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 ...
While I would tend to agree I also know everyone likes to hear "good job" every once in a while. Even the swimmer at Master's that doesn't compete is still probably working hard. I don't mean every set, every day - this isn't a participation award - but after a particularly hard workout it is nice to hear.
Maybe it's different as an adult-onset swimmer? I have been swimming solo for 10 years, just started competing a year ago and started going to coached Master's workouts 2x/week in January. When the coach would say stuff like "your breastroke is looking better" or "you are definitely getting faster" it was nice to hear. It meant all the hard work I had been putting in (solo and with the team) was working.
To the OP, a conversation is probably in order. (before/after practice) Coaching Master's is definitely different than coaching age-groupers and maybe he doesn't know how to give constructive feedback to adults?
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 ...
While I would tend to agree I also know everyone likes to hear "good job" every once in a while. Even the swimmer at Master's that doesn't compete is still probably working hard. I don't mean every set, every day - this isn't a participation award - but after a particularly hard workout it is nice to hear.
Maybe it's different as an adult-onset swimmer? I have been swimming solo for 10 years, just started competing a year ago and started going to coached Master's workouts 2x/week in January. When the coach would say stuff like "your breastroke is looking better" or "you are definitely getting faster" it was nice to hear. It meant all the hard work I had been putting in (solo and with the team) was working.
To the OP, a conversation is probably in order. (before/after practice) Coaching Master's is definitely different than coaching age-groupers and maybe he doesn't know how to give constructive feedback to adults?
