Confessions of a Swim Coach....

monster · 03-03-2009, 09:58 PM

....who can only just do a decent crawl and a passable breast-stroke.

If you had told me even 5 years ago that I'd be a swim coach one day, I'd've laughed 'til I peed (in the pool). After I'd finished my lap of poodle-style breaststroke.

Yet today was my first day as a swim coach -a paid swim coach, no less. Ok admittedly there was no competition for the job and I'm only paid because getting me (and my partner in crime, another swim mom) on the payroll also gets us insured etc.... but it brings a whole new level of responsibility -one that i'm determined to take seriously. not just responsibilty for the kids, but also to them. Plus this is my first paid job in the US!

First, a little background....

My kids go to a public school, but it's one with an alternative ("hippie") approach to education, and so is a magnet school -that means all kids within the school disctrict can go there (if they can get in -lottery entry, long waiting lists). It's small (because our program works best in smaller learning communities) and it's K-8 which means we have middle schoolers. Middle school students can compete with the other middle schools at various sports throughout the year. Historically, the Open School hasn't done much of this because we're all about co-operative learning and personal goals rather than winning. Plus we only have 150 middle-school kids, compare to the 1000 or so in the other schools, and ours live all over the city not locally, so kids who've wanted to compete in sports have just joined the team at their local middle school.

Recently, there has been more interest in competitive sports at the school, We've fielded a few eams in the "easy" sports -the ones most kids and teachers know and need little coaching. But never a swim team before. My friend and I decided that needed to change because our daughters entered 6th grade and we know there are many other good -seriously good- swimmers who would love the chance to represent their school, so the "Athletic Director" (my 4th grader's teacher who gets a ittle extra for the title and has a vague interest in sports) said, if you coach it, we can do it.

So now here we are.

First day of practice. 15 kids showed up which was great -we had about 25 said they wanted to join, but there was no bus home after practice today (for whatever reason

), so some bus kids couldn't stay, and some didn't realize volleyball would clash with swimming, so opted for that instead. I asked around, and about 20-30 is the usual size of the team in the middle schhols with hundreds of kids. also at our school turn-up is usually only a maximum of 50% of expressed interest, and we need only 10 to run the team, so we were happy.

we were even more happy to learn that 13 of them could swim very well, about half of them are reaonably skilled in all 4 competitive strokes (we already knew that), the rest make a reasonable showing in all but butterfly.

So I got the two "drowners" -this what what we thought would be the best way before we started, but just seemed to occur naturally anyway. (the other coach is a former swimmer and swim instructor so is all up in the fancy stuff, I'm a swim mom of many years standing... if you spend long enough in the bleachers, you know a decent stroke when you see one... and enough time watching lessons will give you the terminology for dealing with the basics...)

A is a small 6th grader, who I suspect is a loner -and that's possibly why swimming appeals. He has a basic idea of freestyle, backstroke and breastroke, but no power, more of a lick and a promise (a UK term I LOVE,feel free to google it

) His arm movements were minimal, his legs bent like a cyclist and he took about three minutes to swim a lenth in any stroke. Well maybe not that much but it felt like it. but he was super-keen and ready to learn.

D is a big 7th grader with some educational/social issues. Not sure what, it was a bit of a surprise as usually parents mention such things.. but anyhoo, he presents as a high-functioning aspy type, so I can deal with that. He started by telling us he couldn't do crawl, but his doggypaddle was OK, then proceeded to do a really nice crawl, just tired early. His breastroke was more like two-armed doggy-paddle, and his backstroke had the lifeguard over in a flash. it was hard to tell which direction he was supposed to be going in, it was more like a sucession of oyeters from a synchronized swimmer.

I felt like a fraud as a coach when I started this adventure, but somehow I managed to get both A and D to trust me and try the things I suggested, and by the end of the hour I had them both doing a recognizable backstroke and breaststroke, and the life guard went over to learn flipturns from the other coach.

I found that both kids responded well to learning why it's best to move their arms and legs in a certain way -how it made the water flow around them. -Not to "windmill" in the backstroke but to push the water down the sides of the body...) Looks like I found nerds like me

. I know what the strokes should look like -I've sat on enough pool decks and watched enough coaches, but apparently, these two kids have done that too. The first time i demonstrated what I wanted, the improved a little, but the second time when I told them why it works and to focus on moving the water rather than moving through it, they improved a lot.

Similar story for the breaststroke. Maybe I'm not such a fraud, after all? I feel good about practice tonight. Coach M is gonna have to teach them the fly though. Then I'll explain why it works....

Clodfobble · 03-03-2009, 10:13 PM

Man, I never got the point of the butterfly. Such an incredibly inefficient stroke. Anyway, congrats on the new job, monster!

monster · 03-03-2009, 10:22 PM

inefficient? it's faster than back or breast (it was developed as a more efficient form of breaststroke)... just requires drowning, as far as I can tell...

..we were chatting with a few of the kids after practice and I said "oh i can't fly either" and M said "you have a really nice fly" which was cool except she can only ever have seen me do 4/5 experimental strokes, after which I felt I must breathe and so options were drown or stop....

ZenGum · 03-03-2009, 11:07 PM

Australia once had an olympic swim coach who could not swim. Really. (I think it was Lawrie Lawrence, maybe not).

One time some of the junior members of the squad tossed him in the pool at the end of a meet. He struggled gamely for a moment before some senior swimmers remembered that he can't swim and jumped in to drag him out. lol!

Aliantha · 03-04-2009, 01:44 AM

I had Lawrie Lawrence for squad training when I was kid. I couldn't stand him. wish I'd known he couldn't swim.

If you weren't swimming fast enough, he'd hit you on the head with a big stick he used to walk up and down the side of the pool with.

xoxoxoBruce · 03-04-2009, 03:32 AM

Quote:

a lick and a promise (a UK term I LOVE,feel free to google it )

American also.
Good luck with the coaching career.

footfootfoot · 03-04-2009, 05:52 AM

I saw a cellar tagline hidden in your post Monstah!

monster · 03-04-2009, 07:02 AM

hehe.

Really, Bruce? Cool. I get strange looks when I use it here and when I googled a few sites said british. Maybe it's regional.

Feedback so far is positive. we don't want it to be a heavy pressure team -we're out for fun and improved swimming and if we win any races, all the better.

We went straight from practice to a meet for the other team ...a distance meet no less! I'm pooped, never mind the kids -who had no idea that is was a 200 instead of a 100 yard race like it is in the fall.

They were a little harder to wake this morning ...but a lot more pleasant (they're always better tempered when they've had a workout)

SteveDallas · 03-04-2009, 09:04 AM

"A lick and a promise" was a fairly common expression I heard growing up. But then that was in Western NC. Perhaps it filtered down through the Appalachian Scots/Irish heritage.

Anyway.. coaching a swim team? Be careful.. you can get in trouble.

xoxoxoBruce · 03-04-2009, 11:11 AM

Common in New England, at least in the rural parts... don't know about them there city slickers.

DanaC · 03-04-2009, 02:59 PM

This thread wasn't nearly as smutty as the title hinted it might be...

monster · 03-04-2009, 03:07 PM

...it wasn't political, though.....

SteveDallas · 03-04-2009, 03:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DanaC

This thread wasn't nearly as smutty as the title hinted it might be...

Hey . . . I tried!!

monster · 03-09-2009, 12:08 AM

I just completed my online training in Bloodborne Pathogens, Diversity and Sexual Harassment. What fun! (nearly 2 hours....)

Thursday's practice was a bit of a PITA -the lifeguard "forgot" so walked past us as he left the building and had to be called back (we assumed he was just going to get something from somewhere....). 20 Minutes later, we got into the pool. Backstroke was the feature of the day. I took the same two guys and we made a lot of progress, but I was worried about how they would swim "under pressure" -most kids do better, but some don't. However, when we practiced backstroke starts, one kid at a time, all watching, they swam their best ever -straightest arms, fastest motion... and were pleased as punch when they hit the wall. They have a long way to go, but in two hours, they've already blown my socks off!

The two kids I have really want to swim, but they have the sort of personalities that make it hard for them to learn what they need to know in a large group. One of them (who is not so keen on change) has the same goggles he's had for many years. They are too small for him and opaque, so i explained to his mom how to choose the right pair for him, and went on to explain what we had been working on in his backstroke, asking my daughter, hebe, to demonstrate.

Hebe said to me later... it was really weird, you don't sound like a mom anymore, you sound like a swim coach.

Sundae · 03-09-2009, 12:43 PM

You don't have to be a world record breaker to train them.
Or even a professional football coach to coach them.
You just have to have perception, enthusiasm and nous. And that's definitely an English term

You go for it Mon. You're just what they need!

My SIL was named after a German swimmer her Dad coached. Can't give any more details without giving them away. But she's a far better swimmer than her Dad - and he was a fantastic coach.

Personally, I hate swimming. It comes from growing up with hearing problems and encroaching short-sightedness. Oh and being very skinny and a late developer. The whole swimming experience was hideous for me after age 13 - I couldn't recognise anyone, the echoes were frightening, I was flat chested and my hip bones stuck out. And even in the pool I felt ashamed because the "fun" things to do involved getting out & jumping in, or diving under people's legs.

Part of me wishes I'd had a daughter, because I'd have been So Bloody Fierce about making sure she knew she was gorgeous. But then I'd have fucked her up in other ways no doubt.

03-03-2009, 09:58 PM	#1
monster I hear them call the tide Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Perpetual Chaos Posts: 30,852	Confessions of a Swim Coach.... ....who can only just do a decent crawl and a passable breast-stroke. If you had told me even 5 years ago that I'd be a swim coach one day, I'd've laughed 'til I peed (in the pool). After I'd finished my lap of poodle-style breaststroke. Yet today was my first day as a swim coach -a paid swim coach, no less. Ok admittedly there was no competition for the job and I'm only paid because getting me (and my partner in crime, another swim mom) on the payroll also gets us insured etc.... but it brings a whole new level of responsibility -one that i'm determined to take seriously. not just responsibilty for the kids, but also to them. Plus this is my first paid job in the US! First, a little background.... My kids go to a public school, but it's one with an alternative ("hippie") approach to education, and so is a magnet school -that means all kids within the school disctrict can go there (if they can get in -lottery entry, long waiting lists). It's small (because our program works best in smaller learning communities) and it's K-8 which means we have middle schoolers. Middle school students can compete with the other middle schools at various sports throughout the year. Historically, the Open School hasn't done much of this because we're all about co-operative learning and personal goals rather than winning. Plus we only have 150 middle-school kids, compare to the 1000 or so in the other schools, and ours live all over the city not locally, so kids who've wanted to compete in sports have just joined the team at their local middle school. Recently, there has been more interest in competitive sports at the school, We've fielded a few eams in the "easy" sports -the ones most kids and teachers know and need little coaching. But never a swim team before. My friend and I decided that needed to change because our daughters entered 6th grade and we know there are many other good -seriously good- swimmers who would love the chance to represent their school, so the "Athletic Director" (my 4th grader's teacher who gets a ittle extra for the title and has a vague interest in sports) said, if you coach it, we can do it. So now here we are. First day of practice. 15 kids showed up which was great -we had about 25 said they wanted to join, but there was no bus home after practice today (for whatever reason ), so some bus kids couldn't stay, and some didn't realize volleyball would clash with swimming, so opted for that instead. I asked around, and about 20-30 is the usual size of the team in the middle schhols with hundreds of kids. also at our school turn-up is usually only a maximum of 50% of expressed interest, and we need only 10 to run the team, so we were happy. we were even more happy to learn that 13 of them could swim very well, about half of them are reaonably skilled in all 4 competitive strokes (we already knew that), the rest make a reasonable showing in all but butterfly. So I got the two "drowners" -this what what we thought would be the best way before we started, but just seemed to occur naturally anyway. (the other coach is a former swimmer and swim instructor so is all up in the fancy stuff, I'm a swim mom of many years standing... if you spend long enough in the bleachers, you know a decent stroke when you see one... and enough time watching lessons will give you the terminology for dealing with the basics...) A is a small 6th grader, who I suspect is a loner -and that's possibly why swimming appeals. He has a basic idea of freestyle, backstroke and breastroke, but no power, more of a lick and a promise (a UK term I LOVE,feel free to google it ) His arm movements were minimal, his legs bent like a cyclist and he took about three minutes to swim a lenth in any stroke. Well maybe not that much but it felt like it. but he was super-keen and ready to learn. D is a big 7th grader with some educational/social issues. Not sure what, it was a bit of a surprise as usually parents mention such things.. but anyhoo, he presents as a high-functioning aspy type, so I can deal with that. He started by telling us he couldn't do crawl, but his doggypaddle was OK, then proceeded to do a really nice crawl, just tired early. His breastroke was more like two-armed doggy-paddle, and his backstroke had the lifeguard over in a flash. it was hard to tell which direction he was supposed to be going in, it was more like a sucession of oyeters from a synchronized swimmer. I felt like a fraud as a coach when I started this adventure, but somehow I managed to get both A and D to trust me and try the things I suggested, and by the end of the hour I had them both doing a recognizable backstroke and breaststroke, and the life guard went over to learn flipturns from the other coach. I found that both kids responded well to learning why it's best to move their arms and legs in a certain way -how it made the water flow around them. -Not to "windmill" in the backstroke but to push the water down the sides of the body...) Looks like I found nerds like me . I know what the strokes should look like -I've sat on enough pool decks and watched enough coaches, but apparently, these two kids have done that too. The first time i demonstrated what I wanted, the improved a little, but the second time when I told them why it works and to focus on moving the water rather than moving through it, they improved a lot. Similar story for the breaststroke. Maybe I'm not such a fraud, after all? I feel good about practice tonight. Coach M is gonna have to teach them the fly though. Then I'll explain why it works.... __________________ The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity Amelia Earhart

03-03-2009, 10:13 PM	#2
Clodfobble UNDER CONDITIONAL MITIGATION Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 20,012	Man, I never got the point of the butterfly. Such an incredibly inefficient stroke. Anyway, congrats on the new job, monster! __________________ My book My other book My spirit animal

03-03-2009, 10:22 PM	#3
monster I hear them call the tide Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Perpetual Chaos Posts: 30,852	inefficient? it's faster than back or breast (it was developed as a more efficient form of breaststroke)... just requires drowning, as far as I can tell... ..we were chatting with a few of the kids after practice and I said "oh i can't fly either" and M said "you have a really nice fly" which was cool except she can only ever have seen me do 4/5 experimental strokes, after which I felt I must breathe and so options were drown or stop.... __________________ The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity Amelia Earhart

03-03-2009, 11:07 PM	#4
ZenGum Doctor Wtf Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Badelaide, Baustralia Posts: 12,861	Australia once had an olympic swim coach who could not swim. Really. (I think it was Lawrie Lawrence, maybe not). One time some of the junior members of the squad tossed him in the pool at the end of a meet. He struggled gamely for a moment before some senior swimmers remembered that he can't swim and jumped in to drag him out. lol! __________________ Shut up and hug. MoreThanPretty, Nov 5, 2008. Just because I'm nominally polite, does not make me a pussy. Sundae Girl.

03-04-2009, 01:44 AM	#5
Aliantha trying hard to be a better person Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 16,493	I had Lawrie Lawrence for squad training when I was kid. I couldn't stand him. wish I'd known he couldn't swim. If you weren't swimming fast enough, he'd hit you on the head with a big stick he used to walk up and down the side of the pool with. __________________ Kind words are the music of the world. F. W. Faber

03-04-2009, 05:52 AM	#7
footfootfoot To shreds, you say? Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: in the house and on the street-how many, many feet we meet! Posts: 18,449	I saw a cellar tagline hidden in your post Monstah! __________________ The internet is a hateful stew of vomit you can never take completely seriously. - Her Fobs

03-04-2009, 07:02 AM	#8
monster I hear them call the tide Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Perpetual Chaos Posts: 30,852	hehe. Really, Bruce? Cool. I get strange looks when I use it here and when I googled a few sites said british. Maybe it's regional. Feedback so far is positive. we don't want it to be a heavy pressure team -we're out for fun and improved swimming and if we win any races, all the better. We went straight from practice to a meet for the other team ...a distance meet no less! I'm pooped, never mind the kids -who had no idea that is was a 200 instead of a 100 yard race like it is in the fall. They were a little harder to wake this morning ...but a lot more pleasant (they're always better tempered when they've had a workout) __________________ The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity Amelia Earhart

03-04-2009, 09:04 AM	#9
SteveDallas Your Bartender Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Philly Burbs, PA Posts: 7,651	"A lick and a promise" was a fairly common expression I heard growing up. But then that was in Western NC. Perhaps it filtered down through the Appalachian Scots/Irish heritage. Anyway.. coaching a swim team? Be careful.. you can get in trouble.

03-04-2009, 11:11 AM	#10
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	Common in New England, at least in the rural parts... don't know about them there city slickers. __________________ The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.

03-04-2009, 02:59 PM	#11
DanaC We have to go back, Kate! Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Yorkshire Posts: 25,964	This thread wasn't nearly as smutty as the title hinted it might be...

03-04-2009, 03:07 PM	#12
monster I hear them call the tide Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Perpetual Chaos Posts: 30,852	...it wasn't political, though..... __________________ The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity Amelia Earhart

03-09-2009, 12:08 AM	#14
monster I hear them call the tide Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Perpetual Chaos Posts: 30,852	I just completed my online training in Bloodborne Pathogens, Diversity and Sexual Harassment. What fun! (nearly 2 hours....) Thursday's practice was a bit of a PITA -the lifeguard "forgot" so walked past us as he left the building and had to be called back (we assumed he was just going to get something from somewhere....). 20 Minutes later, we got into the pool. Backstroke was the feature of the day. I took the same two guys and we made a lot of progress, but I was worried about how they would swim "under pressure" -most kids do better, but some don't. However, when we practiced backstroke starts, one kid at a time, all watching, they swam their best ever -straightest arms, fastest motion... and were pleased as punch when they hit the wall. They have a long way to go, but in two hours, they've already blown my socks off! The two kids I have really want to swim, but they have the sort of personalities that make it hard for them to learn what they need to know in a large group. One of them (who is not so keen on change) has the same goggles he's had for many years. They are too small for him and opaque, so i explained to his mom how to choose the right pair for him, and went on to explain what we had been working on in his backstroke, asking my daughter, hebe, to demonstrate. Hebe said to me later... it was really weird, you don't sound like a mom anymore, you sound like a swim coach. __________________ The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is merely tenacity Amelia Earhart

03-09-2009, 12:43 PM	#15
Sundae polaroid of perfection Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: West Yorkshire Posts: 24,185	You don't have to be a world record breaker to train them. Or even a professional football coach to coach them. You just have to have perception, enthusiasm and nous. And that's definitely an English term You go for it Mon. You're just what they need! My SIL was named after a German swimmer her Dad coached. Can't give any more details without giving them away. But she's a far better swimmer than her Dad - and he was a fantastic coach. Personally, I hate swimming. It comes from growing up with hearing problems and encroaching short-sightedness. Oh and being very skinny and a late developer. The whole swimming experience was hideous for me after age 13 - I couldn't recognise anyone, the echoes were frightening, I was flat chested and my hip bones stuck out. And even in the pool I felt ashamed because the "fun" things to do involved getting out & jumping in, or diving under people's legs. Part of me wishes I'd had a daughter, because I'd have been So Bloody Fierce about making sure she knew she was gorgeous. But then I'd have fucked her up in other ways no doubt. __________________ Life's hard you know, so strike a pose on a Cadillac

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