Would you expect a high school swim coach to know what a split is and why it is important?
Last night my daughter was watching my granddaughter's HS swim practice. The assistant coach asked my daughter to time a 500 for a couple of kids. My daughter asked the coach if she wanted splits or just the finish time. The coach said, "Split, I don't know what that is." My daughter explained. The coach then asked, "Why would I want to know that?"
Well, I have to give the coach credit for asking.
Should a HS coach know this, or do I have an unreasonable expectation?
IThere are very successful coaches in all sports, even at professional levels, who've never played the sport they're coaching.
I think they'd be the exception rather than the rule though. Consider soccer in the US in the 1970s (before it exploded). While in college, I briefly (one season) coached a 13-14 boys team, but had never played soccer other than in P.E. I think I had one kid who had any soccer experience, and he had moved from an area with already established age group programs (ISTR Virginia).
Today, I would be pretty surprised if someone coaching an age group or high school soccer team hadn't played the sport as a kid, at least in/through high school. I think the situation would be similar for swimming.
IThere are very successful coaches in all sports, even at professional levels, who've never played the sport they're coaching.
I think they'd be the exception rather than the rule though. Consider soccer in the US in the 1970s (before it exploded). While in college, I briefly (one season) coached a 13-14 boys team, but had never played soccer other than in P.E. I think I had one kid who had any soccer experience, and he had moved from an area with already established age group programs (ISTR Virginia).
Today, I would be pretty surprised if someone coaching an age group or high school soccer team hadn't played the sport as a kid, at least in/through high school. I think the situation would be similar for swimming.
