It’s Not About Butterfly (or back, or breast, or free…..)
From News for Swim Parents
Published by The American Swimming Coaches Association
5101 NW 21 Ave., Suite 200
Fort Lauderdale FL 33309
By Guy Edson
Coach (giving instructions to a group of above average ability 13-14
year olds): “The next set is nine 100’s of fly on 1:30, descending
one through 3, 4 through 6, and 7 through 9. The purpose of this
set is twofold: first, controlling your swims, and second, facing
the challenge and beating it. We’re leaving on the next 60, get
ready to go.”
Swimmer: “I suck at fly. It’s not my best event. Why
do I even have to do this?”
Coach: “This is not about butterfly. It’s about your mind.
It’s about mental toughness. It’s about learning how to deal with
the very difficult. Swimming practice is not designed to be
accommodating to what you like, it’s designed to be relevant to what you
need, and at the top of the list of relevance is dealing with adversity
and learning how to approach the seemingly impossible. This set is
an unabashed challenge to your ability to tough it out. Get ready to
go.”
However, the swimmer walks out of practice and later complains to her
father who comes to the next practice and confronts the coach. “How
does an impossible butterfly set help her breaststroke?” he demands.
What can happen? The coach can give the same answer to the father
that he gave to the daughter and if the he buys into it, then we have a
partnership – coach and father: the coach presents the challenges
and the dad provides the emotional support to the child.
If the father doesn't buy it, the child will lose an opportunity to
challenge themselves, convince themselves "I can" rather than "I can't",
and the coach will recognize an athlete who is not ready to step up and
"take a chance" yet, which is the first step to long term success."
Is there anything more important in this coaching and swimming endeavor
than learning to deal with adversity? Are you giving your coach
the authority, the freedom, support, and the blessings to prescribe
workouts which enable the swimmer to develop resiliency?
