These swim coaching tips can help you be a better coach for your swim team. Swimming is a very challenging and competitive sport. Young people involved in swimming need support, guidance and direction for their swim coach. This means that you have a very important job to do and a lot of responsibility on your hands. Some simple swim coaching tips can help.
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Learn the sport. The league that your team is involved in should have a rule book for you to consult. This will let you know what your league’s official rules are for matches, techniques and certain situations that might come up, such as a dispute over a tied match.
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Swim yourself. You will be a more effective swim coach if you can swim all four different strokes at least adequately. You should study these strokes and watch others perform them, but nothing beats jumping into the water and doing them yourself.
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Know your age group. When coaching a swim team, you could be dealing with very young beginner swimmers, or you could be coaching a high school or college team with possible Olympic candidates. Spend time with your team and really get to know their skill level and mentality to be a better swim coach.
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Keep swim practice organized. Make sure everyone gets a chance to practice their key events, and incorporate drills and endurance exercises into every practice session. This will help your team continue to improve so you have a better chance of winning matches and meets.
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Find your coaching philosophy. All coaches of any sport have a philosophy on what they believe makes a good athlete and a successful team. Once you find your philosophy, share it with your team and make every effort to use it when coaching. The more positive your philosophy, the more effective it’s likely to be. An example philosophy would be striving to foster a healthy competitive spirit while teaching your swimmers the importance of encouraging each other and succeeding as a team.
