My team just got a new coach about four months ago. Now personally, I don't have any major problems with this coach. He gives a pretty good workout, he is quite knowledgeable about stroke techniques, and he is trying to build some team unity. Admittedly, we have had some issues with him about showing up for workouts a few minutes late and relying too much on the pool lifeguards to provide us with a workout when he sometimes doesn't show (a much bigger problem for the newer/less experienced swimmers).
The big conflict seems to be from the beginning/intermediate swimmers and the triathletes (I'm also a triathlete, but I have a pretty strong swimming background). Now, this may seem quite trivial, and even a little bit petty to those of us who swam in college and have an intense competitive drive and thrive on the thrill of a good swim, but many of our intermediate/beginners are complaining that they are not getting recognition for their efforts. Thinking back to my early age group days, I can remember when a coach simply saying "good job" to me meant everything. It's what kept me coming back for more painful workouts the next week. Now swimming Masters, I really don't care if a coach singles me out for accomplishing something. I'm happy with an occasional Top Ten or winning a medal at Nationals. But we are now losing a lot of swimmers because they feel they are working for nothing. They don't see why they should swim Masters vs. just lap swim.
What's brought this to a head is that this morning, after workout, my wife sent me a text expressing how disgusted she was with our coach. She didn't go into specifics, but she ended with the statement "I'm done!". I didn't see what brought this on, but I did notice that halfway through workout, she was just swimming laps by herself. Back and forth, no stopping. I glanced at our coach, and he gave me a confused look, saying "so-and-so just wants to swim". While I'm not trying to make excuses for anyone, coach is a pretty young guy, with most of our members being 20-30 years older than him, and I think he might be a bit nervous expressing himself to some of us.
So heck, now I'm stuck in the middle. What do I do? Do I try to talk to the coach? Do I stay out of it? Help!
Personally, I don't feel that adults should be so needy; this seems childish. They should be "working" for themselves and their own fitness/competition goals. It's hard for me to believe that masters swimmers only go to practice for a pat on the head ...
I had to laugh when I read the OP about this. Yea I sometimes get a, "great swim," after a workout, maybe once a week (more likely every 2-3 weeks). But I certainly wouldn't change my swimming habits due to a lack of one.
More often, I'll get one (or give one) to another swimmer who I just swam a tough set with.
That said, I believe the intermediate/beginners should get coaching attention -- stroke correction, explanation of sets, etc.
If the coach is new, he/she may be getting a feel for the way the group works. If I'm looking for feedback on something, I've never had a coach say, "no," when I ask. Especially if it is something specific. Maybe breaststroke pullouts...ask how they look, what I can improve, what drills I can work on to make them better.
If I'm planning to swim in a meet and want to do block starts, I've asked for specific feedback on those.
After the coach gets to know the swimmers (and vice-versa) this should be more natural.
Being late is definitely a bad habit unless, as Rob notes, there is a specific reason. I always try to be early myself, but I certainly have gotten stuck in traffic jams/accidents on occasion.
I guess this partly depends on when the workout is happening. I normally swim early morning, before work, and traffic is rarely an issue. I can't remember a single time when our morning coach was late. He's normally there early, making sure lanelines are in, there are kickboards available, etc. I think once when I was there 15 min early I might have beat the coach.
For evening workouts, there have been a few instances when the masters coach was late (traffic, them working late, etc.) However, they've let someone know and typically another coach on deck (one who is coaching kids) will get us started.
Since I've been swimming with my current team (I think about 6 years), I could count on one hand the number of times a coach was late. I can't recall a single time they just never showed. Heck even when there's inclement weather and we won't be swimming, the coach is there anyway to let us know (along with sending out email, posts to FB, etc.)
Personally, I don't feel that adults should be so needy; this seems childish. They should be "working" for themselves and their own fitness/competition goals. It's hard for me to believe that masters swimmers only go to practice for a pat on the head ...
I had to laugh when I read the OP about this. Yea I sometimes get a, "great swim," after a workout, maybe once a week (more likely every 2-3 weeks). But I certainly wouldn't change my swimming habits due to a lack of one.
More often, I'll get one (or give one) to another swimmer who I just swam a tough set with.
That said, I believe the intermediate/beginners should get coaching attention -- stroke correction, explanation of sets, etc.
If the coach is new, he/she may be getting a feel for the way the group works. If I'm looking for feedback on something, I've never had a coach say, "no," when I ask. Especially if it is something specific. Maybe breaststroke pullouts...ask how they look, what I can improve, what drills I can work on to make them better.
If I'm planning to swim in a meet and want to do block starts, I've asked for specific feedback on those.
After the coach gets to know the swimmers (and vice-versa) this should be more natural.
Being late is definitely a bad habit unless, as Rob notes, there is a specific reason. I always try to be early myself, but I certainly have gotten stuck in traffic jams/accidents on occasion.
I guess this partly depends on when the workout is happening. I normally swim early morning, before work, and traffic is rarely an issue. I can't remember a single time when our morning coach was late. He's normally there early, making sure lanelines are in, there are kickboards available, etc. I think once when I was there 15 min early I might have beat the coach.
For evening workouts, there have been a few instances when the masters coach was late (traffic, them working late, etc.) However, they've let someone know and typically another coach on deck (one who is coaching kids) will get us started.
Since I've been swimming with my current team (I think about 6 years), I could count on one hand the number of times a coach was late. I can't recall a single time they just never showed. Heck even when there's inclement weather and we won't be swimming, the coach is there anyway to let us know (along with sending out email, posts to FB, etc.)
