The Bottom Line
Two Hall of Fame coaches, Dick Hannula and Nort Thornton, have assembled this anthology of swimming resources from some of the world's greatest swim coaching authorities. The Swim Coaching Bible is a valuable tool for any level of coach, from novice to Olympic level, and for swimmers that want to learn more about the details behind coaching the sport. The Swim Coaching Bible needs to be on the bookshelves of all swimming people.
Pros
- A collection of swimming authorities sharing valuable insights
- More than just general ideas, the book has a lot of real, usable information
Cons
- The variety of authors makes the book's flow a bit jumpy
Description
- Sections and chapters are well organized, making it easy to go back to the book as a reference tool.
- The book covers a variety of swimming topics in enough depth to help swimmers and coaches improve.
- All swimmers should have this book in their collection
- Not heavily illustrated, more text oriented.
Guide Review - The Swim Coaching Bible
The collection of articles in The Swim Coaching Bible are sorted into five sections:
- Establishing Priorities and Principles looks at some of the general philosophy behind coaching. Chapters on "Believing in Belief" by Richard Quick, "Putting Fun Into the Swimming Experience" by Jean Freeman, and "Coaching with Integrity" by Peter Daland are included.
- Directing a Program to Its Full Potential examines approaches to organize a swim team to meet the needs of a variety of athletes. John Leonard's "Tailoring Your Approach to Specific Competition Levels", Jack Bauerle's Administering and Marketing a Winning Program", Skip Kenney's "Developing a Successful Team", and Bill Sweetenham's "Maximizing a Swimmer's Talent Development" round out this portion of the book.
- Creating Effective Practice Sessions discusses ideas on developing swimmer fitness. "Long and Short Range Planning" by Jill Sterkel, "Putting Science Into Practice" by Dr. Bruce R. Mason, and "Applying the Art of Coaching" by Deryk Snelling all contribute to this section.
- Teaching Stroke Technique reviews skill ideas for each stroke. Chapters found here are: Rick DeMont on Freestyle, Dick Hannula on Backstroke, Pablo Morales on Butterfly, David Salo on Breaststroke, and finally John Trembly and Gary Fielder on starts, turns, and finishes.
- Training for Optimal Performance looks at the way successful coaches have trained world class swimmers. Michael Bottom covers sprint, Doug Frost takes middle-distance, and Dick Jochums distance freestyle. Back and butterfly sprinting are explained by Eddie Reese. Bill Rose explains back and butterfly training for longer races. Jon Urbanchek covers breaststroke and Dick Shoulberg covers individual medley swimming. Finally, David Marsh talks relays, Randy Reese explains power, and Don Gambril takes on "Preparing to Excel in Competition".
