Race Club Article

Originally posted by Sam Perry Great point. I wonder how many coaches in USA Swimming actually excel at this. I think there are very few coaches at whatever level that do this well. That one point seems to make the difference in what makes a coach good or great. I believe any coach can teach technique, come up with creative workouts, take splits, zip up fastskins, etc. There are very few that can do what you say in the above quote. If USA Swimming wants to improve and have some legs to continue to grow the sport (no pun intended), this is a major issue that they should be addressing. I'm not sure about the "any coach can teach technique" statement, in my opinion this is the most challenging area of swim coaching, but wonder what you think USA swimming should do in the area to help coaches tailor swim training programs? BTW, I am aware that lots of people have written articles on this subject and coaches spend lots of time trying to figure out how to best accomplish this. The scientific literature also includes a number of studies on this topic. Its my experience that coaches try their best in this area but it is pretty complicated task especially when you are dealing with younger athletes that are still growing physically and mentally at very different rates. Hall made a number of points that are valid re training and specialization but also are well-known issues that many people are trying to address from a prespective of experience and knowledge that I'm not sure that he can claim beyond his experience as a swimmer and coach at the Race Club. I think that Hall's comments/suggestion re marketing of swimming are far more interesting and valuable than his personal opinions on how to train swimmers, other than himself.

Originally posted by Sam Perry Great point. I wonder how many coaches in USA Swimming actually excel at this. I think there are very few coaches at whatever level that do this well. That one point seems to make the difference in what makes a coach good or great. I believe any coach can teach technique, come up with creative workouts, take splits, zip up fastskins, etc. There are very few that can do what you say in the above quote. If USA Swimming wants to improve and have some legs to continue to grow the sport (no pun intended), this is a major issue that they should be addressing. I'm not sure about the "any coach can teach technique" statement, in my opinion this is the most challenging area of swim coaching, but wonder what you think USA swimming should do in the area to help coaches tailor swim training programs? BTW, I am aware that lots of people have written articles on this subject and coaches spend lots of time trying to figure out how to best accomplish this. The scientific literature also includes a number of studies on this topic. Its my experience that coaches try their best in this area but it is pretty complicated task especially when you are dealing with younger athletes that are still growing physically and mentally at very different rates. Hall made a number of points that are valid re training and specialization but also are well-known issues that many people are trying to address from a prespective of experience and knowledge that I'm not sure that he can claim beyond his experience as a swimmer and coach at the Race Club. I think that Hall's comments/suggestion re marketing of swimming are far more interesting and valuable than his personal opinions on how to train swimmers, other than himself.