Swim Coach's Starter Guide


Creating a team everyone wants to be on!

  • Recently added to the NISCA recommended reading!
  • Perfect for new coaches looking to make coaching their career
  • A resource for head coaches wanting to help improve their assistants
  • Directly applicable guidelines, tips and instruction

Proud Partner of NISCA for their education needs!

There is a big (and often unseen) gap between being a swimmer/swammer and a swim coach. This book aims to close the gap. 

Between college, medical school, starting new clubs, inventing multiple products, starting multiple businesses, raising families… our experiences and mistakes come together to help you build your swim team.

This book is for new coaches looking to make a career in swimming and for head coaches looking for a resource to help bring up their assistants in a guided way.

Check out the accompanying Coach's Clinic Course if you prefer to listen and watch rather than read! 

Available on Kindle Here

Samples from around the book.

Table of Contents

  • Intro
  • Part 1: Build a Team
    • Why Focus on Team?
    • Job Descriptions
    • Coach's Job
    • Swimmer's Job
    • Parent's Job
  • Part 2: Managing the Team
    • Growing the Team
    • Growing Swim Meets
    • Team Organization
    • Running Practice
    • Coaching at Swim Meets
    • Growing People
  • Part 3: How to Teach the Strokes
    • Dives
    • Strokes
    • Turns
  • Part 4: How to Write Workouts
    • What is the End Goal?
    • Novice Group
    • Age Group
    • Senior Group
    • Season Planning
    • Dryland Training

*Books are printed on-demand when ordered. Please allow 2-3 weeks for delivery. If you order other products from Swim Smart, the book will arrive separately.

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Customer Reviews

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Nuno Araújo
Generous

Great book! Lots of practical knowledge and covers all the important aspects for swim coaches. Thanks for the generosity of the sharing.

M
Myra Nelson
Old Dog, New Tricks

I love to learn new things that will help me coach. Even after 3 decades of coaching, it is always fun and exciting to learn things in a new way. Better yet is putting the new ideas to use in the pool with the swimmers. The new way of doing things mixes up our workouts, providing a little excitement in the water. Teaching the same drill or skill but using new terminology can make it easier for those swimmers that are a little confused figure it out.
Like all the other products Swim Smart sells, this book should be bought by all coaches, no matter how many years they have been on deck.

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Monty Hopkins
Outstanding Books For Coaches And Swimmers

Karl combines creative ideas with well structured plans to provide an enjoyable to read and easy to understand guide to coaching swimming for every (new and experienced) coach. Coaches at swim clinics often comment that they learn the most in the conversations after the clinic talks. "Swim Coaches Starter Guide" is like the very best of those discussions. I also highly recommend Biology of Swimming to everyone (coaches, swimmers and parents) looking for important and easy to understand information about almost all the science behind swim training and performance. Read both books now, then thank Karl and Mike later! Thanks Karl & Mike.

A
Ashley
You seriously need rhis!

This is an amazing help for coaches starting up or taking more ownership of a team. I have been using this as I have gone from coaching high school swimmers to coaching novice swimmers this past winter. It gives great ideas and things to think about. I would highly recommend to all coaches!