Month: February 2020

Standards and Procedures

Standards and Procedures

Standards and Procedures for Dry Land

  1. Arrive to Practice on time.
  2. Enter the Natatorium orderly, quietly and dress for dry land/swimming. Remain orderly and quiet throughout practice.
  3. Pick-up all equipments before dry land/swimming routine (fins, kickboard, pull buoy).
  4. Follow coach’s direction and instructions when first given.
  5. Listen when the coach or another teammate is talking.
  6. Get permission from the coach before leaving the water/exercise formation.
  7. Remain quietly and orderly as you exchange exercise routine or move from one area of the pool to another area.
  8. Perform all exercise routine correctly without talking and stay in your squad. Swimmer will moves from one exercise to the next one without interruption. Make a sincere effort to
    perform all exercises and skills correctly. Remember correct practice make perfect. Skills are learned through repetition.
  9. Bring water bottle to practice and keep it in your lane.
  10. Dress for swimming before dry land exercise.

CONSEQUENCES

  • First Offense: Verbal Warning
  • Second Offense: Time Out 5minutes
  • Third Offense: Time out 10 minutes
  • Fourth Offense: Get dress and call parent

City of Atlanta Dolphins Coaching Staff

How to Join the Swim Team

How to Join the Swim Team

How to join the Swim Team

Membership for the swim team is accepted throughout the year. You can become a member by completing an evaluation of your strokes. Results from the evaluation will be used to place the swimmer into the team structure.

Coaching staff will evaluate strokes Monday through Thursday from 4:00 to 4:45 pm. You can make an appointment by calling Alicia Mckissick at Adamsville Natatorium at 404-505-3189 or by emailing Head CoachTommy Jackson at juneram64d200@gmail.com

Parents – Coach Relationship

Parents – Coach Relationship

A Healthy Parent-Coach Relationship

A key component to an athlete’s healthy swimming experience is the building of a positive relationship between a parent and a coach. Both the parent and the coach have important roles in supporting a swimmer. A coach is there to teach and judge a swimmer’s performance and technique while a parent should love and support the child regardless of the outcome. It’s helpful for a parent to realize some key things about a coach.

A lot more comes with coaching than the athletes, practice and competition. Beyond the initial hours at the pool, a coach’s time is spent planning for workouts, understanding the long term-nature of the sport and each individual swimmer’s performance, doing key administrative duties, and providing emotional support for many athletes.

Ultimately a coach loves the sport and is willing to make countless sacrifices to foster swimming and its athletes in and out of the pool. Keeping this in mind, there are key things parents can do to support their child’s coach and ultimately help their child achieve swimming success.

How a Parent Can Help

  1. Trust and listen to the coach
  2. Respect and support their decisions
  3. Stay in the background
  4. Be there to support your child and not add additional pressure
Warm-up and Cool Down

Warm-up and Cool Down

Warm-up and Cool-Down Principle

Each workout effort should be preceded by a warm-up and conclude with a cool-down. The following effects are created by warm-up and cool-down.

Warm-up:

  • Increases body temperature
  • Increases respiration rate and heart rate
  • Increases flexibility and reduces chance of muscular injury

Cool-down:

  • Speeds removal of metabolic wastes
  • Help prevent cramps, tightness and soreness
Short-range Performance Goals

Short-range Performance Goals

Name:__________________________________

Date:___________________________________

Meet:__________________________________

EventBest TimeGoal TimePerformance Time at MeetComment

Short-range goals are benchmarks, steps along the way to the season goals, usually races at the various minor meets. Meeting short – range goals lets the swimmer know that he is on target for his season goals. In the first column list the events you would like to improve your time. Next column writes in your best time or NT if you have not swam that event. Next Column writes in your goals times for each event. Write in the times that you swam for each event at the meet under the column performance time at meet.
Write briefly about your performance in your events. You probably need to respond on a separate sheet of paper.

First Meet Prep

First Meet Prep

First Meet Prep

THINGS TO BRING

  • Sharpie Permanent Marker
  • Highlighter
  • Extra Towels
  • Blanket to spread out on the hard concrete
  • Foldable Chairs, if desired
  • Toys/Books/Games/Cards to pass the time

THINGS TO KNOW

  • Buy a Heat Sheet (Cost is usually $5-$10).
  • Highlight your swimmer’s name and events
  • Make the following Grid:
EHLS
121425 Free
252250 Back
3715100 Free Relay

Now, fill in your swimmer’s information. Sample below:

EHLS
121425 Free
252250 Back
3715100 Free Relay

Write this grid on your swimmer’s arm or thigh with the Sharpie Permanent Marker. Keep one grid handy for yourself as well. This will help you keep track of the events so that your swimmer does not miss a race.
Locate the bullpen. The bullpen is a staging area for swimmers ages 10 and under where volunteers organize them by heat and lane numbers to help them get their events on time and in the right order! When your swimmer’s event is called to the bullpen, please make sure your swimmer gets there and that he/she is ready to swim with goggles and swim cap already on. Volunteers and coaches take care of the rest. There are usually several hundred children at these meets, so we really need your help getting them to the bullpen. Coaches couldn’t possibly get all the swimmers where they need to be. Coaches need to be at the starts and finishes.

Importance of Swim Meet Warm-ups

Importance of Swim Meet Warm-ups

Importance of Swim Meet Warm-ups

1. TEAM UNITY

Please have your swimmers on deck and ready to warm up in their team suits and team caps 10 minutes prior to the start of warm-ups. It is important that swimmers are on time so that we can get in and warm up as a team. Being late disrupts the warm-up procedures and it is not fair to your swimmer, their teammates, their coaches and other teams. Immediately after warm-ups, we have a team meeting to get everyone situated, talk about any important issues and do a team cheer.

2. PHYSICAL PREPARATION

Proper warm-up is essential for maximum performance. A swimmer’s body needs to be prepared for the physical demands of competition. Warm-up increases blood flow and muscle temperature which in turn allows more blood and oxygen be released to your muscles, which means better performance. Warm-up is also plays an important role in injury prevention. Racing without warming up places stress on the body and can lead to injuries.

3. MENTAL PREPARATION

Swimming a good race also requires mental preparation. Getting to the pool early is the key to being prepared. It takes the guess work out of arriving. They have time to find the locker rooms, get changed, find their coaches and teammates and be prepared for the start of warm-up. A swimmer needs to acclimate to their environment. This includes getting to know the pool to ensure good starts and turns, acclimating to the water temperature, and having time to mentally prepare for their races. A relaxed, prepared swimmer will perform better.

Coach Marianne Countryman

Meet Results

Meet Results

Meet Results
Role of the Parents

Role of the Parents

Role of the Parents

The most important thing you can do as the parent of a swimmer is to love and support your child, both in and out of the pool. This support is a key factor in fostering enjoyment as well as contributing to the child’s individual success in the pool

Parents should never damn the coach in the swimmer’s presence, nor should they complain or make derogatory remarks about the program to the child. The parent should show support for the coach and abide by his or her decisions. Complaints should be addressed in private to the coach.

Parents are allowed to observe from designated areas. There should be no communication with swimmers. This can be distracting to swimmers or to the entire team as well as the coach. Continue reading →

Team Training Concepts

Team Training Concepts

Team Training Concepts

The purpose of the team concepts is to create an environment that is conducive for training and learning. Hopefully, this environment will maximize the personal safety of each swimmer, give direction and guidance during swim practice and at swim meets. Our team will rely on the following concepts of training in daily practice:

  1. Come to practice on time.
  2. Come to practice prepared with equipment and in working order.
  3. Listen, look and keep your head above the water while the coach is giving instructions.
  4. Follow coach instruction and direction when first given.
  5. Push from the wall in a tight streamline position
  6. Do not stop during warm-up.
  7. Do all turns and finishes legally and fast.
  8. Start repeats exactly on time and quickly.
  9. Get your times on every repeat and set goals for each repeat.
  10. Swim correctly all the time.
  11. Focus on technique while swimming.
  12. Always finish sets fast.
  13. Perform each drill correctly. No talking during instructions, stroke drills and training sets.
  14. Keep water bottle at the end of your lane.

City of Atlanta Coaching Staff