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Questions from Coaches

Education Director Bill Brenner answers your questions

  1. How to deal with “Coach’s Fatigue”

    by
    Bill Brenner
    , October 10th, 2016 at 04:45 PM (Questions from Coaches)
    Q: How do I overcome or deal with “Coach’s Fatigue?”
    A: The first step to finding a successful solution to any problem is to identify the cause. For example, when you’re trying to make a correction to a swimmer’s stroke, you may need to look at the root cause before affecting a solution. If a swimmer has a wicked scissors kick, do you concentrate on her leg movement or do you look at body rotation, head movement during the breath, and the arm path of the stroke? Correcting these movements may eliminate the improper kick.
    Root causes of coaching fatigue may be:

    • Lack of sleep
    • Boredom
    • Feeling unappreciated
    • Feeling overwhelmed
    • Needing more time for self, family, or friends

    Most, if not all, of these causes can be overcome. Remember, as a swimmer and a Masters coach, you have great power. Summon up your competitive juices, your will to win, and your ambitious drive for success to take on these challenges. Lou Holtz, an accomplished football coach, stated, “Life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you respond to it.”
    Coaching Masters swimming should be a challenging, rewarding, and fun endeavor. Make coaching fun. Like Masters swimming, coaching Masters shouldn’t feel like your parents are forcing you to the pool. It’s your choice and you should react accordingly.
    Try some of these solutions:

    • Change your sleeping routine or practice times
    • Set a new goal for yourself and your program
    • Understand your swimmers’ goals, and become an active partner in their achieving those goals
    • Be more engaged during practices—if you want to feel more appreciated, make sure your swimmers know how much you appreciate them
    • Take splits during practice and share the information with the swimmers
    • Video your swimmers and give them feedback
    • Take your program in a different direction
    • Add a new component to your practice routine such as open water, USRPT, or dryland training
    • Find a cause and rally the troops—host a fundraiser for a local charity or the Swimming Saves Lives Foundation
    • Continue your education—this can include reading, attending a class, or taking an online course
    • Visit other clubs
    • Find a mentor coach, someone with whom to share ideas and solutions
    • If you’re not swimming or exercising, get back in the water or find another form of physical activity you enjoy doing
    • Identify and mentor a volunteer assistant coach—this may allow you to take a break or take a sabbatical
    • Challenge yourself and the members of your program to recruit new members—coaching new athletes can be invigorating
    • Travel to away meets
    • Find a new challenge either inside or outside of swimming
    • Add a different dimension to your coaching—perhaps adult swim lessons
    • Host a social event
    • Eliminate or reduce the club administrative functions you dislike the most—hire a third-party company, such as Club Assistant, to help manage the day-to-day operations of your program.


    My advice to every Masters coach, no matter the size of your program, is don’t do it all yourself. Find people in your program or their family and friends who will share responsibilities and ownership. Shared ownership creates a stronger organization and the likelihood of a successful program. Will they do it as well as you? Maybe yes, maybe no. However, getting help from others could be the solution to coach’s fatigue.
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