ages (could be some very young children). I don't have much
experience working with swim team parents, and I wanted to ask for any
advice you might have. Swim parents, or even parents who've had any
swim lessons/team experience: what do you look for in a good swim
coach/instructor? What skills do I need to develop before May rolls
around? What strengths/weakness have you seen in swim
coaches/instructors? I am very excited about this opportunity and
would appreciate any advice you may have for me! Thanks so much!

[snip]


If you don't have it now, I recommend that you get the Red Cross Water
Safety Instructor certification (it is one step beyond Life Saving if
it is still the same now as when I was doing it). They teach more
strokes than the swim team will use, but that won't hurt. You
probably also ought to have CPR training, and also blood borne
pathogen training.

I would be very surprised if this was not a requirement for
the coaching job the OP got. It certainly is for my kids'
summer swim coaches.

For the OP: Develop your skills of patience and have fun.
DD's and DS's favorite coaches were/are the ones that got/get in
the water and play with them, chased them through the
water, etc. Bring water toys to practice, etc.

Provide some supplemental time for those kids who want more
individualized workouts. DD and DS had swim team in the
morning, but some evenings there was stroke practice, or
starts/turns practice. It wasn't required, it was just
for kids who wanted to be there.

Try to keep an eye on the kids who spend all their time
goofing off, as they can really distract the other swimmers,
especially at younger ages.

Also, as has been noted already, communicate communicate
communicate with the parents.

Scott DD 10.5 and DS -8-

Thank you, Rosalie and Dawn for the prompt responses! I tried to
respond paragraph by paragraph to your messages; if it's confusing,
I'm very sorry, but I'm late and it's early.

Dawn:

-Point taken. I do tend to make swimming much more serious than it
ought to be, since I come from a family of swimmers and have been year
around for six years. I try to incorporate fun into my practices
(games, etc) but I do need the reminder now and then that swimming
isn't an obsession for all of my kids.

-I had the idea to write a weekly newsletter through email, and was
wondering if it was a good one. Would you have appreciated that if a
coach did that on your swim team?

-Our team does have different practice times, so this is not an issue!

-Wow. I had no idea that such "hazing" existed in swimming; thank you
for mentioning this; I will be sure to watch for it.

-Don't know how possible this is, especially since the kids are
normally in events all through the meet and I honestly have no idea
when they will swim. I can tell parents the order of events if that
would help, but sometimes the meet can be held up many hours due to
weather and they may even drop some events in rare cases. I'm glad to
know of this concern, though.

-You're welcome. Even through I'm not technically an adult yet
(will be 18 in June). Swimming is my life and I love to work with
kids; I fell in love with this group last year and can't wait to see
them again. Coaching is the best job in the world; convince my mom
that it's a responsible career choice and I'll do it all my life!!

Rosalie:

I have not taken any classes yet, but am scheduled to take three in
March: YMCA Lifeguarding, CPR for the Professional Rescuer, and First
Aid. I know about WSI but don't think my pool offers it. My parents'
board really doesn't know whether those are suitable or not, but told
me that's all I need. What do you think?

My dad was a stroke and turn for fifteen years (and still does it!) so
I know the rules pretty well; I also have a rulebook and refer to it
frequently. I have never been to one of his classes but will consider
going.

Thanks. If anyone knows any other books that I could order from
Amazon, etc, about coaching age group kids, let me know. My book
store didn't have any, so I have to order online.

Good adivce. Thanks.

Ditto.

Do you have any mechanisms to get parents involved at meets that
worked for you? Would a sign-up sheet on the bulliten board do the
trick or do I need other methods?


Again, thank you to both of you; I hope my message wasn't too
confusing. Gotta go: I've got NHS volunteering to do (and what do
you know: it's a KIDS skating party...gee, whodathunk??). I hope to
speak to you soon!

Katie wrote:
Swim parents, or even parents who've had any
swim lessons/team experience: what do you look for in a good swim
coach/instructor? What skills do I need to develop before May rolls
around? What strengths/weakness have you seen in swim
coaches/instructors? I am very excited about this opportunity and
would appreciate any advice you may have for me! Thanks so much!


How many kids on the team? We have probably 75 or so, from
under sixes to high school. Really, what you need is eyes
in the back of your head - supervising can be a bit tricky,
especially for the 9 to 12 group, which can be a bit of a
problem in my experience.

So I think you need the nurturing/encouraging skills for
younger, more timid children and a bit of a drill sgt. side
for some of the older ones who will want to test the limits.

Good luck!

Lesley

Katie wrote:
..

-I had the idea to write a weekly newsletter through email, and was
wondering if it was a good one. Would you have appreciated that if a
coach did that on your swim team?




Our team parents did this last year, and I thought it was
great. It reminded us about the next meet, provided a link
to map-it if the meet was away, listed what volunteer duties
needed to be filled and occasionally brought up a problem.
This would be a good item for you to delegate to an involved
parent, imo.

Lesley

x-no-archive:yes


Scott wrote:

Rosalie B. wrote:
(Katie) wrote:

Hi everyone! I realize this is probably not a topic most of you are
thinking about at this time of year, but I recently got a job as head
coach of a summer swim team. I was an assistant coach last year but
have never been a head coach before. The children on my team range

from four to sixteen; I will also teach private lessons to children of

all ages (could be some very young children). I don't have much
experience working with swim team parents, and I wanted to ask for any
advice you might have. Swim parents, or even parents who've had any
swim lessons/team experience: what do you look for in a good swim
coach/instructor? What skills do I need to develop before May rolls
around? What strengths/weakness have you seen in swim
coaches/instructors? I am very excited about this opportunity and
would appreciate any advice you may have for me! Thanks so much!

[snip]


If you don't have it now, I recommend that you get the Red Cross Water
Safety Instructor certification (it is one step beyond Life Saving if
it is still the same now as when I was doing it). They teach more
strokes than the swim team will use, but that won't hurt. You
probably also ought to have CPR training, and also blood borne
pathogen training.

I would be very surprised if this was not a requirement for
the coaching job the OP got. It certainly is for my kids'
summer swim coaches.

Most of the time for summer coaches all that was required was life
saving training. And the OP has confirmed that.

For the OP: Develop your skills of patience and have fun.
DD's and DS's favorite coaches were/are the ones that got/get in
the water and play with them, chased them through the
water, etc. Bring water toys to practice, etc.

This is sometimes a good idea and sometimes not. I would be in the
water when teaching a beginners class, but for all other classes and
when coaching a team, one does not have a good vantage point to be
able to see that someone is in trouble unless one is up on the side of
the pool. I would NOT want someone to be in the water with a number
of kids (more than about 8 of them) that they were responsible for
because they can't see a problem quickly enough.

I did try to make practice fun and interesting by doing different
things so it wasn't just the same old same old. But I did it without
being in the water.

Provide some supplemental time for those kids who want more
individualized workouts. DD and DS had swim team in the
morning, but some evenings there was stroke practice, or
starts/turns practice. It wasn't required, it was just
for kids who wanted to be there.

Try to keep an eye on the kids who spend all their time
goofing off, as they can really distract the other swimmers,
especially at younger ages.

Also, as has been noted already, communicate communicate
communicate with the parents.

Scott DD 10.5 and DS -8-

grandma Rosalie

x-no-archive:yes

(Katie) wrote:

Thank you, Rosalie and Dawn for the prompt responses! I tried to
respond paragraph by paragraph to your messages; if it's confusing,
I'm very sorry, but I'm late and it's early.

Dawn:

That's ok
snip
-Wow. I had no idea that such "hazing" existed in swimming; thank you
for mentioning this; I will be sure to watch for it.

I was particularly adamant about towel snapping, since this can take
an eye out. Also tomfoolery around the pool - reminding the kids not
to run etc.

-Don't know how possible this is, especially since the kids are
normally in events all through the meet and I honestly have no idea
when they will swim. I can tell parents the order of events if that
would help, but sometimes the meet can be held up many hours due to
weather and they may even drop some events in rare cases. I'm glad to
know of this concern, though.

This would be more of a concern IMHO if it was a league with a lot of
big teams with multiple heats in an event, like a big (non-team) swim
meet.

snip

Rosalie:

I have not taken any classes yet, but am scheduled to take three in
March: YMCA Lifeguarding, CPR for the Professional Rescuer, and First
Aid. I know about WSI but don't think my pool offers it. My parents'
board really doesn't know whether those are suitable or not, but told
me that's all I need. What do you think?

You may have to take it somewhere else in the area. It's a much more
stringent class than the Lifeguarding class and also teaches you how
to teach swimming. You can coach without it.

My dad was a stroke and turn for fifteen years (and still does it!) so
I know the rules pretty well; I also have a rulebook and refer to it
frequently. I have never been to one of his classes but will consider
going.

Just be sure it is a current rulebook. Rules changed even in the time
I was coaching. I found that stroke and turn judging and also WSI
helped me to be able to see what the kids were actually doing in their
strokes, and that in turn helped me to be able to correct them and
help them improve. I had a lot more time with a year round team, but
sometimes I would do stroke grading one on one with the kids. Not
very often because I usually didn't have anyone else to oversee the
rest of the kids.

Thanks. If anyone knows any other books that I could order from
Amazon, etc, about coaching age group kids, let me know. My book
store didn't have any, so I have to order online.

Good adivce. Thanks.

Ditto.

Do you have any mechanisms to get parents involved at meets that
worked for you? Would a sign-up sheet on the bulliten board do the
trick or do I need other methods?

When the kids sign up for the team, you might have a section of the
form devoted to parental skills and volunteerability. And ask for
things like people's ability to teach, or keep records, time at meets,
keep score etc.

Again, thank you to both of you; I hope my message wasn't too
confusing. Gotta go: I've got NHS volunteering to do (and what do
you know: it's a KIDS skating party...gee, whodathunk??). I hope to
speak to you soon!

grandma Rosalie