News
For
SWIM
PARENTS
Published by The American
Swimming Coaches Association
5101 NW 21 Ave., Suite 200
Fort Lauderdale FL 33309
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Setting Goals: The
Parent, Coach, Athlete Relationship
Setting
goals and working toward those goals is one of the most important life skills
our young swimmers learn. What are the benefits of goal setting? What is
the goal setting process? What are the respective roles of parents and
coaches?
In the
American Swimming Coaches Association and USA Swimming’s Foundations of Coaching
Course these benefits of goal setting are listed:
1.
goals challenge swimmers, giving them something to work toward
2.
goals direct swimmers to develop their skills
3.
goals provide a means of evaluating a swimmer’s progress and offer opportunities
for success for the athlete.
Simply
put, goals give direction and meaning to the day to day workout routine.
The goal
setting process begins with a review of current achievements. What are the
swimmer’s best times? Next, what significant and attainable goals can be
worked for over a reasonable time frame. Goals can be related to a time
standard or to a competitive achievement. In general, younger swimmers
should have a shorter time frame and the goals should be time based. Older
swimmers may have the patience to set longer range goals that may be two, three,
or four years away and often those goals are based more on a competitive result
rather than a pure time.
Too often
swimmer’s concentrate only on the “outcome goal” and not enough on “performance
goals.” An outcome goal might be “to qualify for senior nationals in the
400 IM in the summer of 2011.” Related performance goals might include:
“Increase practice attendance to 9 times per week,” ”improve my 200 breaststroke
time by three seconds,” “lose 5 pounds by May 1st by
eliminating empty carbohydrate snacks,” and “increase my freestyle stroke rate
from 1.3 seconds per stroke to 1.1 in the 400 IM.” Some people refer to
performance goals as “objectives.”
Both
outcome goals and performance goals should be specific and time framed.
Specific means quantifiable – it can be measured. Time framed means there
should be a target date for achieving the goal or objective. Goals should
be flexible because stuff happens that we cannot predict and the course may need
to be altered.
The
positive role of parents is vital. The three elements of good parenting in
the goal setting process are:
1.
Parents encourage their children to set goals.
2.
Parents ask their children what their children’s goals are. (But do not set
their goals for them.)
3.
Parent ask their children how they are progressing toward their goals –
especially performance goals.
3.
Parents provide emotional support for their children as they pursue their goals.
4.
Parents work with and support the coach for the interest of their children.
Coaches
are the primary goal facilitators. They:
1.
Guide the swimmer to set realistic but challenging goals.
2.
Establish a timetable, or progression for reaching the goal.
3.
Discuss split times or other technical strategies for achieving the goal.
4.
Remind the swimmer of the relationship between workout performance and goal
times at daily practices.
5.
Evaluate progress toward goals with the swimmer.
6.
Create team support for individual goals.
Case
Study: What can go right and what can go wrong in the parent, coach,
athlete relationship?
Jennifer
had just started swimming on a year around program at age 11. Previously
she was a summer league swimmers and swam only 25’s and 50’s. Her summer
league coach was a student and never talked to Jennifer about goals. She
was a big girl and quite a bit overweight. She had some natural speed in
the freestyle but very poor endurance. On the new team she improved
rapidly in the 50 free from a 32.0 to a 30.8 from September to February.
An “A” time and the qualifying standard for the local JO’s is a 29.89. The
coach began talking to her about trying to make that time. The next week
at a B meet Jennifer went a best time of 30.3 and the coach noticed Jennifer’s
dad looking at his stop watch and shaking his head in disappointment.
After the swim Jennifer went directly to her dad to talk to him. Later the
coach approached Jennifer’s dad and said, “I noticed you were disappointed in
her swim. What were you hoping she would do?” Jennifer’s dad said he
thought she should go a 28.5. That was a goal he and her had set.
The coach pointed out that her 30.3 was a best time and that 28.5 was not a
reasonable short term goal. Jennifer’s dad became upset and said that he
didn’t need any help setting goals with his daughter. The coach became
upset and said that goal setting was exclusively the role of the coach.
Mistakes
by the coach: From the very start there should have been better parent
education: an initial conference with the parents with one of the topics
being goal setting and time standards. Some teams have a parent handbook
that explains these issues. Later, the coach should have had a conference
with Jennifer and together clearly identified 29.89 as a goal. He should
have also talked to her about performance goals she would need to make in order
to achieve her outcome goal. Some coaches work with the swimmer to fill
out a goal sheet listing both performance goals and outcome goals. A copy
of this sheet along with a copy of the JO qualifying times and National Time
Standards can then be sent home with Jennifer for her parents. Later, in a
moment after a practice or before a swimming meet the coach can have a brief
chat with the parents about Jennifer’s goals.
Mistakes
by the parent: Jennifer’s dad should not have helped Jennifer set such a
difficult goal. His effort to have Jennifer be goal oriented was correct
but his knowledge of the sport, of rates of improvement, and of Jennifer’s
abilities as a swimmer were not very good and this led him to make a poor
judgment. It would have been better to approach the coach and ask the
coach what reasonable short term and long term goals are for his daughter.
Goal
setting is one of the most profound skills we can help our children acquire.
Parents who encourage their children to set goals, and who listen to the expert
advice of the coach, and then cheer their children on can look forward to years
of smiles.