Soft Skills of Swimming Coaching – Episode 2 – Coaching Commitment
Soft Skills of Swimming Coaching – Episode 2 – Coaching Commitment
There is no doubt that when it comes to being successful in any walk of life…Commitment is King.
Once an athlete – or a coach – or any performer makes a commitment to their training, their preparation, their practice and their performance, then everything changes.
Commitment means – “it takes what it takes”.
There are no excuses.
There is no rationalizing.
There is just the relentless pursuit of excellence – in and out of the pool – in everything you do.
The challenge is to clearly identify what commitment is and how can it be developed – and coached.
Commitment – Easy Way – Hard Way Model
I have to thank Legend USA Swimming Coach David Marsh for this.
“Marshy” and I were talking about committed swimmers on deck one day and I asked him about his views on whether or not it could be coached.
He replied. “I believe it can be coached. In any given situation, when a committed swimmer is faced with a decision – with a choice – to do something the Easy way or the Hard way, the committed swimmer will deliberately choose the Hard way – which – in most cases is of course THE RIGHT WAY”.
Coaching Commitment – What Does it Look Like?
Talking about being committed will not change anything.
And thinking about it isn’t going to work either.
The key to coaching committed swimmers is to present “choices” in training and show them the benefits and advantages of choosing to do them the Hard, i.e. the RIGHT WAY.
This can be something as simple as providing them feedback in the form of intelligent questioning.
For example:
When a swimmer breathes inside the flags when they finish their repeats, instead of TELLING AND YELLING – try asking them questions that lead them to choose to do it the Hard Way, i.e. the RIGHT WAY, on their next repeat.
If you liked this post then you’ll love my new SOFT SKILLS OF SWIMMING COACHING ONLINE E-LEARNING COURSE.
https://courses.wgcoaching.com/courses/soft-skills-of-coaching
PHOTO COURTESY – THE AMAZING AND BRILLIANT PETER BICK.
