Coach Turner's Comments Week 4

GHWO v. Hays, JCC and Courtyard - GHWO Victory!!

 
Congratulations Dolphin Swimmers and Parents!  We won by a mere 10 points!!  Each and every one of you who participated were instrumental in our win. 

Our victory on Saturday was a sweet reward for the great efforts in and out of the pool this week.  Our swimmers have been working so hard in the pool, and it paid off in some great swims and outstanding competition.  I expect to see many personal best ribbons awarded this week!!


Perspectives on Disqualifications


Despite our amazing victories this week, I feel called to write about handling disappointment of a disqualification or lost race.  If you remember one of my points in Week 2’s notes was, “Handling disappointment with grace takes time and practice.” My own daughter Autumn had to deal with disappointment after Saturday’s meet.  She swam with gusto and won her heat in the 7-8 girls 25 yard backstroke.  However at the very end, she turned slightly and finished on her stomach.  Saturday afternoon when we saw her disqualification, there were tears and anger that it was “unfair.”  My heart has been burdened over the weekend as I know from other e-mails that I received that other families have dealt with similar circumstances with their own children.

 There are several points about disqualification that I want to address.  I think it is important for our younger swimmers in particular that the “DQ” does not carry weight of inappropriate proportions.  It is a tool for stroke standardization for our swimmers and our league.  I heard a number of swimmers this week who were scared or inhibited to swim a new stroke or relay because of the fear of being “DQ’ed”.  It is so important for our younger swimmers confidence and development, as well as longevity in the sport, that they have fun and success in their early years.  To focus on the negative, is to create undue pressure for them too soon.  Some parents may choose to not even tell their swimmer of their DQ’s but rather reinforce the proper stroke mechanics (feel free to contact me for specific technique questions).  If your swimmer is expecting a ribbon, or savvy about looking at the results, you may use a DQ as an opportunity to encourage them to keep working hard in practice and spend some extra time in the pool.  I can assure you that our fastest swimmers in the older age groups had many DQ's along the way!

 In my experience as a coach, many of our younger swimmers (8 & under) are developmentally unable to correctly execute some of the strokes, in particular breaststroke and butterfly.  For them to sustain a legal kick through an entire 25 without a slight flutter or scissor kick is the exception, not the norm.  However, it is essential that they have the opportunity to practice without fear, until they can developmentally feel and sustain their proper kick.  You may have noticed that the coaches and I have been drilling and in the water working on breaststroke all week in an attempt to refine these strokes.  On average between ages 8-10, almost all swimmers who have been consistently swimming breaststroke seem to “get it.”

 In addition to this, the practice and ability to execute legal starts and finishes is also something that comes with practice.  Especially in the setting of a meet, the pressure and distraction of cheering coaches, parents, loud speakers, other swimmers, can set a swimmer up for a false start or other mistakes.  Yet, this is part of the character training that being a competitive swimmer teaches our children.  Teaching them to focus on their own race, block out other distractions, and swim hard gives them the tools to ultimately race well. Not to mention the analogy to life (something we all need to practice!).

 

My goal as your child’s coach is to create an environment to bring out the best of their abilities, with the right amount of praise and correction.  I follow the youth sport coaching rule of five positive comments to one correction.  The coaches and I hope to partner with you, the parents, to sustain a spirit of positive reinforcement and encouragement while working diligently on the technical skills for our swimmers.  While we do need to take time to correct the errors that led to a DQ, we hope that no shame or disgrace will ever be communicated for their errors.  Thanks for helping us teach your children in the most constructive way possible!!  I welcome any feedback or suggestions specific to your swimmer.

 I am so proud of our Dolphin swimmers!

 Coach Turner