The Supportive Parent

Swimming is one of the few sports that require a lot of support from parents.  This support can be shown in various ways from being your swimmers biggest cheerleader to being an official standing on the side of the pool for hours during a meet so your swimmer can compete. 

I know each parent sacrifices a lot of time between commuting and getting your child to and from practice, meets and other team activities.  I know several weekends a month are spent on a pool deck when you need/want to be doing other things.  And the truth is this is the sport your child has chosen and it is difficult.  However, there are a few things you can do to make the time you are spending more enjoyable.  Get involved!  How you may ask?  Every team is different, but several have the same needs.  Does your team have a booster club?  Do you wish to understand the sport more? Become an official.  Every team I have ever coached for is always in need of officials.  These two areas can help you get involved in ways that help the team, support your child, get to understand the sport of swimming, and allow you can meet other parents. 

This is your child’s sport. 

The most important thing to remember is…This is your child’s sport.  The focus should be on your child and not anyone else’s child. And truthfully the focus should also not be on yourself and how you feel. 

With that said there are some parents who take getting “involved” too far. And this is not in ways that I just mentioned above. Too many parents sit in the stands dwelling on a bad swim or a bad meet with their child, which does not help the swimmer.  Your swimmer is going to have bad races, bad days, or bad meets.  It is normal and it is natural.  I have so many swimmers every meet walk up to me saying my mom/dad are upset because I got beat by so and so, or they are upset because I did not drop any time.  Honestly this is one of the few times parents you can be the good guys.  I ask my parents no matter what to tell your swimmer they did good job and ask “what did your coach say?” Let me be the bad guy if necessary.

Now sometimes you may not understand why a coach is doing what they are doing.  And if this is the case, the best way to find out is to communicate directly with the coach.  There are several appropriate times to do this, but during practice is not one of them because the coach needs to have his full attention on practice/swimmers.  If you can catch the coach prior to practice, after practice, via e-mail or by phone those are the ideal times to talk to the coach.  You can also set up a meeting with the coach.  As a coach I appreciate those parents who want to understand what I am doing, my method and my goals; however, there is always a place and time for this communication to happen. 

Ultimately, your child(ren) need to be swimming for themselves not being in fear of their parents and what they are going to say.  That is why I say get involved with the sport and/or the team.  This way you are not dwelling on the bad swim or bad day.  You are involved in your own way and your swimmer sees that you are involved in something they are passionate about.  Let the coach do their job and be there to help guide your swimmer through the rough patches.

 

By being a supportive parent you are helping create an environment where the coach can be successful, the swimmer can be successful and ultimately the team can be successful. 

Disclaimer:  These are my opinions and are not to be a reflection on anyone other than myself.

How to Choose the right group and coach?

With a new season starting I always seem to have a lot of swimmers and families contact me expressing interest in my program.  During those e-mails, phone calls and face to face meetings I like to take the time to explain how I do things. This can be from selecting the right group, to why my groups practice as much or as little as they do, to my expectations and even explaining the dynamics of those swimmers already in my groups. 

I have learned over time I am not the right coach for everyone, as much as I would love to be.  I always suggest that a swimmer and their family come to try out a few practices to get a good feel the commitment.  Participating in just one workout does not give you a good example of what our training or practices are like.  You could choose to come on a day when the group is tapering, doing a drill heavy work out or even on a day when we are doing a test set. And if that is the case any one of these practices does not show you what our season plan will be. 

As a swimmer or family you should be looking for a couple of different things as you are trying to choose the best team/group for you.  First, does the schedule work with your school, after-school activities, family activities, etc.?  Second, does your swimmer seem to connect with the coach in charge of the group and do they respect him/her?  Third, after communicating with the coach do you agree with the direction he/she or the team is going?

Now this seems simple, but if one of these three items does not fit when you are looking at teams the team is probably not going to be a good fit for you.  The reason I say that is if you disagree or do not fulfill one of those items there will be constant strain when it comes to the team and your athlete’s training.  For example, if the schedule does not work and you are missing a lot of practices the coach is not going to be happy and your swimmer is not going to get the most out of their training. 

Now at the same time I have plenty of swimmers come and try out one practice and never return.  As I said before to get a real feel of the team and coach you need to come to more than one practice and I suggest coming for an entire week to get the best feel for the program and coaches. 

Disclaimer: These are my opinions and are to not be a reflection on anyone other than myself.