In swimming, it’s not the single hardest set we do all year that we get the most out of. It’s the creation of great habits in the details that contribute the most to fast swimming. It’s pushing hard off the wall, snapping your turns, tightening your streamline…not just once, but each and every single length you swim.
In my opinion, coaching is not that different. It’s not the one crazy hard set you make up, or the one meet lineup you put together against your rival team, or the one drill you create that contributes the most to your coaching. It’s the little things that you do every day.
I will even go a step further and say it’s not the little things you do around training or technique, but the little things you do around the sport. It’s the little things that go into your relationship with your swimmers that matter the most.
For example, let’s take two swimmers:
- The first one trusts the coach, respects the coach, knows the coach has their best interest in mind, and believes wholeheartedly that the coach understands them.
- The second one distrusts the coach, worries about the coach’s motivations, and doesn’t believe the coach really cares about them. Which one will listen better? Be willing to work harder? Follow directions? Engage? Share?
The answer is obvious, and the difference is significant.
So as a coach, what are some of the little things you can do consistently to help build stronger relationships with your swimmers? Here’s a few that take very little time but have big impacts:
- Celebrate: Create a birthday calendar of all your swimmers’ birthdays and make sure you acknowledge them all on their special day. Team Unify does it for you so as a club coach, you’re already a step ahead. If not, use a google calendar with reminders. Use your team’s group communication method (GroupMe, TeamSnap, Instagram, email distribution list, etc,) to just share a happy birthday. Super simple, super effective. Everyone (except me) loves their birthday to be remembered and a little acknowledgement on that special day.
- Salutate: Do a pre-practice greeting. Nothing formal, but be at the point of entry to the pool and greet everyone as they come in. I personally use this to get a gauge on who might need a little extra pep talk or motivation going into practice. Acknowledging everyone as an individual and not just as a mass group of kids goes a long way.
- Delegate: Have a couple “gimme” things you can turn over to a swimmer or group during practice; control of the music, writing the warmup, and helping lead dryland are some I use often. It is minor and has no impact on the timing of practice or what you want to accomplish, but that little extra responsibility is often seen as a big moment of trust.
- Supplicate: Ask your swimmers for feedback. Whether it’s “what did you think of that set?” or “what do you think we need to focus on more?” or “What can I do better as a coach?” – questions are important. As coaches, we are often great at telling people what to do, what they are doing well/wrong, and why we do something. We are typically not good at asking swimmers questions. Questions show you care about their opinion and that you acknowledge you don’t know everything and are working on improving yourself. It also takes a chunk out of the “I’m the coach, you’re the swimmer. I talk, you listen” vibe that is great for compliance, but tends to prohibit commitment and true engagement.
- Concentrate: Learn to listen, not just hear. Kids have a lot they want to share and depending on the age and the kid, they are not always super awesome at articulating what they are trying to say. When a swimmer is communicating with you, give them your full attention, listen, read the body language and again, ask questions. Coaches are busy sometimes and can unfortunately miss out on good relationship building moments by being distracted or dismissive.
There are many more little things you can add to how you coach, and I encourage you to find ones that are authentic to you and help build those relationship skills. You can know everything in the world about swimming, but if your kids don’t listen or trust you, it won’t really matter, and everyone will end up frustrated. Leave a comment on the website or in the post on some little things that you use!