It is the coach’s job to offer constructive criticism of a swimmer’s performance. It is the parent’s role to provide love, recognition, and encouragement necessary to help a young athlete feel positive about him/herself. Be the person that your swimmer can look to for constant, positive reinforcement.

• Strive to provide your swimmer with the basic opportunities they need to have a positive swimming experience. Make sure your swimmer arrives on time and regularly attends practice and swim meets.
• A parent’s attitude influences their child's attitude. A swimmer might not be consciously aware of what is taking place, while subconsciously absorbing powerful messages about a parent’s desires and feelings. Be enthusiastic about taking your swimmer to practices. Volunteer to support the team and its activities. Don’t frame these activities as obligations. Use approach strategies to foster the development of a positive attitude in your child.
• Every individual learns at a different pace and responds differently to the various methods of skill presentation. Some swimmers take more time to learn. This requires patience on the part of the coach and the parent
• Avoid comparing the skill, courage, determination, attitude, performance, or improvement of your swimmer to other swimmers. Swimmers mature physiologically and psychologically at different ages; the weakest swimmer in a practice group this year could be leading practices in the future.
• The etymology of the word “competition” goes back to the Latin words “com” and “petere,” which mean “together to strive.” It is important to teach young swimmers to compete with, not against, others and to use competition to help them strive to be their own best self.

Guidelines for Watching Practice

• Parents may observe practice during specified times. Here are some important guidelines when observing practice.
• First, most young swimmers seek parental approval in most things they are participating in. For swimmers to learn as much as possible during practice, it is imperative that coaches have each swimmer’s undivided attention. Please do not communicate with your swimmer during practice and do not compete with the coach for your swimmer’s attention.
• Second, we insist that parents do not interrupt the coaches on deck while they are coaching. If you need to communicate with a coach, please do so before or after practice (if they are not coaching another group). Communicating with coaches by email is preferred. They can take the time to respond to and discuss your questions when not on the pool deck.
• Third, every training set and instructional drill has a purpose. One practice and/or practice set is often part of a progression of launching or building on new or previous sets. If you have not watched all of the practice sessions, you may not understand the purpose of what the swimmers are doing on any given day.
• Finally, please do not try to coach and advise your swimmer based on what you see (or think you don’t see) he/she is doing during practice. Many times when teaching stroke skills, coaches ask their swimmers to do things that may not look correct or actually might be illegal during competition. However, the drills have an important purpose in teaching skills. Swimming a one-arm butterfly stroke or using a flutter kick with breaststroke are examples of drills with a specific purpose.