Dobkanize Swimming Report Card
I am very excited to share with you how well I am doing as a triathlon swimming coach for my 1-1 triathletes! I use data and facts to quantify my progress, and I monitor this data in order to continuously improve. I see every new athlete as an opportunity to make them faster, and make myself a better coach and teacher. Now, I want you to have access to the data so you can see for yourself how I am doing. One of the great things I like about swimming is that the measure of success is simple. If the swim times of my clients are dropping, then I am doing a good job. If I can make times drop more than any other coach out there, then I am doing a great job! I plan to update this report as I get more results and clients. Check in periodically to see how I am doing!
I am happy to find that my report card as of 09-February-2008 is solid. The swim time of my 1-1 clients dropped 4.9% on average after the first two sessions. This result is a fantastic improvement, falling between the benefits of a full-sleeve wetsuit (at 7.9%) and a fast skin swimsuit (at 1.5%). In terms of cost, the numbers look even better. If you pay $450 for a full sleeve wetsuit, it means you are paying $56.60 for every 1% improvement in performance. With two sessions costing $100, my clients paid $20.55 for every 1% of improvement! And they could still go out and buy that wetsuit if they want to!
Dobkanize Report Card – the DATA
The metric used in this report card is the 50 sprint difference (either yards or meters) from the second 1-1 session to first 1-1 session with Coach Dobko. A percentage of improvement was obtained by taking the difference and dividing by the initial time (on the first session). The 50 distance was chosen because it is a good indicator of raw speed. As my clients are fit athletes looking to improve, speed is the metric they are after.
As of 09-Feb-2008, I have collected data from 12 returning 1-1 clients with a wide range of ability. Skill levels include elite amateur triathletes combined with athletes with less than a year in triathlon and swimming. Performances in a 50 yard Freestyle range from 30 seconds up to 50 seconds (a 20 second difference). For privacy reasons, I am reporting percentage improvement and not actual times of individuals. Because the number of clients is low and their skill level so diverse, it is not possible to conduct any statistical analysis and estimate level of confidence at this time.
The percentage improvement is shown in the histogram below.
Summary Statistics:
Low improvement value (% of time) 0.19 %
High improvement value (% of time) 11.38 %
Average improvement value (% of time) 4.87 %
Median improvement value (% of time) 5.03 %
Number of athletes with negative improvement 0
