The ‘Why’ In Coaching: The Importance Of Providing An Explanation
Three minutes into the coach’s monologue on butterfly technique, ninth grader Sam raised his hand and asked, “why?’”
“I thought I was a good coach,” says his Middle Atlantic mentor. “I had state-championship teams, high school All-Americans, but that question changed my approach to coaching forever.”
He’s not alone. When she was an assistant at Indiana University, Pam Swander, then coaching a mid-distance group, was one day sent a world class breaststroker. She told him, ”We are going to do this.”
“Why should I do that?” he asked.
“It won’t hurt you,” Swander said. “I will never say those words again. He was expecting something that was going to make him better. On that day, I had not given ample thought to what one of the best breaststrokers in the country needed. It was a changing point in my career.”
These days Swander is head coach at Carolina Aquatics. While preparing workouts, she now considers “why am I doing this warmup? What’s the point of it? What will they get out of it? What do I want them to get out of it? What’s the main set, etc.?”
Multi-time NISCA president and 20-year boys coach at New Trier Township High School, Mark Onstott, observes: “Perhaps Sam never had a reason to ask why. Everyone has their ‘why’ at a different time. During explanations, not every kid asks ‘what does he mean? Why are we doing this?’ So what I try to do is explain things in many different ways and answer questions such as ‘why.’ So it’s an ongoing process. Some kids are not ready physically, physiologically or mentally ready to ask ‘why’ and some may only understand the ‘why’ in a broad sense.”
As an example to the question, “Why are we doing 20 x 20 underwaters?,” Onstott may reply: “We are working on underwater dolphin kick trying to replicate what you are going to feel coming off the wall on the last turn of 200. That explanation is not given every time,” he says, “but it is given multiple times when it seems appropriate. Of course, any ‘reasonable’ questions are answered and help shape the future explanation of sets.”
At YOTA
“I am better at answering ‘why’ now than I was when I started,” says Jamie Bloom, head senior coach at the YMCA of Triangle Area in North Carolina.
A former assistant at the University of Tennessee and USA Swimming team manager, she says: “We do a lot of drills and skills. We break them down into why we are doing them, what it’s going to do for you, where you should direct your attention, how this will help you progress, make you more technically sound and hopefully a faster swimmer. Now with the Internet, YouTube and all the videos, there is so much information that kids and parents can get, you have to be prepared to answer ‘why?’
“This year, we started with Swim Strong Dryland. The kids like the program because universally they say ‘they explain everything to us.’ And kids love that. Kids want to know why they are doing what they are doing. There are days the last thing you want to be doing is looking at a line in the bottom of the pool and not have a purpose. One of our leaders has a goal for his group. It is to have a purpose every time swimmers get in the water. His group comes together at the end of practice, talks about the workout, gives a shout out and randomly asks a swimmer ‘what was your purpose today?’ It’s really giving swimmers pause to think what they are doing out there.”
A Deeper Take on Why
“Why? by itself, in its simplest, purest and most honest form, is a statement of curiosity,” says Tim Sirois, NISCA President, mathematics teacher and boys and girls swimming coach at Highland Park, (Ill.) High School. “In the classroom, there are so many different levels of ‘why,’ and the levels are based on the depth of a student’s understanding. More advanced students ask higher levels of ‘why?’ When the classroom culture is as it should be, with students respectfully listening to the conversation surrounding the ‘why,’ everyone benefits.
“The same applies to the pool. We talk a lot about swimming IQ, which is different from swimming ability. I’ve had some very high-level swimmers who didn’t have high swimming IQs. They have benefitted from listening to a newer swimmer or someone who wasn’t as fast asking all sorts of questions about swim-related topics. Those include season planning (i.e. why we were doing certain types of training early or late in the season), why a practice was structured the way it was, why a certain race strategy may be best for them, etc.
“I’ve always viewed the question ‘why’ as a statement of trust between a swimmer and myself. It gives them a better understanding of what I’m looking for as a coach, whether it is in a practice or a meet. It gives them a better understanding of how to get to the next level. It also gives me a better understanding of what they are trying to learn and where the mind is going into a practice or meet.
“Years ago, I had a freshman swimmer who asked a million questions his first few months. He was extremely invested in improving and understanding how he could race and train better. As a student his senior year he brought the same curiosity to the classroom. All of his ‘why’ questions closed the gap between him and the more experienced swimmers he trained with. He really never had a bad workout in four years.
“The question ‘why’ at meets comes in different forms. ‘Why are they so fast?’ leads to a whole discussion of technique and training. That question arises when we have a dual meet and I’ve juggled the lineup for competitive purposes. I had a swimmer who typically swims the 200/500 in meets competing against a really fast 100 freestyler. She had less confidence in her sprinting ability but the entire team listened to my explanation of faith in other swimmers’ abilities to handle the 500. It increased the trust teammates had in each other stepping up to the job at hand.
“I ask swimmers ‘why’ in a lot of different forms, too, especially in post-race conversations. Why they swam a set differently in the second half compared to the first half. Then I listen to their reasons and how it impacted their experience.
“This season our girls team started coming in about 15 minutes early to morning practice on days that follow meets. The meeting is team-led and I just sit back and listen. It requires each girl to identify what went well for them and what they can improve upon. What I’ve observed is girls listening to one another and offering their own opinion of ‘why’ for each swimmer. Their willingness to initiate this is largely based on the open lines of communication and the trust they’ve built with each other and with the coaching staff.”
Back to Basics
“Years ago, I just spoke the workout and kids did it,” says Bloom. “If they didn’t get it the first time they did later because there was a pattern to it. Today I put it on paper for every lane and I put it on a white board. I also speak it. Now I am better at coaching to all different learning styles. I think coaches have gotten a lot better understanding that it is important to have a “why.’ Not just come to the pool and swim two hours and not think.”
“Kids need to know why,” emphasizes Swander. “It has to make sense to those in front of you. The 11-12 year olds I coach want to be like Caeleb Dressel; his performances inspire them. They need to understand why they may not do the same type of practices yet but that the work they are doing now will set them up for future success.”