Why Your Swim Coach Needs A Swim Coach

Have you ever stood on deck coaching a workout and thought to yourself, “Wow I wish I had someone to teach me how they’d coach this right now?!” Sounds funny when you say it out loud, but it’s a more common thought than you might think. The reality is that Swim Coaches are not born with the manual on “How to be a LEGENDARY Swim Coach.” It takes practice, research, help, experience and yes, lots and lots of hard work. Here at Swim Like A. Fish, our mission is to help the swimming community become the fastest it can be. If we can provide a short-cut to faster swimming, we’re there. In this case, that means helping your Swim Coach get coached, too!

Let’s Get Started

We’ve Walked In Your Shoes

Most Swim Coaches start out as Swimmers or Swim Enthusiasts themselves. But what everybody reports is that the transition from Swimmer to Swim Coach throws you for a loop. That’s because it’s a completely different mindset to be up on deck rather than in the water. Although being a Swimmer can teach you valuable lessons that you can lean on while coaching, it’s only a small piece of the pie.

Not only that, but it can be really easy for a Swim Coach to feel like they’re all by themselves – coaching on an island. In a perfect world, Swim Coaches would be brought into a program with great resources, a working structure put in place, and older, more experienced coaches on deck to give help and advice. The reality for most is much less – many coaches are creating their programs from scratch with little resources. Basically, being a Swim Coach is not for the faint of heart.

Asking Others Your Swim Coach Questions

The fastest way to become better is to ask lots of questions and to get feedback from people that you trust. For example, questions can range from “How do I build a successful taper plan?” to “How do I communicate effectively to the parents on my team?” The catch to this is that you must be able to ask these questions to somebody that you trust. Getting real time feedback from another Swim Coach who was in your position and successfully navigated it is a huge leg up.

In a perfect world, every Swim Coach would know exactly what to do in every situation. But that’s just not life. Us Swim Coaches are learning as we go, too. That’s why continuing education for coaches successfully helps you reach your goals. It makes for a better coach, happier athletes and more successful seasons.

The SLAF Swim Coach Mentorship Program

Given all of that, we knew we needed to expand our SLAF offerings and create another arm of our business!

Introducing: The SLAF Swim Coach Mentorship Program! We brought together 3 of the world’s greatest coaches and asked them to help YOU. Imagine what a 1-on-1 phone call, an in-person customized camp, or a working through season plan TOGETHER could do for you and your team.

So, we’d like to introduce you to the 3 Swim Coach giants of the SLAF Swim Coach Mentorship: Gregg Troy, Jack Bauerle, and Mike Bottom!

All 3 of these Swim Coaches succeeded in their careers. And, their stats speak for themselves. Between the 3 of them, they hold 9 NCAA Championship Team Titles, 185 Individual National Champions at the Collegiate Level, 8-Times Coaching Experience at the Olympic Games, and 15 High School State Titles. Not to mention all 3 of them became SEC or Big 10 Coach of the Year!

You truly could not get mentored by more successful or more stand-up coaches.

Here’s more information about the purpose of our mentorship program:

If you feel under-resourced, under-appreciated and generally overwhelmed with the responsibilities of swim coaching, sign-up to be mentored! It will change your life.

Until next time,

Abbie Fish and the Swim Like A. Fish Team

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source https://swimlikeafish.org/why-your-swim-coach-needs-a-swim-coach