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.
Parents
Former Member
You know what?
In order for me as a coach to manage feed backs, I had to write them on papers.
You're raising a very interesting point, hence the fact that it got me reacting.
While I was sharpening up my coaching philosophy several years back (I was coaching Varsity and Master and AgeGroup levels, my bosses were Olympian athletes coaches and high level varsity coaches), I addressed the point you're referring to by making sure of the following:
- No orphan feed back. That is no feed back that I can't make a follow up on
- Follow up MUST include measures such as impact on either DPS (distance per stroke) SR (Stroke rate) combined with time
- Feed back will often include slight video session. I used to always coach with a VCR/Video Cam all the time (I really mean all the time here...)
- Never a second feed back related to something else without having first sorted out the first feed back
I really had a log with notes about all I would say to anyone at anytime. Before issuing a feedback, I'd check in this log. But this, I am telling you, is an attitude/philosophy that is very rare. Even in varsity teams or other high performance organizations you'll often see coaches throwing disorganized and unmonitored feed backs.
Do this. Then no follow up. Then Do that, or put your elbow like this. Then no follow up then an other unrelated feed back. I find it stupid, I forced myself not to do it, but I have to admit that you can't expect the same from most coaches you'll meet in your life.
So the swimmers (children of these coaches) just mimic what they had witness during their swim career. It's a vicious circle that had always made me feel at the right spot as a coach, even if I never really performed at the level of the folks I was coaching back then.
Being a swimming is one thing, being a coach is another thing. But at the moment, I'm sure if you make a survey, you'll notice that good swimmers are often picked first for coaching job, even if over the years I came to the conclusion that they often suck.
So on this aspect, I join my voice to that of other members, your feed back is your responsibility. You have to make sure you get the follow up yourself.
And more importantly, when you receive a second or a third feedback about things other than that you are working on, just tell the coach: Remember this thing you said to me last week? I am still working on it.
You know what?
In order for me as a coach to manage feed backs, I had to write them on papers.
You're raising a very interesting point, hence the fact that it got me reacting.
While I was sharpening up my coaching philosophy several years back (I was coaching Varsity and Master and AgeGroup levels, my bosses were Olympian athletes coaches and high level varsity coaches), I addressed the point you're referring to by making sure of the following:
- No orphan feed back. That is no feed back that I can't make a follow up on
- Follow up MUST include measures such as impact on either DPS (distance per stroke) SR (Stroke rate) combined with time
- Feed back will often include slight video session. I used to always coach with a VCR/Video Cam all the time (I really mean all the time here...)
- Never a second feed back related to something else without having first sorted out the first feed back
I really had a log with notes about all I would say to anyone at anytime. Before issuing a feedback, I'd check in this log. But this, I am telling you, is an attitude/philosophy that is very rare. Even in varsity teams or other high performance organizations you'll often see coaches throwing disorganized and unmonitored feed backs.
Do this. Then no follow up. Then Do that, or put your elbow like this. Then no follow up then an other unrelated feed back. I find it stupid, I forced myself not to do it, but I have to admit that you can't expect the same from most coaches you'll meet in your life.
So the swimmers (children of these coaches) just mimic what they had witness during their swim career. It's a vicious circle that had always made me feel at the right spot as a coach, even if I never really performed at the level of the folks I was coaching back then.
Being a swimming is one thing, being a coach is another thing. But at the moment, I'm sure if you make a survey, you'll notice that good swimmers are often picked first for coaching job, even if over the years I came to the conclusion that they often suck.
So on this aspect, I join my voice to that of other members, your feed back is your responsibility. You have to make sure you get the follow up yourself.
And more importantly, when you receive a second or a third feedback about things other than that you are working on, just tell the coach: Remember this thing you said to me last week? I am still working on it.
