I've been swimming with two masters club for the past year and I feel a bit left out in the dust with one of the clubs I am in.
The first club is fine because we pay the annual pool fee and that's it ($238 bucks). So, the coach we have during the training session volunteers his time to coach us from time to time. I respect that and I don't expect much since I don't pay for his coaching anyway.
However, in the evening... I swim with a different masters club, which their instructors are composed of coaches and students from a varsity team (2 - 3 people per session). This club, I pay for pool and coaching fees. However, all they do is pretty much stand there and chat up with each other and never really focus on me to improve on my strokes. They can tell I am a beginner... and I see no motivation from them to coach me at all. It ticks me off because I am paying for their coaching and sometimes they say nothing to me for the entire session. What's up with that? I can tell they have favorites... and I feel like I am left in the dust to improve on my own, which I need help on.
Anyways... I am getting off topic here... I would like to know what makes a good masters coach, because I don't feel comfortable spending my money on people who are utterly useless.
Please advise.
It's funny you should have this question because I'm going through this a bit myself. I started swimming on a masters team about 5 years ago and the coach was a great young kid home for the summer from college. He was a great swimmer and a great coach who:
wrote 3 levels of workouts (newbies, triathletes (free-only), and "challenge")
spent time actively supervising and giving advice to every group
gave every swimmer some kind of positive or instructive input at every single practice
didn't let us get away with just coasting through practice
He only was with us for that one summer and while the next two coaches were good, they just weren't up to this guy's standard. After that the Y kept hiring "warm bodies" to run the masters program and I stopped going - it cost extra, the workouts weren't challenging, and there was no instruction or coaching going on. But these people didn't have the knowledge to provide any of that
It sounds like the second of your two teams at least has knowledgable staff. I agree with all the responders above who say to just ask...it could just be a confidence issue with them...some kids are afraid to give unsolicited advice. If you still get no satisfaction, maybe it's time to move on....
I stopped going to the masters program years ago, and I'm considering going back, not because the coaching has improved (it hasn't) but because I want to hang with more 3d swimmers than I currently do. The forum is fun, but it's not like having real swimbuds!
It's funny you should have this question because I'm going through this a bit myself. I started swimming on a masters team about 5 years ago and the coach was a great young kid home for the summer from college. He was a great swimmer and a great coach who:
wrote 3 levels of workouts (newbies, triathletes (free-only), and "challenge")
spent time actively supervising and giving advice to every group
gave every swimmer some kind of positive or instructive input at every single practice
didn't let us get away with just coasting through practice
He only was with us for that one summer and while the next two coaches were good, they just weren't up to this guy's standard. After that the Y kept hiring "warm bodies" to run the masters program and I stopped going - it cost extra, the workouts weren't challenging, and there was no instruction or coaching going on. But these people didn't have the knowledge to provide any of that
It sounds like the second of your two teams at least has knowledgable staff. I agree with all the responders above who say to just ask...it could just be a confidence issue with them...some kids are afraid to give unsolicited advice. If you still get no satisfaction, maybe it's time to move on....
I stopped going to the masters program years ago, and I'm considering going back, not because the coaching has improved (it hasn't) but because I want to hang with more 3d swimmers than I currently do. The forum is fun, but it's not like having real swimbuds!
