Observation Kentucky Aquatics

I had the opportunity to observe Kentucky Aquatics, a local club team, that was under the coaching of Chris Fugmann. Chris started up a swim program and single handedly ran it for 26 years before combining swim teams with wildcat aquatics to become Kentucky aquatics. I selected this assignment because I want to pursue a swim coaching career and I would be able to apply concepts learned in KHP 547 in becoming a more effective coach. I had a positive experience when I completed the observation and I was able to apply it to the concepts learned in this course. Some of the concepts that I witnessed included operant conditioning, motivation tactics, and motivational climate. These concepts mentioned rely on the previous concept and if used correctly

These motivations are the reason an individual participates in the activity, either for an intrinsic or extrinsic reward. In my swimming career I have noticed that Motivation of an athlete varies based on the individual and can be applied accordingly by the coach when coach/athlete relationship is increased. An example of an intrinsic motivated individual was when I was shown a lane of individuals that weren’t necessarily the strongest swimmers but included a few athletes that are doing a second sport. I was informed that many of them compete for their personal enjoyment. These swimmers strived for personal improvement by some of the swimmers putting personal goals on their kickboard as they kicked. There was another situation where a number of swimmers that were first to arrive at the pool and last swimmers to leave. This is a good sign that the athletes are willing to commit more time for improvement and gaining more individualized coaching. Extrinsic motivated individuals are motivated by external rewards such as winning, trophies, and medals etc. Extrinsic motivators are proven to be effective, but focus on external rewards rather then self-improvement. One situation that I saw the coach using extrinsic motivation was with a teenage boy that was practicing next to a group of older boys. The coach took him out of the water individually and told him how much he appreciated

The two forms of motivational climates include a task-oriented and an ego-oriented climate. A task-oriented motivational climate is one that focuses on personal improvement and effort level of the individual. (Jean M. Williams & Vikki Krane, 2013). This type of climate has a positive effect on athletes and makes for more favorable experience in the sport. There was evidence of a task-oriented climate because the coach was focused on technique and improving the strokes rather than coming in first. The practice sets were focused on doing progression drills, where the swimmer would build off the previous drill. This is a type of practice is known as “part practice” and involved progressing in a starting position and gradually combining the required “parts” to the whole starting position resulting in the dive. (Jean M. Williams & Vikki Krane, 2013). The coach was very instructional in taking the time to do it correctly and offered suggestions when necessary. I believe that the coach has implemented a task-oriented motivation climate within the team, which has a positive effect that intrinsically motivates the swimmers towards improvement and enjoyment of the sport. An ego-oriented motivational climate is when the focus is more on the social pressure of winning and being better than someone else in order to enjoy the activity. I saw