Developmental Swim Team Coaching

Are you a developmental swim team coach looking for guidance, practice ideas, and more than the Foundations of Coaching course?

This is the resource for you.

Jeff N was the Head Developmental Coach for a USA Swimming Level 4 team for 12 years and this course will help you guide new competitive swimmers into good habits, and racing success.

Recommendation: take these 2 online courses before taking this one.

• Teaching Swimming
• Level Structure

Developmental programs have different criteria for joining the competitive swim team. For the purposes of training and standardization we need to agree on the following assumptions:

Swimmer Tryout Requirements:

• Minimum age: 5 years old
• Tryout required to join the team:
  • 20- 25 yards swimming of front crawl with breathing
    • No lifting the head
    • Must turn the head to the side
    • Breath must be to the side where the face is not covered by water
    • Looking for arms reaching to Position 11 and recovering over the water
    • Should have a flutter kick
  • 20-25 yards swimming of back crawl
    • Body held straight at the surface
    • Arms recover over the water
    • Flutter kick provides movement and body positioning
    • No dangling feet
    • No twisting hips
    • No face sinking underwater
  • 5 yards of butterfly kick
    • Can be done in soldier position
    • Can be done after a demonstration by the coach
    • Should be easily mimicked; even for people who have never done it
  • Attempt 5 yards of breaststroke.
    • Gauge of swimmer exposure to advanced strokes
    • Can be completely wrong; looking for the attempt
  • Comfort in going underwater, wearing goggles, and not afraid of deeper water.
  • Able to follow directions without argument or tears
  • Clearly had instruction in how to swim