Swim Coaching Brain » Swimming and Parenting

Creating a Winning Swimming Club Culture – excellence, environment, everything, everyday, everybody.

Wayne Goldsmith — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 22:56:57 +0000

: Children Playing from Crestock Royalty Free Images

Every swimming team has a unique culture.

Some teams have a culture of fun, enjoyment, family and friends.

Some teams have a culture of hard work, discipline, dedication and training.

Some teams are based at schools, colleges and universities and their culture is a reflection of the culture of the institution.

The culture of some teams comes from their location, the ethnic background of the people in the team, the climate or the city they live and train in.

Every team is unique and every culture is special.

But for many teams, there comes a time when the coaches, swimmers, families and supporters decide they want to become a winning team. They decide to set some serious competitive goals and work together as a team to achieve them.

And to become a winning team requires the development of a winning culture.

What is a winning culture?

It’s about environment and opportunity.

A winning culture is one where everyone in the team – coaches, swimmers, families, staff – everyone – is committed to creating a performance focused environment. A performance focused environment provides the opportunity for the team and every individual on the team – to win.

Developing a winning culture doesn’t mean you stop having fun. It doesn’t mean that swimming isn’t enjoyable. It doesn’t mean that people can’t hang out and be friends.

It means that the primary goal of the team and everyone associated with it is the development of an environment of excellence for everyone.

How do you develop a winning culture?

Empowerment and ownership: culture comes from within:

A winning culture grows from within. It cannot be imposed from the outside. The culture of the team is something which comes from the team members: you own it: it is part of you.

With many clubs, particularly those older established clubs with long traditions, there can be an attitude of “this is the way we do it here” or “that new idea will not work here because we’re different”.

In developing a winning club culture these barriers to success must be broken down. The swimmers, coaches, officials and families need to embrace change and to seek to be the best of the best in all aspects of swimming. Everyone needs to be committed to improving and accelerating team progress – at the same rate and in the same direction.

Respect the history and tradition of the club.

Respect and remember the great performances of the teams and swimmers of the past. But also strive to progress and improve on them. The greatest honor you can do for any club is to make it successful.

Practical Tip One: Before the beginning of the season, bring everyone in the team together for a day of sharing ideas and opinions. Give everyone a chance to speak and share their views. Provide the opportunity for everyone to be heard with respect and dignity. Allow the current team members to feel their views matter and the club is theirs – they are the current custodians of the club – and they are the people who will lead the club into a successful future.

Winning vision – a statement of success:

“if you don’t stand for something – you will fall for anything”.

A Team Vision is a statement which represents the views and opinions of the team which clearly states “this is who we are, what we want to do, where we are going and what we want to achieve as a team”. It is your team’s trademark!

For example:

“our vision is to work hard together and to strive to provide every swimmer the best possible opportunity to achieve their best”.

“our vision is to be the leading swim team in the state by consistently working hard, encouraging and supporting each other and doing everything possible to ensure all swimmers in the team have the opportunity to achieve success”.

Practical Tip Two: Once the team comes up with a team vision, write it up on the team room wall. Have every swimmer write it down in their training diary. Get it printed on t-shirts. The closer you stay in touch with this vision, the more the vision comes to life. The most successful teams in world sport are frequently those who compromised the least on making their vision become a reality.

Winning culture values:

Having a great vision is one thing: bringing it to life is another.

Values are a set of words that team members develop to provide a guide on how to act and live and which help you and your team realize your vision.

For example:

Team vision: our vision is to work hard together and to strive to provide every swimmer the best possible opportunity to achieve their best.

Values to support the Team vision:

hard work (“work hard” from the team vision);
passion (“strive” from the team vision);
team spirit (“together” from the team vision);
unity (“every swimmer” from the team vision);
respect (“every swimmer” from the team vision);
excellence (“best possible” and “best” from the team vision).

These six words become the themes for the team for the season and the guidelines for everything the team does.

Practical Tip Three: Use the values as “code words” for team practices. For example, when things get tough towards the end of a hard set, team members can use words like “passion” and “spirit” to encourage and motivate each other. Living the vision means living the dream.

Winning culture behaviours and standards:

In a perfect world, everyone would live the team values, everyday. However, just as there are “road regulations” to provide a set of rules for people to drive cars and “laws” to provide a set of rules for how to live as part of society, swim teams need to have a set of team rules to provide a framework for how to act and behave at training, competition and other team activities.

Team rules or behavior standards need to be developed and enforced by the people the rules and standards apply to:

The swimmers: team rules should grow from the team vision and team values and be a practical set of guidelines for how the team will behave in a range of situations and circumstances.

For example:

Team value: unity.

Team rule: all swimmers will have equal opportunity to train and compete.

Team value: hard work.

Team rule: all swimmers who have committed to swimming at national championships next season must complete a minimum of seven sessions per week.

In addition to team rules, a set of consequences for breaking team rules should be developed by the team. These are a set of clear, fair, just, reasonable and equitable “laws” which the swimmers in the team believe best represent how they want to be judged and punished for breaking team rules.

For example:

Team value: respect

Team rule: all swimmers will show respect for each other as people and for each other’s property.

Consequence for breaking team rule: team room cleaning duties for two weeks.

Practical Tip Four: Form a leadership group from team members which can be elected by team members or selected by a panel of team members and coaches. The leadership group should consist of swimmers of varying ages and levels of ability so that the views of everyone are listened to, respected and represented. The leadership group needs to be empowered to make decisions, to implement team rules and to administer the consequences of breaches of team standards of behaviours. From leadership comes culture….from culture comes performance.

Living excellence – “not every four years……..everyday” (US olympic training centre motto):

Lots of teams come up with great slogans, team visions and cool team rules. But very, very few teams actually develop winning cultures. Why? Because words which say excellence are easy to come up with – what makes the difference is living excellence.

Practical Tip Five: Develop a team war cry or song which is based on the team values and triggers everyone to start thinking and acting like a winning team.

At the start of every training session, someone in the team should lead the team war cry and everyone joins in signaling the start of training and the commitment the team has made to each other and to excellence.

Keep it relevant – continuous improvement:

Winning once is tough. But a winning culture means you are working to ensure that winning is sustainable – i.e. the culture that you have created is a positive, winning environment which provides ongoing opportunities for swimmers and coaches to perform at their best season after season after season……year after year after year.

It is important that the team sits down at the end of every season and reviews how things went and makes a new commitment to improving, changing and progressing.

Why? Because success in swimming is a moving target. What works this season may not work next season. World records are always getting faster meaning that if you stand still…….you will be left behind.

Practical Tip Six: A simple way of reviewing your performance as a team is to brainstorm the season using three questions:

What are we doing that we should keep doing? or what is working?
What are we doing that we should stop doing? or what is not working?
What are we not doing that we could introduce to improve our performance? or what are some new things we can do that will work?

Ask tough questions, get honest answers and you will lay the foundation for a successful future.

Summary:

Creating a culture of excellence and developing a winning culture does not take a lot more money, facilities, time or resources;
It takes a common desire to work hard and to create an environment where everyone has the optimal opportunity to perform at their best – consistently;
It’s not for everyone – but for some, being part of a winning team which has grown from a winning club culture can be the stuff that swimming dreams are made of.

Wayne Goldsmith

Republished by Blog Post Promoter

The Swimming Coach Score Card – a must for all coaches (and swimmers and parents).

Wayne Goldsmith — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 03:14:40 +0000

: Man with several telephones from Crestock Stock Images

Coaches – ever wanted to know how you rate as a coach?

Swimmers – ever wanted to know how your coach rates as a coach?

Swimming Parents – ever wanted to know how your kid’s coach rates as a coach?

Then look no further than….the Swimming Coach Score Card.

This score card is a little different. Instead of being awarded points, you lose points for poor coaching standards and mediocre coaching behaviours.

Are you ready?

OK – your starting score is 100 CCs – that is 100 coaching credits.

Take off 5 CCs if you have been late to training in the past month;
Take off 10 CCs if you coach from one end of the pool all the time and another 5 CCs if you ever sit down during workouts;
Take off 5 CCS if you have not given each swimmer in your team one on one quality coaching in the past week;
Take off 20 CCs if you have used a mobile phone during workouts while on deck in the past year (except in emergencies);
Take off 5 CCs if you allow swimmers to breathe inside the flags in free and fly;
Take off 5 CCs if you allow swimmers to finish poorly on the wall at the end of fly and breast;
Take off 10 CCs if you talk to parents, swim club committee, non swimming swimmers and pool staff during workouts;
Take off 20 CCs if you don’t take time to write down the work the swimmers actually completed during the session, i.e. as opposed to what was scheduled to be done;
Take off 10 CCs if you made up the workout on deck as the swimmers walked in to the pool;
Take off 5 CCs if you didn’t give each swimmer in your team at least five quality instructions and / or pieces of feedback during your most recent session;
Take off 100 CCs if you still throw kickboards, fins or pull buoys at swimmers to get their attention;
Take off 20 CCs if you don’t give each swimmer one on one feedback after each race they swim at Meets;
Take off 10 CCs if you don’t wear team gear to training and / or competitions;
Take off 5 CCs if you don’t attend Club Nights;
Take off 15 CCs if you don’t know the first name of each of your swimmers within 2 sessions of them starting training with you;
Take off 50 CCs if you don’t have an individualised plan for each swimmer in your team for the next two seasons;
Take off 10 CCs if you have never scheduled time to meet with the parents of each of the swimmers in your team (i.e. away from the pool deck and outside of training times);
Take off 30 CCs if you have not completed at least 50 hours of professional development, learning and personal improvement in the past year;
Take off 5 CCs if you don’t ask swimmers “how did that feel” (and really listen to their views) after they try new skills;
Take off 30 CCs if you don’t have an outstanding dryland program which engages the total commitment of every swimmer in your team;
Take off 10 CCs if you don’t include mental skills development activities in every session;
Take off 5 CCs if you didn’t smile at least ten times during the team’s last workout;
Take off 50 CCs if you smoke and or / drink alcohol in front of the swim team (i.e. junior swimmers);
Take off 20 CCs if you don’t regularly practice “performance under pressure” – i.e. making training more challenging and more demanding than any competition could be;
Take off 20 CCs if you don’t encourage and embrace recovery during and after every workout.

So, how did you do?

Swimming Coaches Scorecard key:

90-100 CCs: Wow – Amazing. Please stop reading this blog and my articles. Start writing your own – I want to learn from you O Coaching Master.

80-89 CCs: Outstanding work. Do they call you SUPER COACH? If not, they should!

70-79 CCs: Great stuff. Some things to work on but generally you coach like a basketball – plenty of bounce and well rounded.

60-69 CCs: Not bad. Keep working on the little things….the funny thing is that when it comes to poor coaching and the little things…there are no little things.

50-59 CCs: Danger – danger – warning – warning. You need to improve and fast.

40-49 CCs: How did you find this site? Were you looking for help to save your job? Or were you looking for Coaches Anonymous?

30-39 CCs: Have you thought about taking up football coaching? It’s still challenging coaching but at least there is no danger of people drowning.

20-29 CCs: Have you thought about another career? Something not too brain taxing where your unique skills will be appreciated - maybe an Economist at Wall Street? A Government Advisor on the Environment?

10-19 CCs: I think I need to type slower so you can read this….S.T.O.P. C.O.A.C.H.I.N.G!!!!

1-9 CCs: The only job for you I can think of for you is something that requires no skill, no brain power and no effort…Congratulations Congressman!

Zero (or less) CCs: Please return your coaching card to your national swimming authority. Do not go anywhere near water…ever. Stop bathing. Stop shaving. Ask for help when drinking a glass of water. The further you keep away from water the better for all of us.

Wayne Goldsmith

Republished by Blog Post Promoter

The Last Race

Wayne Goldsmith — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 03:14:33 +0000

For every swimmer there will be one last race.

One time when you hit the wall, look up at the score board, see “Jones, P 1:03.07” for the last time. Or “Lane 6 56.83”. Or “Lane 3 – 2:45.71”

And in that one moment, how do you want to remember your swimming career?

And in that one moment, how do you want to be remembered as a swimmer?

And in that one moment and throughout the next 50, 60, 70 years…..what will you remember about swimming?

What will all those early mornings, long sessions, tough gym workouts and competitions mean?

It would be easy to measure a swimming career in terms of medals, cups, trophies, ribbons, records, titles, championships and podium finishes: to measure your swimming career in terms of your competition performances.

But that will reduce a career of wonderful experiences and life changing events to a few dollars worth of plastic, metal and cotton.

What has swimming really meant to you?

The world has changed.

Everything is fast, instant, immediate and entertaining.

Swimming on the other hand stayed true to old fashion values like hard work, commitment, dedication, being selfless and working with others, being part of a team.

Swimming taught you lessons – not just about fly and back and turns and starts but about the things that really matter.

It taught you to set goals and work hard to achieve them.

It taught you that when things got tough, you got tougher.

It taught you that hard work and a positive attitude could overcome any obstacle.

It taught you to be humble – how to deal with losing.

It taught you to be humble – even in victory.

It taught you about honesty – about the importance of giving all you had to give and letting people see what you were capable of.

It taught you to deal with pain and discomfort.

It taught you about discipline, about time management, about being organised.

It taught you about nutrition, about health, about fitness, about taking care of yourself.

It taught you to stand up and face challenges – to be assertive – to never be intimidated by anything or anyone.

It taught you about confidence and believing in yourself and in believing anything is possible.

Swimming was the best teacher you ever had.

So what if you didn’t win the State final.

So what if you didn’t break the World record.

So what if you didn’t get that Olympic gold.

You became so much more than a flashy piece of metal – you became something far greater.

You became a person who achieved amazing things. A person who could push themselves through barriers other people see as insurmountable. A person who could overcome adversity and meet any challenge life threw at them. A person who gave everything they had to chase a dream and even if they came up short, got up and had another go at achieving it….and another….and another.

You became an outstanding student: staying up late to study for an exam was nothing compared to driving yourself up and down a lane 20 hours a week.

You became a great parent: having a child and losing some sleep was insignificant compared to travelling over night to a meet, racing all day, driving home and then getting up for training at 4 am the next day.

You become a wonderful partner: dealing with the differences between you and your partner was a small issue after working so close to a team of people pushing themselves to their limits day after day after day.

Don’t measure yourself or measure your career by gold or silver or bronze. Don’t measure it by ribbons or medals or titles.

Measure it by the only things that really matter – how much you enjoyed doing something you loved with people you loved being with. Or how many fun times you had with mom and dad on the way to training or on long, sleepy drives home from meets. Or by the jokes between repeats that went on and on and on and had you laughing under water most of the session. Or by the friends you had when you were ten who would still do anything for you 20 years later.

Or by the lessons you teach to your children: passing on the swimming experience and life lessons to the next generation and helping them be all they can be.

So when it is your last race, whether you grab the gold medal at the Olympic Games and retire on top or if it is swimming 3:35 for 100 free as a 92 year old in the State Masters championships, take a moment or two to smile, think about what you have achieved and feel very, very satisfied.

You did it.

Wayne Goldsmith (written for and inspired by Helen Morris)

Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Message to Swimming – you still don’t get it!

Wayne Goldsmith — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 03:14:32 +0000

: Old wall from Crestock Creative Images

Six years ago I wrote an article called “Changing Times” about the Sport of Swimming and the challenges it faced all over the world.

You can find the full article at numerous sites (or just email me for a copy).

In short, I challenged the swimming community to work together, to strive to create new, exciting, interesting training and competition environments, to put away petty political and personality conflicts and work together in the best interest of kids, athletes, families, coaches, Clubs and the sport.

Now, Six years later…..Most of You still don’t get it do you!

A few weeks ago I was at a famous Aquatics complex in a major capital city. As usual, I was drawn to watch the swimming programs in the pool – the coaches, the athletes, technique, skills, performance levels, attitudes….I am passionate about swimming and want to see the sport succeed.

This is what I saw.

A young coach working with about 50 junior squad swimmers, aged 10-14 in very crowded lanes.

He stood at one end of the pool for the whole hour of the training session, most of the time with his leg up on the starting block in Lane one. He yelled workout instructions to the whole group and did not provide any swimmer with individualised feedback. All swimmers – all ages – all levels of ability did the same workout.

Skills and drills were performed poorly and received with little feedback. The feedback that was given was general feedback to the whole group.

The following week, I was at a similarly famous Aquatics complex in another capital city in another country. Again, I spent time observing a junior swim squad in training. Again I saw the same lack of engagement, lack of creativity, lack of passion and lack of quality coaching I had seen previously.

The next week I went to a local swim meet – again out of interest and love of the sport. Guess what?

Swimming is still offering 65 heats of the 7 and under 50 backstroke, still providing little or no interesting competition opportunities for swimmers over 15 years of age, still awarding those stupid colored ribbons to all swimmers from 5 years of age to 25, still being over zealous with breaststroke rules, still doing little or nothing to engage parents, still offering mostly junk food at the shop…………………..I thought I was in a time warp and it was 1973 all over again.

Put yourself in the position of being a swimmer in one of those squads.You have a choice. You can train for football, outside, with your friends, emulating your heroes and enjoying the team environment. You can stay at home and spend time on your computer engaging with your friends and the web. You can play other sports, play music, just enjoy lazing about with family and friends or…

“I can be pushed and driven up and down a pool with no engagement from my coach, receiving no feedback, learning nothing and being bumped and bruised in crowded lanes”.

Put yourself in the position of being a parent of a swimmer in one of those squads. You are paying money for your child to receive professional coaching. You have had to change your work, social and family schedule to be there. And what do you see?

“My child is receiving no quality, individualised instruction, is gaining no learning and receiving no feedback, is swimming mindless lap after mindless lap, bumping into other kids, the end of the pool and the lane ropes and I am paying for the privilege”.

Or what about the parent going to the Meet?

“I sit there for two days to see my kid swim four events, either in stinking heat or inside breathing in chlorine gas, giving up my precious weekend time and paying through the nose to get in to the facility, buy food and for race fees”.

And then the kid drops out of the sport in their mid teens and we all scream “What’s wrong with kids today?” – rubbish: the reason kids drop out of swimming is totally the responsibility of the people who coach, administer and organise swimming training and competitions. Kids and families will stay in swimming if it is engaging, enjoyable, exciting, educational and embraces excellence in all things.

We are offering mass mediocrity, outdated competition formats and inferior coaching quality and expecting people to continue to accept it. Well, have a good look at your registrations, Meets and bottom lines……..people are not accepting it.

The sport of swimming – like many other Olympic sports – is at the crossroads. The very existence of competitive swimming hangs in the balance like no other time in its history.

Now, more than ever we must provide quality, engaging, interesting, enjoyable and challenging training and competition experiences or swimmers and parents will no longer support the sport.

Why would a talented young swimmer, with so many choices available in sport, in social activities, in study programs, in social media and in life, waste time ploughing up and down a black line in a boring, repetitive, monotonous, poorly coached program?

Why would a parent with limited time and limited money pay for a child to be part of a sport which offers mediocre coaching and dull, boring, tedious competitions which typically offer the same events, on the same day, in the same order year after year after year?

If you consider just these coaching and competition issues – without even thinking about the child abuse allegations which are all too common around the world, the swim suit debacle and how that made the sport a laughing stock and concerns over the long term dangers of swimming in heavily chlorinated water and we are in crisis.

To all my friends and foes in swimming around the world – wake up! This is now a matter of great urgency.

Improve coaching standards - do not accept mediocre coaching anytime / anywhere from anyone;
Provide more engaging, interesting and enjoyable training environments;
Create new, interesting, stimulating and enjoyable competition formats;
Stop trying to force all kids into pathways designed to make them Olympic champions - give each individual what they need to realise their potential at all levels of achievement;
Put “fun” before “fast”;
Embrace parents into swimming programs as partners in swimming performance and stop treating them as lepers who pay fees;
And most importantly, stop this “we are different”, “those things will not work in swimming” and “that’s not the way we do it in swimming” thinking that is killing the sport around the world.

C’mon – we can do this!

Wayne Goldsmith

Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Swim Shop – Now Open

Wayne Goldsmith — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 22:15:22 +0000

The Swim Coaching Brain has Opened a Swim Shop.

In response to the overwhelming demand for more information on swimming topics, we have put together a series of swimming books for you to download and enjoy.

The first book in the series: Longer and Stronger: Stretching and Strengthening for Young Swimmers is available now!

More books will be added regularly.

Make sure you bookmark the Shop page and visit it regularly to check out some of our great new swimming products.

How to Put Together a Great Championship Program – 50 ideas for a Positively, Powerfully, Perfect Program – Part Three.

Wayne Goldsmith — Thu, 19 May 2011 01:47:36 +0000

: Swimmer jumping into water from Crestock Stock Photos

Part three of How to Put Together a Great Championship follows….almost immediately:

The next 15 ideas on a great club championships program:

36. Dads’ dinner – How about getting all the “swim dads” together at the lunch break for a bbq and give them a chance to catch up?

37. Mum’s make over – Why not ask a local beauty salon to come in and offer “swim mums” a makeover while they watch the swimming?

38. Club spirit awards – award prizes and give recognition to the swimmers and families who embody all the positive qualities about the sport, e.g. friendliness, encouragement of others, supporting other team members, humility in losing, etc.

39. KPS races – Swimmers have to race 100 kick, then 100 pull. Add their 100 kick time plus their 100 pull time and compare the combined time to their 200 swim time!

40. Stroke count / speed award – for the swimmer who improves both their PB time and decreases their stroke count – i.e. awarding both speed and stroke efficiency.

41. First 15 award – a prize for the swimmer in each age group who has the fastest first 15 metres, i.e. awarding starting and underwater work – critical in developing fast sprinters.

42. Iron man / Iron girl award – for the swimmers who complete the most races or the greatest distance over the Club Championships.

43. Double up award – for the swimmers whose times at each distance are the closest to the “double up” – e.g. If a swimmer swims 35 seconds for a 50 metre event, DOUBLE IT = 70 seconds (1:10) as the goal for their 100 metre event. The swimmer who gets the closest to their double up time gets a prize.

44. Finish the day with a party – celebrate swimming and being a Club together!

45. Excellence Awards – if someone breaks a Club record – recognise the achievement – loudly and proudly.

46. State / National / World record attempts – lots of fun. Pick a tough record, e.g. Michael Phelps 400IM world record. Have 8 senior swimmers swim as a relay team (swimming 50 metres each) to try and break Phelp’s record as a team.

47. Organise cheer squads – have each age group organise their own cheer squad. Award prizes to the loudest, best organised, most original cheer squad.

48. State and National awards – award prizes to the swimmers who achieve times closest to the State and National records in that event.

49. Hold Club Championships on (or close to) special days – e.g Mother’s Day, Easter, Halloween, Thanks giving, etc and make the day the theme of the Club Champs. For example if you hold them on Mother’s Day, all moms get a rose and some chocolates. If you hold them around Easter, everyone gets Easter Eggs and organise an Easter Egg hunt for the little kids.

50. Ask the coaches to award prizes to the swimmers whose training and preparation has been outstanding. Club Championships are a great chance to recognise the swimmers who work hard all year and give total commitment to improving.

Summary:

Club Championships programs should be:

Fast – create an environment where swimmers want to compete and race fast;
Family orientated – embrace families like they are part of your own;
Fun, fun, fun – make the day the most enjoyable fun filled day of the year.

It is easy to roll out last year’s Club Championship program and simply change the date on the front cover!!

But with a little effort, a lot of creativity and some passion to make it work, you can have an outstanding Club Championship program – every year!

Wayne Goldsmith and Helen Morris

Republished by Blog Post Promoter

The Trials of Teenage Swimmers: A Guide for Parents and Coaches.

Wayne Goldsmith — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 01:30:31 +0000

Every week I receive at least one email from a frustrated parent or coach that goes something like this:

“Dear Wayne.

My daughter (or son or swimmer if the email is from a coach) is in her mid teens. She has been swimming for over five years. She was successful as a freestyler when she was younger but she has not done a PB for some time and as result she is now feeling down, un-motivated and frustrated.

She works really hard and she finds it difficult to stay motivated when her team mates - some who do not train as hard as she does – keep doing PBs and winning medals at swimming competitions.

She is talking about giving up.

What can I do to motivate her and keep her swimming?

Signed,

Concerned Parent (or Coach).

This article is a summary of what I have learnt about this issue over the past 20 years. I sincerely hope it helps you.

Issue Number 1: Not every swimmer can be an Olympic Champion.

The first thing to accept is that not every child can be or should be an Olympic champion. Some kids are great at mathematics. Some are outstanding writers. Some are brilliant musicians. And some are amazing swimmers. Accept your child for the incredible human being they are regardless of whether it takes them 50 seconds or 150 seconds to swim 100 freestyle.

Solution: Encourage your child to find their passion – to find the thing they love to do. If they love what they do, they will persist with it and persevere during the tough times. If that passion happens to be swimming – great: chances are they will become very very good at swimming. If that passion happens to be music or dance or study or hockey, then give them the same love, support and encouragement.

Issue Number 2: Your child is not a swimmer. They are a person who swims. There is a huge difference.

It is dangerous to define anyone by what they do. The reason for this is simple. If they can no longer do the thing they are defined by, their self image, self confidence and feelings of self-worth can suffer incredible damage. Many teenagers who were very good as young swimmers and who then find they are no longer excelling in the pool in their teens often find themselves grappling with difficult emotional and self-image issues. In the worst cases, this can lead to more significant psychological problems.

Solution: Be reluctant to think of your child as a “swimmer”. Don’t introduce them as “John the swimmer” or “Susie the butterflyer”. Swimming is just one aspect of their life and it is important to keep everything in perspective and ensure that their life is always in balance.

Issue Number 3: Your child is not a freestyler or backstroker or any other stroker if they are under 15 years of age.

Another huge mistake parents and coaches make is to categorise young swimmers as a one stroker too early. There is no such thing as a world class 10 year old backstroker.There is no such thing as a champion 11 year old butterflyer. There are just kids who happen to swim one stroke a little better than they swim the other strokes.

Solution: Forget medals, trophies and accolades. Swimming is something you would like to think your kids will do for the entire lives. It’s a great way to stay fit, healthy and even one day it may save their life (or the life of someone they love). Encourage them to develop great technique and outstanding skills in all strokes then see what happens as they grow, develop and mature.

Issue Number 4: Sometimes you have to accept the fact that it is over.

This can be a tough thing to deal with but sometimes you just have to accept it is over and swimming is something your child did when they were younger.

This can be tough for swimmers, coaches and parents to accept, particularly knowing how many long, hard training sessions, early mornings, weekend swim meets, time and money have been invested to get this far.

Remember that the coach and you as a parent want nothing more than to see your child grow as an individual and become all they can be. Also remember that if your child can walk away from swimming without an Olympic Gold medal but with a great sense of discipline, self-confidence, a life-long affinity for water, a habit for fitness and a healthy life style, then the journey has been very much worth it.

Solution: Make sure that the decision to retire is the right one and it has been made for all the right reasons. “I don’t like the coach” is not a good reason to retire. Nor is “I don’t like Steve the naughty boy in my lane”. Retirement should be the end result of a thoughtful, un-emotional, logical, methodical process which challenges the swimmer to be honest with themselves and others about the real reasons behind it.

Issue Number 5: Sometimes focusing on the problem only makes the solution harder to find.

This is a very common problem. For example, ”Julie” was a great backstroker when she was young. For some reason – (and there are millions of reasons why kids stop improving) – her backstroke times stopped improving. So, the coach added more backstroke to her program. And still no improvement. So he added more backstroke to her program. Still nothing. So she moved to another coach who gave her nothing but backstroke and still her times did not improve. Finally after three years with no improvement in backstroke, she gave up, heartbroken and disillusioned. This performance plateau is very common and every swimmer experiences it at some time.

Solution: If the swimmer has been classified as a “backstroker” for some time and is getting frustrated about not improving in backstroke then don’t-do-backstroke! Encourage them to focus on IM or butterfly and to forget all about backstroke for six months. This “de-pressuring” the situation often is the catalyst to not only great improvement in the other strokes but when they return to their main stroke quite often it has also improved.

Issue Number 6: You might be part of the problem.

Every time I have suggested to a parent that they might be part of the problem I have either been abused, ignored or dismissed as not understanding the situation, told “but Wayne, you don’t know our daughter” and many other things but the facts are sometimes the parents are the source of the problem.

Solution: Stop being part of the problem! An eight year old is different to a three year old. A teenager is different to a nine year old. As your kids change, so too does your relationship with them.

When they are young swimmers your role is to love, guide, help, support, encourage, protect and care for them. In many ways, you are helping to drive their involvement in swimming. However, when they are teenagers, your role as a parent (or coach) changes so that you play a support role and they must take responsibility for and ownership of their own training, preparation and competition. Want to really help your teenage swimmer? Step back, do less and give them the opportunity to drive their own swimming careers.

Issue Number 7: You can’t be objective about your own child.

This is something else which is difficult to convince parents to accept – but you can’t be objective about your own child. You can’t love something so much, care about something so deeply, be attached to something so closely and at the same time be objective when making judgements about the things they do.

There may be one hundred children in the pool all swimming up and down but you only see one of them. In this environment it is difficult to know what is real and what is perception. In the past twenty years I can count the number of parents I have met who have successfully coached their own children to international success on one hand.

Solution: Form a “performance partnership” between you, your child and your child’s coach. In this partnership, each partner has an important job to do. Your child’s job is to prepare and perform to the best of their ability. Their coach’s job is to work with the swimmer and ensure they realise their potential. Your job is to provide a supportive, loving, values based environment which gives your child the opportunity to be all they can be.

Issue Number 8: The Problem is not always a swimming problem.

This is particularly true when you are working with teenage swimmers. Think about what they are going through. Gender issues, growth and development issues, social development issues, sexual issues, studying hard, making the transition to adult-hood, thinking about their careers, learning to drive, building relationships…and trying to swim fast. Quite often a problem with swimming performance is reflection of a problem (or problems) in other areas of their lives.

Solution: Make sure you know your kids and are in touch in some way with every aspect of their lives. Keep in touch with everything they are doing, what they feel, who their friends are, what they are passionate about, what subjects they enjoy most at school etc. It is only when you know your kids that you can know what the real problem may be.

Issue Number 9: Changing Coaches will only help if the Coach was the problem.

Every week I get an email asking me to intervene in a young swimmer’s career and to give advice about how they can improve. And every week I give the same answer…”go and talk to your coach”.

A lot of parents and swimmers will change coaches hoping to find a breakthrough in swimming performance. In some cases, there is no doubt changing coaches can have a positive effect but, changing coaches will only help if it was the coach who was the problem in the first place. If the problem is time management, attitude, a lack of life balance, over-parenting, the lack of a strong work ethic or some other problem, then changing coaches will not help. Swimmers with “baggage” will take that baggage anywhere they go.

Solution: Create and sustain a great relationship with the coach. You should feel comfortable meeting with the coach and discussing your child’s swimming. And be honest about your child’s character, habits, attitudes and values. Changing coaches is sometimes the chosen solution when kids just don’t want to work hard and are looking for an easier option. There can be many reasons for changing coaches – make sure that if you make this decision that it is for the right reasons.

Issue Number 10: What you are experiencing is perfectly normal and natural.

Many of the emails and calls I receive from worried and concerned parents of teenage swimmers are quite emotional, moving and full of frustration and pain. And it is perfectly normal and understandable. In most cases the parents want nothing more than some help, some ideas and some guidance to help them and their child deal with a challenging situation.

There is no magic, miracle solution to dealing with the trials and tribulations of the teenage swimmer. There are no supplements, no creams, no special equipment, no vitamins, no swim-wear, no gimmicks, no gizmos – there is nothing you can do or nothing you can buy which will – by itself solve the problem. It takes patient, perseverant parenting and the commitment to never stop trying to be the best mum or dad you can be.

Solution: Keep loving them.

Summary:

If you are the parent or coach of a teenage swimmer who is going through a tough time and not improving, please be assured you are not alone. I have spoken with hundreds of swimming families around the world over the past twenty years and what you are going through is very very common and very very normal;
The key message is that it is unwise to closely connect your child’s personality with their performance - that is, it is dangerous to define a person by what they do. Your child is not a swimmer. They are a remarkable human being who chooses to swim as one of the things they enjoy doing;
And accept that what happens is sometimes just what happens. We all want the best for our children. We all want them to be happy, successful, healthy and to enjoy every moment of their lives. If they win the Olympic Gold medal great. If they don’t - hey – we will love them just as much and be with them every minute of the wonderful journey that life is.

Wayne Goldsmith – sincere thanks to Debbie, Graeme, Mark and Greg for their input putting this together – that makes it over 100 years of coaching experience behind this article.

The Top Ten Questions Every Swimming Parent Wants to Know.

Wayne Goldsmith — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 07:08:57 +0000

You see them every day. They are everywhere. At every pool. Every swim meet. Every school swimming practice.

There they are. Sitting at the side of the pool. Watching every lap. Counting every breath. Analysing every stroke. Studying every move you make.

Coaches? No.

Swimming media? Uh-uh.

Officials? No way.

Who are these people who go to the pool and watch you swim laps day after day after day? Who are these folk sitting there in the wind and rain for hours and hours watching you practice? Who are these strange humans who love nothing more than getting out of bed at 4 am just to sit in the cold and watch you train?

Your Parents!

Ever wondered what they are thinking sitting there at the side of the pool studying every stroke and counting every kick?

They are desperate to find out the answers to these important questions…………………………

1. How many training sessions should my child do each week?

There is no magic number of training sessions for every swimmer. Even at elite level, some swimmers swim 7 sessions a week, some do nine, others 11…there is no magic number.

It all comes down to the FLAG principle:

Fatigue – if a swimmer is swimming 3 sessions a week and as a result is always tired, irritable and their grades are falling, then doing more swimming does not make sense. So the optimal number of sessions for any individual swimmer is largely based on their ability to adapt to and recover from their training load.
Level of performance – training sessions should also be based on the level of performance being targeted. Chances are swimming two sessions a week will not get you selected on the next Olympic team and similarly 14 sessions a week is a little too much just to achieve a PB time at the under 9 state championships meet. As a broad benchmark, world class swimmers spend one day per week, i.e. 24 hours per week training and the rest of the time eating and sleeping so the higher you want to go, the harder you have to work.
Available time – if your child is in junior high, playing basketball, learning piano, doing special projects on weekends for extra credits, playing tennis and in the school choir…and……swimming five sessions each week, then it is safe to say, adding more swimming sessions is not going to do anything other than make them tired and fatigued. Keep in mind your child’s total commitments across all areas of their life before adding more training time. And – never, ever forget that some days they need to just hang out with their friends, play and enjoy life. They are only kids once!
Goals – if your child sets high swimming goals, then naturally the time, effort and energy to achieve them must also be high. As a general rule, as kids progress through each level of swimming they need to add an extra pool session or gym workout to learn the skills, develop the fitness and build the technical abilities to be successful at the next level. For example (Note: this is a guide only):

Swimmer level	Sessions per week
Water safety / Learn to swim	1-2
Mini squads / School swimming programs	2-3
District / Country Swimming Championships level	3-4
State Swimming Championships level	4-6
National Swimming Championships level	6-8
International Swimming level	8 plus

2. My child is 10 and is a great freestyler. What does she have to do to make it to the top?

The first thing to accept is that there is no such thing as a champion ten year old freestyler. Swimmers who experience success pre-teenage years generally do so because of accelerated growth, i.e. they are bigger and stronger than the other kids!

Another common situation is that as kids grow, change and develop, their ability to swim the competitive swimming strokes also changes – this year’s backstroker could be next year’s freestyler and then the following year they are great at swimming fly.

In the long term, the factors which determine success as a senior swimmer are the 5 Ps:

Perseverance – the ability to try and try and try and try – and to never give up;
Patience – it takes time to become a great swimmer – about ten years of consistent hard work;
Physical training – great swimmers are usually the best prepared. It takes a high level of physical fitness, technical development and skills refinement to make it to the top;
Personality – world class swimmers demonstrate some common personality traits – none the least being determination, commitment, the ability to overcome adversity and the capacity for accelerated learning;
Passion – Swimming is like anything else in life: you have to love it to do it well!

3. When should my child specialise in a stroke?

Kids need to grow into their specialist stroke! That is, when swimmers grow and develop physically and mentally, they will be naturally drawn to a particular stroke. It is common for a child’s best stroke to change from year to year but once they hit middle to late teens, the nature of specific events will become more appealing. Real talent in any one stroke is harder to hide than it is to find! There is no need to encourage kids into one stroke or another – it will just happen!

4. Do swimmers need a special diet?

No. Not unless they have a medical problem or diet related condition that has been diagnosed by a nutrition professional. As a general rule, top swimmers follow a “4 more 4 less 4 me” diet:

More – complex carbohydrates like rice, bread, and pasta.
More – lean quality protein like chicken, meat, fish.
More – water, fresh juices.
More – fresh fruit, nuts and vegetables.
Less – take away food.
Less – saturated fats and oils.
Less – processed and pre-packaged foods.
Less – sodas.

Lots of parents want to know about supplements like vitamins, minerals and special substances like Creatine, Glucose and so on.

The five golden rules about these products are:

1. They may be of some use to some swimmers in some situations and on some occasions but consult a sports nutrition professional to help determine what might work for your child;

2. Nothing takes the place of consistent hard work, good technique and a great attitude;

3. If something sounds too good to be true, “Miracle Sports Performance Powder – Improves Endurance by up to 60%…” it probably is too good to be true!

4. Never introduce a new product – no matter what it is promising – within 7 days of an important meet. Many parents have fallen for the trap of giving kids a “special” breakfast or all new “miracle” supplement on the morning of a big meet only to find their kids spend more time in the toilet than in the pool.

5. Read rule 2 again – no supplement can turn mediocrity into magnificence. Teach kids to believe in themselves and to take responsibility for their own swimming performances rather than to rely on the promises of a supplement advertising campaign.

5. How do I find the best coach for my child?

The best swimming coaches demonstrate the FIVE Cs:

Calm – they remain calm and composed on and off deck and set a great example for the kids they coach;
Confident – they display a “humble confidence” – they believe in themselves and coach because they love coaching – not for any ego stroking reason;
Close –the pool where they coach is close to home or at least on the after school “route” – e.g. Pick up the kids from school, drop them to basketball practice, pick them up and take them to swimming, pick them up and drop them to music lessons…..
Caring – they are interested in kids becoming great human beings – not just fast swimmers.
Credible – they have the appropriate experience, qualifications and understanding of swimming.

There is an old saying in coaching…”kids don’t care how much you know, they want to know how much you care!”

In swimming, this means asking the coach four questions:

Will you inspire a lifelong passion for the sport of swimming in my child?
Will you engage my child’s heart and mind and respect them as an individual?
Will you teach my child the importance of swimming skills and technique?
Will you encourage my child to learn, be patient with them when they fail and above all help them to develop a real sense of self confidence and self-belief?

Think about your own sporting career. Remember that coach who took a real interest in you as a human being and changed your life – whose lessons you still remember even now 20 years later? That’s the type of coach you want to find for your kids!

6. School, swimming, social life…..what’s the right balance for my child?

Your child is not a swimmer….they are a child first and foremost: a child who just happens to swim. But they are also a student, a brother or sister, a son or daughter, a member of a youth group, maybe someone who players another sport – they are a young person who has the potential to be anything they choose to be.

Kids are drawn to the things that:

1. They enjoy;

2. They have friends;

3. They are learning by because their hearts and minds are engaged in the activity.

So if your kids are having fun with their friends and love what they are doing, chances are the balance is right. If your kids start finding excuses not to train, don’t want to get out of bed to go to the pool, show poor training habits and want to avoid going to meets, they are telling you, “mom and dad – the balance is not right and I want to change it”. Listen to your kids.

7. What should I expect in terms of results at Meets?

You should expect to see:

Your child enjoying swimming with his / her friends;
Your child learning to love challenging him / herself and taking pleasure in competition;
Your child demonstrating all they have learnt in terms of swimming technique, dives, starts, turns, finishes, underwater kicking.
Your child showing some self-responsibility in their warm up, recovery, meet day nutrition and personal management.
Your child showing a sense of “team” by cheering for team mates and supporting other members of the squad.

In terms of results…expect nothing. Where kids are concerned….Medals are meaningless and times are tedious unless they are accompanied by LLL – a love of the sport, learning new skills and life lessons.

8. Does my child need to be doing strength training in the gym?

No. Not unless they have an injury or weakness or imbalance or other physical condition that has been identified by a professional sports physical therapist / medical practitioner.

The three key areas – what we call the “ABILITIES” of non-pool training to focus on are:

FLEX- ability: Improving their flexibility in important swimming muscles and muscle groups;
MOB – ability (mobility): Improving their mobility around joints;
STAR- ability (stability): Developing a strong stable “core” – abs, back muscles and important stabilising muscles in their shoulders and hips.

Kids don’t need to lift heavy weights – work on the “abilities”, technique, skills, attitude and self-confidence and leave the lifting to the Governor of California!

9. What can I do to be the best swimming parent I can be?

Give your child that which only you can give! Unconditional love, total support, compassion and unwavering belief in them as human beings. In the long term, whether your kids become world record holders in swimming, lawyers, doctors, teachers…it is not their talent that defines them or makes them successful – it is who they are.

And no one helps kids to develop values, virtues and characteristics like their family.

6 feet tall 12 year old kids with large feet and strong muscles are great, but give me intelligent, honest, hard working kids with a real sense of self belief, courage and integrity any day! Develop the person first – then the swimming power!

10. My son is 11 years old and wants to play basketball two afternoons a week? Is playing other sports OK?

Yep! Pre-teen kids should be out enjoying life, being fit, learning skills and being active. Sure – once they get to mid – late teens and make the commitment to be a great swimmer, then some of their other activities will need to be cut back but at 11 the “more the merrier”. A lot of sports have several cross over effects on swimming including:

Basketball – leg power, co-ordination, speed, endurance.
Gymnastics – balance, timing, flexibility, power, co-ordination.
Martial arts – balance, timing, flexibility, power, co-ordination, self-confidence.
Running – aerobic fitness, leg strength.
Rock climbing - strength, balance, power, flexibility, self-confidence.
Soccer – aerobic fitness, leg strength, co-ordination, speed.

Look at the obesity epidemic in kids in all developed nations. It would be great to have every kid in the world swimming laps, but just having them outside playing sport and moving their bodies instead of seeing them inside eating junk food while watching TV has got to be good!

So there they are parents…the Top Ten Questions you always wanted to ask! So now you know!

Wayne Goldsmith

Sporting Parents: Gold Medal Parenting for the Parents of Young Athletes.

Wayne Goldsmith — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 06:30:40 +0000

There are sporting kids.

There are sporting coaches.

But the critical people in the sporting equation are sporting parents.

This presentation helps every parent understand how to be a Gold Medal Sporting Parent and how to help their child realise their full potential.

Sporting Parents Presentation – Click here.

Talent ID in Swimming: the Talent Pool!

Wayne Goldsmith — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 05:05:45 +0000

: swimming-pool from Crestock Photos

Talent is Harder to Hide than it is to Find.

When looking for the characteristics, traits and abilities that may indicate a swimmer’s talent, the most obvious things to look for are the physical ones.

However, swimmers with real physical talent are harder to hide than they are to find!

How many times have you been to a Swim Meet and seen the ten year old who is built like a fifteen year old blitz the opposition and break the Meet record? Finding physical talent in very talented swimmers is like telling people you discovered the Pacific Ocean-someone was going to find it sooner or later – hiding it would have been a far greater challenge!

And…ultimately, physical talent is only one indicator - and not a particularly good one - of performance potential.

It’s more than merely muscle.

Real talent is a far more complex thing than merely muscles, tendons, nerves, blood and ligaments. It’s an integration of mind, body and spirit: a combination of physical, mental, technical, tactical, genetic, cultural and personality factors that come together in a pair of swimming costumes that may one day break the World record or win the Olympic Gold Medal.

So what are the Top Ten Talent ID Techniques for Swimming: how do you find the most talented swimmers in the talent pool?:

Parents – (genetic material): choose your parents carefully;
Parents- a supporting, loving, caring environment, where parents or carers provide a swimmer’s core needs in nutrition, time management, sleep, rest, education and family support;
The Ability to learn fast – learn more in a shorter period of time = faster progression and improvement;
The Ability to deal with difficulty, adversity and change – the path to greatness is never straight or smooth. Many Olympic Gold medalists have had to endure set-backs, surgery, illness and disappointment and fight hard to achieve their dreams;
Physical talent- you have to have at least one “weapon” – speed, size, strength, power, flexibility….having at least one physical gift is useful;
Self confidence / self belief – they can who believe they can;
Passion – the love of swimming is the driving force of so many great swimmers and great swimming performances;
The ability to get along with other people - swimming is an individual sport wrapped up in a team environment. The ability to work well with team-mates in often tough, hard, high pressure situations, e.g when touring with a representative team, is a critical skill and a much under-estimated talent;
The ability to keep a sense of humour and balance about life – after all it is only swimming and you are so much more than just a swimmer;
Time availability – whilst not strictly a measure of talent, the amount of time available to train, prepare, rest, recover and compete are critical determinants of the level of swimming you can achieve.

Or if you like…

Talent is….
Attitude to train to your full potential everyday;
Love of the sport;
Enthusiasm – particularly in the tough times;
Nurturing – unconditional love and support at home from a family who cares;
Toughness – being able to persevere and keep giving your best when your feel so tired you can barely lift your arms;
Inherited characteristics – choose your parents carefully;
Desire – never give up.

Putting it all together.

So when looking in the talent pool for talent in the pool, keep your eyes, ears, heart and mind open.

It’s a lot more than just being the biggest, the strongest, the tallest or the fastest…..talent is a total package: a combination of factors that, when combined with consistent hard work, dedication, commitment and an uncompromising devotion to perfect preparation, turns potential into performance.

Wayne Goldsmith