I've only ever given unsolicited advice to a swimmer outside of practice a couple times, and both times were after we'd been chatting for a while about swimming and our respective backgrounds in the sport.
During practice, as a coach, I give it all the time. And when I'm swimming during one of our other coaches' practices, I'll continue to give advice to some of the swimmers if I see something.
I can't think of anyone who's ever been ungrateful for the advice I give them, and most of 'em end up asking me for more advice later on or have me watch a stroke to make sure they're doing it right.
I've only ever given unsolicited advice to a swimmer outside of practice a couple times, and both times were after we'd been chatting for a while about swimming and our respective backgrounds in the sport.
During practice, as a coach, I give it all the time. And when I'm swimming during one of our other coaches' practices, I'll continue to give advice to some of the swimmers if I see something.
I can't think of anyone who's ever been ungrateful for the advice I give them, and most of 'em end up asking me for more advice later on or have me watch a stroke to make sure they're doing it right.
It's the job of a coach to give advice, so I wouldn't count that as unsolicited.
It's the job of a coach to give advice, so I wouldn't count that as unsolicited.
True, but we've got plenty of swimmers on our team who're rather ornery and set in their ways, and they're generally quite resistant to advice regarding changing their stroke. :D
I swim with age groupers, so I never give unsolicited advice. If I think there's something worth mentioning, I'll talk to the coaches first and see what they think.
Reminds me of a few times I've had unsolicited weight training advice at the gym. It seems like some men like to give us womenfolk pointers (even when they don't seem particularly athletically competent themselves). The fact that they are men makes them experts, you know...
Maybe they are just flirting?
Reminds me of a few times I've had unsolicited weight training advice at the gym. It seems like some men like to give us womenfolk pointers (even when they don't seem particularly athletically competent themselves). The fact that they are men makes them experts, you know...
In my experience it is absolutely impossible to go to a gym without receiving unsolicited advice. I'm not female and I don't think I look especially feminine so it doesn't appear to be directed at a specific gender, but some guys, (yes they are typically guys) apparently just can not resist offering unsolicited advice in the gym. What really pisses me off is, how can these guys think that they can tell me what I should be doing, when they don't even know what I am trying to accomplish? I actually really don't like working out in a gym for exactly this reason. I now do my dryland training in my basement alone or with my daughter. I will not be offended if she offers advice.
No, it's not who (I think) you think. :rolleyes: But, I don't know his name and haven't seen him at a meet since 2010.
Actually, the person who I think you are guessing (name withheld) has never given me any advice on my stroke. But, he does :blah: :blah: :blah: about everything else! And, this same person beats me when we have been in the same breaststroke heats; often in neighboring lanes. :bitching:
Maybe he is just flirting?
Maybe he is just flirting?
The first guy who gave me the unsolicited advice definitely wasn't flirting. He seemed to want to act like the B.M.O.C. by giving unsolicited advice to others, as well. (My husband just reminded me when I brought up that story to him that this guy said he was an attorney. :bolt:)
The other guy I am referring to doesn't flirt, either. The guy talks NON-STOP to anybody within earshot, whether you show interest or not. The guy doesn't:blah: stop :blah:talking:blah:. EVER. Those who know who I am referring to would agree with me on this, I'm sure. He is known for this, uhhh, characteristic.
For those who haven't met him yet, come to the St. Nick's meet on December 15 and I will happily introduce you to him, then :bolt:!!!
Do you offer unsolicited advice to other swimmers at the pool? Fix their form? Give workout suggestions? Etc.
Or do you keep your mouth shut?
Mouth shut, I don't want to get killed.
Seriously, it happened once over the last few years. A young sprinter was pushing a massive water wall whilst booking a set of fast 100m. But it's delicate matters. So I went to see him, asked if
1. He was currently being coached
2. Why he would keep his head so low whilst sprinting
He answered in a very polite way, that a coach in the past had asked him to always keep his head low. I said that the head position kept lower was probably serving him very well at lower swim pace, but when sprinting, given that the flutter kick tends to lift the lower body fairly high, a neutral head position could be just fine. I mentioned that his stroke looked awesome (I lied there, but giving unsolicited advices comes at a price right?), but that if he felt that was I was saying was making sense, he could test other head position.
He immediately did, and notice an improvement of 1.5sec per 100m, right there (from 1:02.5 down to 1:01). I now coach this guy, so it wasn't a bad move after all.
True, but we've got plenty of swimmers on our team who're rather ornery and set in their ways, and they're generally quite resistant to advice regarding changing their stroke. :D
Not me--except in rare instances, if I'm in a master's group, I WANT the coach to give feedback/advice! When on my own, it depends on context. But if I join a group workout supervised by a coach, I'm looking for something more than just a workout that I can do by myself.
