Most of the success as a swimmer comes from how hard they train and how motivated they are to reach their goals. But how well you train and compete, comes from your coach. Almost every elite swimmer has a coach. And usually, these coaches are experts in the sport. They know almost everything, from nutrition to heart rate zones, which they take time to put together for each swimmer. That’s where trust comes in.
Trust is a huge factor when it comes to being an athlete and trusting your coach will be one of the most important things you will do. It’s a coaches job to train athletes. They are coaching every day, so they know what they are doing. You need to listen to everything they say, like when your coach tells you to take it easy one day, listen and take it easy. Soon, You’ll understand that everything they tell you to do is important to improve and reduce injury.
Once you learn to trust your coach, it is up to you as the swimmer to apply that to your practices and races. Coaches can be great at giving you an awesome workout plan, motivate you during practice, and help you prepare for your big race, but it is up to you to put in the work to see the results.
There are many coaches that can put together a great workout and recovery plan for their athletes. But theses sets, workouts, and recovery plans are only outlines of what should make a great athlete. The only way these plans will work, is if the athlete wants to get better. Your coach is there to make you a better athlete inside and out, but can’t make you better if you don’t put in the effort.
Many swimmers blame their coaches for their poor performance during a race or at the end their season, but sometimes, these athletes don’t trust what their coach is telling them, thus not applying it. Without trust, swimmers start skipping practices and won’t try hard during certain sets.
With trust, motivation soon follows. Coaches cannot make their athletes come to a workout or make them push harder during a practice. Your coach can motivate you, but that can only go so far. Only you can motivate yourself to want to work hard everyday and to want to reach your goals. Take these great plans your coach gives you and use those to mold yourself into the athlete you want.
Your take away from all of this: If you’re going to put in all the work, trying to find the right training plan or the perfect coach to work with – trust it. Learn to let go of your fears and stop listening to the hundreds of different opinions you’ll get from either your parents or other swimmers. And if for whatever reason, you can’t get over the hump and trust your coach – find a new coach.
So take a few minutes and reflect on the type of athlete you are and for your coach. If you can improve yourself as an athlete, you’ll see great results with your training and performance every day.
I agree with your opinion that you should trust your coach but you also need to emphasise that the coach needs to earn that trust. To many coaches want to control and dictate to their athletes and feel that they have ownership of the athlete. All to often it is ‘do it my way or it’s the highway’ without understanding that every individual is different.
What if your coach is giving you s cookie cutter plan designed for 20 athletes and not specific to your needs?
Find another coach – the coach should not find you, but you should find the coach as you feel not comfortable with the coaches plans..
Ditto to Mark’s comment. Find another coach who is willing to make the workouts, or stroke adjustments personal to you. There are coaches out there who can and will vary their workouts for their 20 athletes. While every workout may not be your favorite, there’s always something to gain and a great coach will work on your strengths as well as your weakness, which will ultimately make your strengths stronger.
I hope you’re not stuck in a situation where the club that you’re on is the only one in a 50 mile radius. If there’s other clubs in the area, you are entitled to try out their workouts for free.