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The
On-Deck Coach
Most Master's
swimmers have an on-deck coach. I think there are shortcomings
to being coached exclusively from someone on the deck.
I speak from years and years of experience when I say
that an on-deck coach can only pick out about 20% of
your swimming flaws. You see, the juicy 80% all happens
underwater. And with the bubbles, swirls and splashes,
its almost impossible to view these from the deck. You
should (every once in a while) be with a coach who will
get in the water with you and watch and critique you
from alongside and underneath you. The next best alternative
is to be filmed with an underwater camera. As an aside,
I always found it ironic when I coached at this one
place where they didn't allow me to be in the water
with my swimmers. "A coach should be an authority
figure on deck," they would say. Ha!!
The
Non-Swimmer Coach
This is
not as uncommon as you think. I mean, most competitive
swimmers would rather be swimming the workout than coaching
on deck. So often you'll have a coach who rarely swims
on their own. Is this a problem? Not necessarily. However,
from my experience (ranging from a beginner swimmer
to a fairly decent one who's constantly trying to improve)
I would have to say that every single credible and
breakthrough-causing piece of advice I've given to athletes
has come from self-analysis and self-discovery.
Of course I've read all the books about Swim Technique
but to parrot that info back to my swimmers always felt
to me to be (and probably was) inauthentic and was subsequently
untrusted and unabsorbed by my swimmers.
The
Elite-Swimmer Coach
I don't
think there are any inherent shortcomings with having
an coach who is/was an elite swimmer. Jeez, its what
we all hope for, myself included! I just want to put
out a caution signal though that the elite swimmer may
or may not have ever had to give much thought to his/her
swimming. In such cases, being a "natural"
swimmer turns out to be detrimental to being an effective
coach. I'll use this example again: I have met many
elite runners in my life and I always ask them to help
me with my running -- and I can honestly say that I
may have heard 2 or 3 insightful lessons in such instances
(out of ... 30 maybe?). All I'm trying to say is not
to be star-struck by your coach's accomplishments and
notoriety: grill him or her til you get the insights
you need!
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