I get tired of seeing poor coaching. It’s a scourge of our profession. The verb ‘to coach’ is not something that should be very different to ‘to teach’.
So tell me the amount of information that ‘good’ or ‘well done’ teaches?
Nothing.
It is lazy. It is unprofessional and lazy.
If you are a coach then you must be articulate. You need to translate what you saw into a learning moment. The weak links in the swim and the aspects that were good need to be communicated with empathy. You must be a person that teaches in a way that sticks.
If the swimmer(s) spoke to you before the race then the learning moment will be more obvious but anything new that came up (good or bad) should be entered into the conversation.
If your student learns, you have succeeded as a coach…because you are a teacher, that understands pedagogy, not a coach.
I competed in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul representing Canada and coached in the 2000 and 2004 Olympics for Great Britain. I have a degree in History and a minor degree in Psychology from University of Calgary. I have travelled extensively and have been very lucky to see so much of the world while representing Canada and Great Britain at swimming competitions. I am very proud of the fact that I coached a swimmer to become number one in the world in the fastest swimming race in 2002. I pride myself in my ability to find new and interesting ways to teach swimming. I am an accomplished artist specialising in sculpture, I have another blog called 'swimmingart' where I publish some of my swimming drawings. I have three young children; all boys. I have recently taken up painting and yoga....but not at the same time.
All of my writing is AI free. I make my own errors and am happy to do that. I am not perfect because being human is not perfect.
You can see my carving work at:
https://wwwoodart.wordpress.com/2024/03/18/wood-spirit-walking-stick/
And my paintings and drawings at:
https://swimmingart.wordpress.com
A swim teacher usually teaches the student “how to swim” and to become a “swimmer” if progress well. Some of them are called swim instructor as they teach swimming but not a teacher.
A coach usually trains the “swimmer” for further development, learn to train, train to train, to compete. S/he needs to manage different areas, planning, techniques, workout, recovery, mental training, nutrition, strength training, performance analysis, and more.
Of course, a coach should know how to teach. A coach should be a teacher first. A good teacher knows how to teach/communicate effectively, use different ways to help the students/swimmers understand, all the areas they need to address.
A coach can wear a teacher’s hat while teaching the beginners. A swim teacher can not coach the (advanced) swimmers if s/he only knows how to teach the basics.
If a person on deck does not teach or coach, just supervises the practice, s/he is a trainer.
I competed in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul representing Canada and coached in the 2000 and 2004 Olympics for Great Britain. I have a degree in History and a minor degree in Psychology from University of Calgary. I have travelled extensively and have been very lucky to see so much of the world while representing Canada and Great Britain at swimming competitions. I am very proud of the fact that I coached a swimmer to become number one in the world in the fastest swimming race in 2002. I pride myself in my ability to find new and interesting ways to teach swimming. I am an accomplished artist specialising in sculpture, I have another blog called 'swimmingart' where I publish some of my swimming drawings. I have three young children; all boys. I have recently taken up painting and yoga....but not at the same time.
All of my writing is AI free. I make my own errors and am happy to do that. I am not perfect because being human is not perfect.
You can see my carving work at:
https://wwwoodart.wordpress.com/2024/03/18/wood-spirit-walking-stick/
And my paintings and drawings at:
https://swimmingart.wordpress.com
swimcoachingblog 
Agreed. Quite common. Sad to say.
Understanding the context of a scenario could help us have realistic expectations. It is an interesting topic if thinking about different situations.
I like you articles. That is why I leave comment here for a healthy dialogue.
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Indeed, a good coach should be a good teacher first.
In my humble opinion, coach, teacher, and trainer are different roles.
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So what is the difference between?
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A swim teacher usually teaches the student “how to swim” and to become a “swimmer” if progress well. Some of them are called swim instructor as they teach swimming but not a teacher.
A coach usually trains the “swimmer” for further development, learn to train, train to train, to compete. S/he needs to manage different areas, planning, techniques, workout, recovery, mental training, nutrition, strength training, performance analysis, and more.
Of course, a coach should know how to teach. A coach should be a teacher first. A good teacher knows how to teach/communicate effectively, use different ways to help the students/swimmers understand, all the areas they need to address.
A coach can wear a teacher’s hat while teaching the beginners. A swim teacher can not coach the (advanced) swimmers if s/he only knows how to teach the basics.
If a person on deck does not teach or coach, just supervises the practice, s/he is a trainer.
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Many coaches don’t explain or teach like a teacher does. It is somewhat ubiquitous.
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