I just became the coach of my first swim team, and I, being a male, am having a hard time with the whole period thing. My girls are middle school level, and a little shy about the subject, as am I. Now, I know that you can swim on your period by using a tampon, but they cringed at the idea. However, on a 20 girl team, I've got as many as 6-7 girls sitting out daily because of it. I know that's far FAR too high. I'm about this close to going out and buying a box of tampons to shove in their face if they don't dress.
So my questions are:
How necessary is it that you wear a tampon? Is it an every day thing? are there times when it's worse than others?
And, how can I easily make the lives of the swimmers who don't swim (and keep in mind it has to be for a group of 6-7 people) a living hell. I need a dry land work out that can be done on the pool deck that takes little effort to watch (so I can coach the other girls) and something they can't really slack off - I keep giving them push ups and they barely go down.
I really can't think of anything outside of making the actual swim session fun, so if you guys have ideas on how to do that too it might work, too. It need to work on something important though.
Sounds like a school team.
I did much of the training for my daughter this fall to get her ready for HS, and also was the representing coach for the two girls from her school for sectionals(no HS team). One thing I did with her was to try and think of dry-land work-outs that were hard but beneficial for her swimming. Don't make the dry-land a punishment, but use it to do things that will aid their swimming and that you normally do not have time for during regular swim practice. Running is beneficial for swimming, most girls this age have poor core strength and poor upper body strength. Hamstrings are usually weak, flexibility can be poor in some of them. Work on these things, but make them worthwhile and beneficial. This is not a by for them, just a different type of work-out. They should be sore from it.
My daughter recognized that exercise does make her feel better, but is also intimidated to go to practice with boys in the water with her(she has to practice with the club team). At sectionals, both she and the other girl were having their periods, but it was not as much of an issue. It was all girls, and since they were comfortable with me, they talked to me about their fears, and I helped them with that. They also supported each other(doing the subtle checks for leaks and such). They both swam well, and were happy when they left....and both said it really sucked that this happened on their big meet. These girls are 15 and 16, with younger girls it is much harder, they are making an uneasy transition, and for many girls, it is hard.
Sounds like a school team.
I did much of the training for my daughter this fall to get her ready for HS, and also was the representing coach for the two girls from her school for sectionals(no HS team). One thing I did with her was to try and think of dry-land work-outs that were hard but beneficial for her swimming. Don't make the dry-land a punishment, but use it to do things that will aid their swimming and that you normally do not have time for during regular swim practice. Running is beneficial for swimming, most girls this age have poor core strength and poor upper body strength. Hamstrings are usually weak, flexibility can be poor in some of them. Work on these things, but make them worthwhile and beneficial. This is not a by for them, just a different type of work-out. They should be sore from it.
My daughter recognized that exercise does make her feel better, but is also intimidated to go to practice with boys in the water with her(she has to practice with the club team). At sectionals, both she and the other girl were having their periods, but it was not as much of an issue. It was all girls, and since they were comfortable with me, they talked to me about their fears, and I helped them with that. They also supported each other(doing the subtle checks for leaks and such). They both swam well, and were happy when they left....and both said it really sucked that this happened on their big meet. These girls are 15 and 16, with younger girls it is much harder, they are making an uneasy transition, and for many girls, it is hard.
