SIP 063: “Failing” for two weeks

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And how it has been fun and full of healthy improvement.

Preface: I run safe and encouraging practices. I get along well with my swimmers and their parents. I can’t think of a time I was upset with a parent that knew me or has watched a practice. We fill our time building up our swimmers by giving them regular feedback. They experience more than 10 interactions per practice of one of the coaches saying something they did well, and something they need to improve upon. We take particular effort in praising effort as followup to previous instruction.

We’ve been doing “Fail” practices inspired by episode #061 with the Swim Box and Dominic Latella.

Here’s what we’ve done, and why you can do it too.

The basic premise:

Give a chance to do something well.
Give specific feedback with a “success” or a “fail” thumb up or down.
Have a reward, and a consequence.
Do multiple rounds that build on themselves (introduce easy first, and get harder)
Make rewards fun, make punishments learning related.
Be kind in your delivery.