Swim Coaching: Practicing Starting-Dive Blocks

Wonderful evening of swim coaching. I spend a couple of nights a week helping coach a swim team, working with several of the athletes and, in the process, keeping myself up to date as well.

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I’m a good swimmer and understand most of the techniques, but coaching is a little different. It’s one thing to know how to do something; it’s another thing entirely to explain it to someone else without making it sound like you’re giving instructions for assembling a piece of furniture you bought online.

So I keep reviewing. I watch instructional videos, work on the techniques myself, and try to fine-tune how I explain them to the athletes. Today, we were working on starts off the starting block. One of the swimmers was having some trouble getting the body position right, so we kept working on alignment, head position and entering the water at the proper angle.

The goal is to maximize distance and speed while creating as little resistance as possible. Go too deep, and you lose distance. Go too shallow, and you can create a pretty impressive splash—which may look exciting, but it isn't exactly what we're trying to accomplish. The idea is to enter the water at the right angle, with the body streamlined, hands together and feet together, creating a small "water footprint."

For newer swimmers, this takes some practice. Feet may separate, the body can get out of alignment, or the swimmer may enter the water too flat. Suddenly, instead of a streamlined entry, you have something that looks a little more like a small aquatic cannonball.

The good news is that practice works. After coaching, I usually get in the pool myself and work on the same techniques. That helps me remember exactly what the athletes are experiencing and keeps my own skills fresh for the next practice.

And you can really see the improvement. In just three or four weeks, the difference in some of the swimmers has been impressive. They're getting more comfortable, more streamlined and much more efficient off the block. Some are trying new things and getting confident.

Of course, coaching means I have to keep learning, too. Apparently, knowing how to swim doesn't automatically mean one has mastered the art of explaining why everyone else is doing it wrong. More importantly what they are doing right. Fortunately, there's always another practice—and another chance to jump in the pool.

A nice video,