You rock up to training yet again and the same kids are getting more attention and tips from your swim coach than you. If you have 30 plus swimmers together in your squad, each with their own problems, how do you get to impress your coach and get their attention? Here are 5 ways to impress your swim coach and point out the difference between you and everyone else in your squad.
No. 1 Your swim coach will love you if you early to training:
Sounds simple, doesn’t it. You would be surprised how many swimmers can’t get to training on time let alone early. If training starts at 4 pm then be there and start your own stretching at 3:45 pm. If you can’t get to training by 3:45 pm then be there as soon as you can. Be ready to do your warm-up or ready to dive in. This means you find out what the warm-up is and know it before you get in or start. Your coach hates having to tell the squad what the warm-up is 6 or 7 times.
If your warm-up is written down somewhere spend a few minutes memorizing the warm-up set. Don’t be surprised if your coach doesn’t notice straight away, or doesn’t give you a gold star or a “Good to see your early”. It’s not because they dont care it’s because they want to make sure it’s not a one-time thing. Be consistent with arriving at training early.
No. 2 Do extra:
Stay back and work on something that your coach may have asked you to fix during training. Do just stay back and do extra laps, do extra laps with a purpose. If your coach has mentioned that you need to work on your rotation in backstroke
then after training do an extra 6 laps or 8 laps working on a backstroke rotation drill. You can NEVER do too much technique work. If you have spare time on the weekend go to the pool and do drills. But, be sure you are doing the drill correctly before you rock up to the pool on a Sunday afternoon to do your thing.
No. 3 Pay attention to your swim coach:
Believe me when I say your swim coach finds it really annoying when they explain the set clearly, then someone pipes up and says “what are we doing?”. Listen to your coach they know what they are doing and trying to help you. If someone is talking you ignore them and focus on what your swim coach is saying. Lead by example sooner or later they will stop talking to you and listen too.
Look your coach in the eye. There is no better way to show someone that you are listening than by looking them in the eye. Whatever you do, don’t stick your head under the water, that shows a huge amount of disrespect to your coach.
No. 4 Ask your swim coach questions (after training)
If you don’t ask you don’t know. If you want to know how to fix your stroke, or how to drive or turn better then ask. Your coach is there to help you. When your coach does give you feedback, then be sure to take it on board and implement their advice.
When you understand what your coach is trying to say that’s when you can go and work on it. If you don’t understand then stay there asking more questions or for examples until you do understand.
No. 5 Tag your coach in social media
Show your coach that you’re passionate about swimming by tagging them in social media. When you see something about swimming that might help your team or yourself. Show your coach that you care about your team and swimming. Instead of telling them about a cool thing you saw on Instagram or Facebook, but tag him in the post. By doing this you are showing your coach that you’re thinking about swimming not just when you are at practice but other times too.