Deck policies

There are different deck policies. There is an Open Deck policy which is great because it makes a team feel welcome to parents, but creates problems at times. A closed deck is definitely more conducive to a better learning environment for the swimmers, but it makes new parents uncomfortable. 

Over the years I have athletes and parents move to other states, and they have kept in touch with me. This has been educational for me as they tell me things are different. I have come to realize that there is no right way of doing things, but that a program must decide what their way of doing things is going to be.

The deck policy has been one of the bigger differences that I have noticed. I have always ran an Open Deck except when the Senior Group was in the water when I coached for my father. He had a closed deck policy for the senior group. I have heard of teams that have a closed deck policy to the point that parents didn't really talk to coaches. Everything was passed through the athlete or they could schedule an appointment to meet with the coach.

Why would a closed deck policy be better? I write this as I know most who read this are probably used to an Open Deck. Think about a classroom. What chaos would be created if every parent sat in the back of the class? It adds another distraction for the swimmer. New young parents think they should add instruction. What they actually end up do is distract the swimmer and the coach must regain the attention. Even when the parent goes back to sit, the swimmer is paying attention to the fact that the parent is still there. When a parent adds there two cents in the middle of a workout they also let the swimmer know that the coach doesn't need to be listened to since the parent will just tell them later. This really hurts the swimmers development in the group as they aren't getting the information that is necessary to advance in the group as they just refer to the parent.

I watched a parent the other day for a private lesson spend half the time yelling to the swimmer what they were doing wrong. That was a waste of money, as the teacher didn't teach a thing as he never got the attention of the swimmer because the parent wouldn't just step back and allow him to teach.

Closed Deck policies though do have problems. First being that new parents like the idea that they can be on deck. The second being that it can lower the amount of parent coach interaction depending on how the facility and policy is setup. A closed deck policy tends to have a "we're trying to hide something" feeling to some people. Even though we are not hiding anything, this does arise from what I have heard.

I like the Open Deck. You see as parents realize that there is no reason to be there, and they are more distraction than not. They tend to disappear without forcing them to with a closed deck. I see removing some situations from new swimmers and their parents with a closed deck because they haven't figured out that they are only hurting their swimmers development. I still like to see the parents improve, so I get more comfortable about how they are away from the pool with their young swimmer.