- Consistent dedication to the mundane like streamline
- Establishing habit
- Instilling discipline (hard work and precise body control)
- Everyone has excellent streamline habit (all the time without thought). That to NOT do a streamline would make the swimmer physically uncomfortable.
- A feeling that excellence is expected with allowance for failure, improvement, and progress.
- Swimmers feel watched, celebrated, and encouraged to improve through feedback, attention, and coaching.
See “Finding Deliberate Practice,” “SIP 052: Swimming is a Habit,” and “SIP 067: Deliberate Practice.”
Your framework and routine should reinforce the key things you want to accomplish with your swimmers.
My number one goals:
- Everyone has excellent streamline habit (all the time without thought). That to NOT do a streamline would make the swimmer physically uncomfortable.
- A feeling that excellence is expected with allowance for failure, improvement, and progress.
- Swimmers feel watched, celebrated, and encouraged to improve through feedback, attention, and coaching.
Coach behavior on deck:
If you see something to fix, you must say sometime.
Avoid socializing and standing in one spot; unless resting.
If you are expecting excellence, then excellence is expected OF you too.
Enforce what you want done; non-enforcement = acceptable behavior.
Know when to back off; you can still say something without demining or making someone feel bad.
“You didn’t streamline. Next time streamline.”
“You forgot the streamline.” They nod and agree. “next time.” You and they smile.
Better swimming.
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Happy New Year Jeff!
Great read! I agree, they need to be in the habit of always doing streamline when they leave the wall!
I just started assistant coaching the community swim team, and I will now become the coach who is streamline crazy! lol
Some swimmers really appreciate the feedback I give after they make the changes and do streamline. I’m oping they notice te gradual increase of speed as they push off in streamline instead of immediately going into arm circles
Happy new year! Thanks for commenting. I’m totally in favor of the crazy streamline coach! If you’re holding swimmers accountable for the most basic first day skill they learn then it translates to the more complex and difficult skills that we ask swimmers to do when they’re swimming Breaststroke and Butterfly. It is our attention to the mundane that promotes excellent swimming!
And to your hope of increased speed: they absolutely will go faster! You’re never as fast in the water as when you do streamline!