SWIMMING GOLD

Wayne Goldsmith

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SWIMMING
UPDATED WEEKLY

Straight talk on swimming coaching from Wayne Goldsmith — 30+ years working with Olympic programs and national federations worldwide. Cutting through the noise on technique, training, race skills and building swimmers who love the sport. swimminggold.substack.com

1 HR AGO

The Best Coaching Lesson You Will Ever Learn

By Wayne Goldsmith A lot of coaches, when they start out, focus on one thing: physiology. The body. The physical elements of swimming. They spend years looking for drills, workouts, training programs, session plans. They go to conferences. An elite coach stands up and talks about their sets and reps, their periodisation. Everyone writes it down or takes a photo of the PowerPoint. Everyone’s looking for the secret formula, the magic pill, the quick fix that’s going to turn their program into a high-performance machine. Colleagues, that’s not where your advantage is going to come from. Because of the internet and AI, you can get anything, anytime, anywhere — mostly for free. Type “top 10 freestyle drills for age group swimmers” into ChatGPT or Google and you’ll get solid answers in seconds. That stuff is everywhere now. There was a time when coaches guarded their best drills and workouts. Not anymore. You are no longer limited by your knowledge of the sport. You are no longer limited by what drills you know or how much you understand about heart rate or lactate. Those things are not limits anymore because everybody knows what everybody knows. There are no secrets. When I travel, people ask me: “What’s the secret to the Australian program? What are they doing differently?” The answer is nothing. Everybody is doing more or less what everybody else is doing. The one thing that will give you an advantage is YOU. Your coaching. The way you connect with your swimmers. The way you build relationships. The people factors are more important than ever. There is no app, no drill, no download that’s going to fix every problem you’ve got. There is no coach in the world — regardless of how many Olympic gold medals they’ve won — who holds secrets in their workouts. That is not the secret to success. Your edge is your ability to connect with kids. To put smiles on faces. To make them fall in love with the experience of swimming. To create friendship groups so they keep coming back. Some coaches hear this and say I’m getting soft. I’m not. If swimmers love what they do, they work harder at it. They come more often. They commit more fully to training and competition. Measuring VO2 or counting laps is nowhere near as important as you think it is. Coaching is far more important than you think it is. Believe in your coaching. Believe in yourself. Believe in your way of doing things. It’s your relationships, your personality, your energy, your character, your values. The things you already have. Not equipment. Not apps. Not downloads. Not AI. The difference is you. What do you do to connect and inspire the swimmers in your program? Wayne Goldsmith This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit swimminggold.substack.com/subscribe

6 min
5 DAYS AGO

Confidence = Belief x Evidence

By Wayne Goldsmith Coaches and parents often ask me: “How do I help my swimmer develop confidence?” Here’s the equation I use: Confidence = Belief × Evidence Think of confidence as a can — the Confidence Can. Our job as coaches — and as swimmers — is to fill that can with experiences. Evidence that proves “I CAN do this.” Every quality training session. Every race where they held their technique under pressure. Every time they got back on the blocks after a disappointing swim. Every early morning they showed up when they didn’t feel like it. That’s evidence. And evidence fills the ‘can. But here’s what most people miss: evidence alone isn’t enough. The other half of the equation — Belief — is what parents bring. Your unconditional love. Your complete acceptance of your child, win or lose, PB or DQ. Your child needs to know — with absolute certainty — that they are loved for who they are, not for what they achieve in the pool. Belief × Evidence. When coaches and swimmers fill the Confidence Can with great experiences, consistent training, quality recovery and healthy habits — AND parents provide that most powerful gift of all, unconditional love — something magical happens. Your swimmer stands behind the blocks, in any pool, at any meet, and thinks: I can. I can. I can. Know a swim coach or swimming parent who'd find this useful? Share this post or send them to swimminggold.substack.com Wayne Goldsmith This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit swimminggold.substack.com/subscribe

7 min
23 FEB

Swim Faster by Swimming Straighter — The Straight Line Principle

By Wayne Goldsmith I often get asked to do pool deck sessions with swim teams when I travel. Most of the time it’s drills and skills practices or “motivation” talks, attitude talks etc. But there’s one session I love to do because it’s so important: Straight Line Swimming. Swimming is a straight line sport. We start in a straight line: it’s called Streamlining. We swim in a straight line and avoid the lane ropes if we can. We turn straight! We come to the middle of the lane to then accelerate into the turn so we can turn and push off in a straight line. And we finish straight. We come to the middle of the lane and kick powefully to the wall to touch right in the centre of the lane. We start straight - we swim straight - we turn straight - we finish straight. When you think about it, we start and finish in streamline - as every great finish is Head forward, hips high, full kick and full stroke position on the wall. Coaches it is important you teach and continually reinforce straight line swimming. Why? Because under the pressure of competition, swimmers will do what they've practised. If we don’t teach them to start, swim, turn and finish in straight lines, then - when it really matters - they’ll be swimming in circles! Swimming. It’s a straight line sport. Know a swim coach who'd find this useful? Share this post or send them to swimminggold.substack.com Wayne This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit swimminggold.substack.com/subscribe

7 min
20 FEB

The 7 Top Swimming Technique Tips You Need to Know

By Wayne Goldsmith No matter what stroke. No matter the age of the squad swimmer. From “Minis to Masters” - there’s 7 Technique Tips that I guarantee will improve the swimming technique of every swimmer you coach. * Soft hands; * Loose feet; * Head and hips relationship; * Breathing; * Slow to fast; * Relax Relax Relax; * Feel - Connect - Pull. I promise you - these Magnificent 7 work every time! Wayne Goldsmith P.S. Paid subscribers will get a much longer and more detailed video on the “Magnificent 7” next week. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit swimminggold.substack.com/subscribe

10 min
17 FEB

Coach Your Coaching

Write a training session for yourself, coach! We all write workouts for our athletes. We know the repeats, the drills, the distances, the times. We prepare everything in advance for our swimmers. But what about YOUR plan? Add a column to your workout that says: “How I Will Coach.” So when the swimmers’ workout says “10 x ABC Drill” — yours says “Be energetic. Give individual feedback. Change the speed three times.” When their workout says “Cool-down and stretch” — yours says “Connect 1:1 with two swimmers. Ask how they’re feeling.” Plan their workout. Plan YOUR coaching. Then coach WITH them. What would be on YOUR coaching plan today? Wayne Goldsmith This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit swimminggold.substack.com/subscribe

6 min
12 FEB

One Session to Change Their Lives.

What would you do if you had ONE session with a team you don’t know, in a place you’ve never been, sometimes in a language you don’t speak, in a culture you don’t understand? I have the best job in the world. I get to travel around the globe spending time with swimming coaches, swimmers and swimming families everywhere. When I travel, coaches will often ask me to come and visit their pool and spend some time with their swim team. Sometimes they ask me to take a session. Other times it’s a talk on pool deck about attitude, motivation, team work or choosing to be exceptional. Or sometimes the coach will ask me to just walk up and down the pool with them talking about coaching, technique, skills and training. But no matter what they ask me to do, I challenge myself around this one question: What can I do in two hours that can make a real and lasting impact on their swimming careers? Here’s my answer: I make them feel good about themselves. I can’t improve their physiology in one session — so I don’t try. I can’t fix their technique in a single workout — so I don’t waste their time or mine. What I CAN do is inspire them to believe in themselves — just a little. Be a spark in their hearts that could change everything. I coach the Power of Choice. Coaches — our job, above all else, is to inspire people to believe in themselves and that anything is possible. Yes, we coach technique, tactics, speed, strength. But the effectiveness of our coaching comes down to one thing: our ability to inspire everyone we coach to believe in themselves — and in us. Wayne Goldsmith This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit swimminggold.substack.com/subscribe

8 min
5 FEB

5 a.m. In A Swimming Household.

By Wayne Goldsmith This is without doubt my favorite story to tell when I do Club visits, swimming parents workshops and coaching clinics: The 5 a.m. In A Swimming Household story. Please share this with every swimming parent you know. It is a funny story - but in my experience - having done hundreds of swimming club visits all over the world - it’s also very very true. The bottom line - the key message to all swimming parents is this: STOP HELPING YOUR KIDS. What I mean by that is continue to love them unconditionally, support them, accept them for who they are and value them the same regardless of their swimming performances BUT - stop: * Packing and unpacking their swim bags * Filling and cleaning their water bottles * Washing and drying their towels and swimming gear * Setting the morning alarm in your room and letting them sleep in * Carrying their swim bag Believe me - please trust me - you are NOT helping them by doing these things. I know you think you’re helping them. I know you love them. But please stop doing it. We want your kids to be independent, self-responsible and accountable. Want more information - check out my book: The Talent Myth: Why Character Beats Genetics Every time Now on Amazon! Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GKDC4NQ4 Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/Talent-Myth-Character-Beats-Genetics/dp/0987155792/ Wayne Goldsmith This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit swimminggold.substack.com/subscribe

6 min
2 FEB

If They Swim 4, You Walk 5.

By Wayne Goldsmith I’ve been to over 1000 swimming pools. Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Fiji Islands, USA, South Korea, Zimbabwe, South Africa, England, The Isle of Man, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, The Netherlands, The Philippines, Greece and Italy - and a few more places I’ve probably forgotten. And the “default” version of coaching swimming is the same in 90% of the places I visit: Coaches standing at the end of the pool yelling numbers and orders at kids! “1:20, 1:23, 1:21”…. “Take your marks GO, Take your marks GO, Take your marks GO”….. “44 strokes, 39 strokes, 41 strokes”…. “Finish on the wall, don’t breathe inside the flags, stop pulling on the lane ropes”…. It’s like we’ve decided that there’s only one way to coach swimming and it’s replicated over and over and over all around the world. Coaches - here’s the great news: You don’t have to do it this way. You don’t have to be just another “telling and yelling” coach standing at the end of the pool screaming numbers at kids and calling it coaching. What is it the coaches do? WE COACH! And what is coaching? It’s connecting with, engaging with and inspiring the hearts and minds of everyone we coach. In this video I talk about how you can coach more effectively, more engagingly and have a lot more fun - and success in the process. Wayne Goldsmith This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit swimminggold.substack.com/subscribe

7 min

Straight talk on swimming coaching from Wayne Goldsmith — 30+ years working with Olympic programs and national federations worldwide. Cutting through the noise on technique, training, race skills and building swimmers who love the sport. swimminggold.substack.com

Creator

Wayne Goldsmith
Years Active

2K
Episodes

37
Rating

Clean
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© Wayne Goldsmith
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SWIMMING GOLD