Important Reminders
Important reminders
- Parents are NOT to approach coaches during practice.
- Parents are not allowed on deck during practice.
- If there is a question or concern please reach out to a board member at practice or email [email protected] or [email protected]. If your question/concern cannot be answered by a member of the board, we will help you get in touch with a coach.
- Please do not approach coaches before practice as this can delay the start of practice.
- Also please be respectful of the coaches time after practice. All our coaches have jobs and families and are very busy, they deserve to get home at a reasonable time. Keeping the coaches late after practice to talk about your swimmer delays the coach from getting home, some of our coaches come right to practice from work and don't get home until after 8:30pm when practice ends, please be respectful of their time and their families.
The best way for a swimmer to improve is attending practices consistently, this is NOT just something that our coaches will tell parents or swimmers, almost any resource you read regarding how to get your young swimmer to improve their times will indicate consistent practice is vital to improvement (see below, click the quotes for the resource). Cindy and our other coaches will tell you, the swimmers making the most progress come to practice every day and have for years, plus go to almost every meet. They work hard and devote a lot of time and effort.
- "Consistent training helps children develop muscle memory, enhance technique, and build endurance. Regular practice sessions ensure that young swimmers are constantly refining their skills and staying motivated"
- "Regular attendance is the foundation of progress. When your child attends his/her scheduled class [practice] consistently, both the coach and swimmer are more in tune with learning, and it produces quicker results!"
- "Like any skill, regular practice is vital for improvement in swimming. Consistent exposure to water helps children build their skills, confidence, and comfort level. Aim to take your child swimming regularly"
- "The most effective way to improve as a swimmer is to swim"
- "Perfecting stroke technique does not happen after one session. It takes repetition and consistent practice."
Again, parents please DO NOT approach the coaches during practice as this is a SAFETY concern and poses a significant distraction. If a coach is on the side of the pool near the bleachers, this does NOT mean they are available to discuss your swimmer, also do not be offended if you try to get a coaches attention during practice and you get ignored, the coaches are trying to pay attention to all the swimmers in their group and ensure not only the drills are being performed correctly but also that all swimmers are safe.
Swimming is a very technical sport. Not only do swimmers need to learn 4 different swim strokes they need to learn breathing, kicking, head position, body position, turns, starts, underwaters, etc. They need to learn each of these things for all 4 strokes. This is NOT something that can be learned in one season, even olympic level swimmers focus on improving and perfecting their technique throughout their career, please do not expect your swimmer to master these skills in one season. Cindy takes a lot of time to develop the practices for the week. These practices often have a very specific focus (ex. starts, turns, head position, etc). It is very important for swimmers to come to practices regularly so they can learn the correct technique and build on what they are learning at each session. It is a lot easier to learn and practice a technique the right way, than to learn it incorrectly and have to unlearn the bad habit. The coaches will make sure to give each swimmer feedback, HOWEVER practices are not private 1 on 1 training sessions, there are multiple swimmers at each session and the coaches cannot critique every aspect of your swimmers' technique. Not only is it unreasonable for the coach to pick apart every aspect of your swimmers stroke given the number of swimmers in the pool during each session, but this negative approach can cause a great deal of anxiety and stress for young swimmers (no one likes to be told they are doing everything wrong!). TRUST THE PROCESS, our coaching staff has been doing this for MANY years and have produced many very successful swimmers.
We are very lucky to have such a great group of coaches and swimmers. This year has been full of many changes, new board members, new coaches, new swimmers, utilizing two pools, etc. Our enrollment is over 60 swimmers! We already have many swimmers that have qualified for Silvers, Golds, Zones, and Speedos, and we still have several swim meets left in the season. Trust the coaches and the process, they all know what they are doing! Even our newer, less experienced coaches have spent years in the pool as club, high school and collegiate level swimmers, lifeguards, swim instructors, etc., they have great experienced coaches (role models) that are helping them with their new endeavor as swim coach. Please be positive and understanding with them, they know what they are doing! We are happy to have these new coaches this year and we want them to stick around for many years!
I found some additional resources and have included them below.
"Swim parenting is no joke—you don’t need me to tell you that. Between fundraising, the costs of a full season of training, driving to early morning workouts, marathon swim meets, dealing with injuries (ahem– swimmer’s shoulder), it can be tempting to begin to feel like the seemingly never-ending sacrifice should be considered an investment.
As a result you might feel yourself putting more emphasis on winning in order to see a return.
But if you want the best for your child, the research continues to show that a relaxed, hands-off, let-the-kid-own-the-sport is best for creating an environment where they will not only have more fun, but also excel both in the short and long term." https://swimswam.com/swim-parents/
Thank you for your time and commitment to the team! It has been amazing to watch the swimmers progress throughout the season!! Please reach out if you have any additional questions,
Jess
