Some random thoughts for topics for coaching education
In no particular order.
Open Water Swimming when the Swim Pools are not open!
Use this article, cut and paste, all you desire. The blog and main web site is new this month.
Wishing to get this article out to a wide audience as soon as possible. And, from there, further notes can be blended into an open-water swim mini-course. Would love to list places to swim. Would love to build an open-water swim series of events.
- In September and October 2020, with a North American audience, the open-water discussion would be better suited as a "debrief" from what was able to transpire in recent weeks and months.
- Another approach to open water discussions is to hold brain-storming, planning and crowd-source efforts to generate more open water events for future months in the south and future summers in the northern states.
Coaches & Code
Let's do a hack-a-thon, or a crowd-source effort in an open-source way to tackle some of the practice and test set challenges. Time trials are going to be more important too. Swim teams are good a meet results, but not so swift in terms of practice performances. Test sets are of all different shapes and sizes and holding onto those results isn't so easy.
I like to use a tool, Caldera Forms. We can put these test sets up on our WordPress sites so others can use them at any time.
Concept Maps
We could do a short lesson on how to construct a concept map. Introduce the tech behind making them. Pitch a few maps for early evaluation and review. Then have various coaches take various articles and put together summary concept maps.
Face it, long threads on Facebook and with social media are not with much value for years to come. The Swim Coaches Idea Exchange is splendid for the here and now. But we need to catalog and reposition the gold within those threads. Concept maps are how this can occur.
My best map, Aquatics, is on the home page. I use the map often when I meet someone in government or education.
Why Swim?
A mega list of more than 150 reasons why one should join the scholastic swim team needs some refinement. The participants can walk through a quiz of 10 reasons why and rank each one with a letter grade, A to F. Over time, we'll identify the "A-list" of reasons that are most compelling so we can better recruit more students to their sport of swimming.
This experience isn't finished. Some branches won't work.
Stories!
The Moth has great stories. We can do a story session at the clinic. I think another outfit would co-sponsor this.
Wearable Devices, a Master Mind Session
Two different devices are hitting the market soon, and a clinic experience with them could be fun. Coaches could opt, in advance, to buy the device. Together we'd have a set of lessons on how to make it work. How to put them to use in the practices and open water too.
Wearable from Marlin to AutoCoach One to goggles, snorkel, cap, PB, fins and paddles. The kick board is only a tray to hold everything.
Game Play with SKWIM & Water Polo
We have the disk, and getting a disk, $20 retail, into everyone's hands in advance of the clinic would be great. Plus, in 2020 we have two new goals. One for SKWIM and antoher for water polo. The game play is something that I've presented in the past and Coach Schubert was in Napa one year when I spoke there. But, we didn't have disks in stock then. And, these new goals were not ready.
Disk in hand before a goal at The Pittsburgh Project pool.
New, prototype of a light-weight, affordable, SKWIM goal.
Showing the goal in the shop. It floats in the water. Pieces come out to make this Junior Sized Goal. The extensions make it regulation sized.
Some of these ideas I’m working on would be ready for prime time then. Would love to have a few seminars to advance some more complicated but elegant solutions that a remote clinic would enable.
The Marlin Swim Meter out of Hong Kong has a heart rate function now. That is going to be sweet. Consider it a HR tool plus a stroke temp tool sorta like the Finis Tempo Trainer — but way better. Can upload full workouts. And, in the summers, it has GPS too. We could spend a half-day on that alone.
The Global Library for ISCA Members has 170 lessons now — and another 100 on the way. Access comes with a membership of $75, annual.Â
The new USRPT ebook from Lori Jo is out. I edited that. Costs $9.99 for a Kindle. It is ideal for a HS swim season with all the workouts and explanations included.
I’d rather build upon what you’ve been doing.