AmberJax coaching philosophy

The coaching staff will concentrate on the following:

In the pool - Perfect the stroke mechanics of each swimmer in the Butterfly, Backstroke, Breaststroke and Freestyle, maximizing technical ability for starts and turns, and educating all swimmers in an understanding of training methodologies and energy systems.

Mentally - Ensure that each swimmer is participating in our sport because they love the experience and discipline of training and competing. The coaching staff will strive to deliver swimmers to their high school graduation with an excitement for their sport and a high level of self-confidence.

Physically - The coaches will create and conduct all training with a concentration of the well-being of each swimmer’s body. The staff will take the utmost care to develop the strongest, healthiest and most injury-free bodies possible.

Vision Statement - Providing a goal oriented environment where swimmers are taught to be realistic, yet set challenging goals for meets and to relate these goals to practice to direct their training efforts.

We see victory as a by-product of the pursuit of excellence. We focus on effort rather than outcome and on learning rather than comparison to others. We encourage our swimmers, whatever their level of ability, to strive to become the best swimmers - and people - they can be. We teach swimmers that a winner is someone who makes maximum effort, continues to learn and improve.  Sportsmanlike behavior is of equal importance to improved performance.  Respect for officials, congratulations to other competitors, encouragement to teammates, determined effort and mature attitudes are examples of behavior praised and rewarded by the coaching staff.

Program Goal Statement -  The goal of our program is not just to produce great swimmers, but to provide a positive an environment for great young people who swim!

10 rules for success in the pool -

1. Coming to practice is the hardest part; once you’re there, make the choice to get better! 
2. Stay in the pool; take care of all your business before and after practice! You know if it’s a true emergency or if you’re looking for a way to miss a 50.
3. Stay on interval! It doesn’t matter where you are in a lane as long as you make the challenging interval. Whatever interval you’re placed in, as long as you make it and do the drills/turn correctly, you are being successful. 
4. Stay out of your comfort zone. Don’t glide/coast through practice. You know when you’re working hard!
5. Do sit-ups (core strength) and push-ups (streamline position) at home. Every day! 5 minutes in the morning, 5 minutes at night.
6. Strong Starts and turns; this is what separates most swimmers. Do not use the wall as a resting point. Use it as a power source for your next length of swimming!
7. Be coachable! Proper technique considerably more important than anything else in the pool. If a coach tells you to do something do it!
8. Swim because you love how it makes you feel. Place less emphasis on times and awards, and more on practice skills, and you will be happier and the other stuff will eventually come.
9. When you’re away from swimming, get away from swimming. Try new hobbies; it will make you miss the pool and appreciate what you have at the pool.
10. Talk to your coach; let them know if there are problems. We can’t fix something if we don’t know it’s broken!