Hello-
I am my team's Swimming Chair (we have water polo and tri too). My team has a lot of new people (and some stubborn people) who don't seem to want to follow our coached workouts. They just want to do their own thing or do the workout at their own pace regardless of the rest of the lane.
So far, I have kept pretty quiet on this issue.
- We have some coaches that are more strict than others.
- I don't want to have to create a strict "age group" atmosphere.
- We sometimes have a compressed number of lanes at our facility, where different levels may get squeezed together in one lane. We are a larger team.
However, I'm a slower-medium swimmer, and I have left some practices because they have turned into such "**** shows" with people doing their own workouts. (Yes, I could say something to my lane mates or coaches, but I would be so bitchy in the moment).
After returning form our end-of-summer break, I'd like to kindly explain the logic of why we order lanes from fast to slow, why it is important to follow the workouts as written by the coaches and that there is no shame in moving up or down a lane depending on speed. Does anyone have any guidelines on "practice etiquette"? In my position I could just be blunt, but I'm looking for a kinder approach, especially for people who may not have swam age group and may just not "get it" Thanks!
This isn't a problem that we've ever had, but we certainly couldn't cope if people just did their own thing. I'm also chair and would advocate a formal communication along the lines of:
This is a club environment
We have to accommodate relatively large numbers per lane
This only works if a) people observe lane etiquette and b) follow the session.
Lane etiquette means... (5 seconds rule etc)
Following the session means... (doing it the best you can - by all means adapt but do so within the parameters of the structured session e.g. don't sprint if you don't want to on a sprint set, but go to the back, miss a rep but don't get in the way...)
If people just want to swim in their own way, they can go to a public session.
This isn't a problem that we've ever had, but we certainly couldn't cope if people just did their own thing. I'm also chair and would advocate a formal communication along the lines of:
This is a club environment
We have to accommodate relatively large numbers per lane
This only works if a) people observe lane etiquette and b) follow the session.
Lane etiquette means... (5 seconds rule etc)
Following the session means... (doing it the best you can - by all means adapt but do so within the parameters of the structured session e.g. don't sprint if you don't want to on a sprint set, but go to the back, miss a rep but don't get in the way...)
If people just want to swim in their own way, they can go to a public session.
