WHICH VOICE

 

“Your words have the power to lead you in any direction.”

Fear is a real thing in swimming.  It can be fear of a new event or distance, fear of a unfavorable outcome, fear of getting tired or any other thing that each individual swimmer might face.

There is nothing that you are going to face in a race that we have not faced down in practice, the trick is to face the fear with a plan.  If you have put in the effort and work in practice then you’re ready to face the ugly beast with confidence.   If you are always doubting yourself and not giving a honest effort in practice the beast will probably win most of the time.

Every swimmer can pretty much talk themselves into or out of, almost anything.  Your words have power.  What you repeatedly say to yourself will eventually lead to a strong mindset and eventually become your belief.

Good swimmers will not let negative thoughts hang around and that includes those races with unfavorable outcomes, that is why we do a swim down.  Go warm down after your race (positive or negative) and do on your own not with a group of friends.  Just you and that voice in your head.  Have an honest conversation and then move on to the next race.

Bottom line is that you spend more time with that voice that lives between your ears, so you may as well make it a voice that helps you in the long run, right?

You don’t have to pretend everything is easy.  Be honest with yourself, than than give yourself something that will end up being useful. Talk to yourself as you would to a teammate—-with patience, encouragement and a clear plan of attack.

MAKO GOBBLE GOBBLE MEET

You should only be swimming in this meet if we choose not to swim in the swim and rock meet at OAKMONT.   ALL OUR SENIOR PREP AND JUNIOR GOLD SWIMMERS SHOULD BE SWIMMING IN THE SWIM AND ROCK MEET.

If you have strong desire to swim my advice is that this meet offers a great opportunity to swim that 400IM and the 500. 

The beauty of this is that you could come in at the end of the meet, warmup, race and get out of there.

All of our JUNIOR GOLD AND SENIOR PREP groups should be planning to swim this meet.   Be prepared to swim your best events in a small championship type meet.

THE GHOST SWIMMER

 

WIN YOUR WALLS AND SHORTEN THAT NEXT 25

EFFORT

 

“Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.”

Success and a great swim is never an accident.  Your success is a direct affect of the process and your day to day attitude and effort in the pool and away from the pool.

If your attitude is positive and you’re giving your very best eventually your immediate problems will begin to disappear and you will be ready to face new challenges.

When you commit to focusing on the little things during workout souring each set it will eventually lead to long term success.  Keep taking positive steps,  no matter how big or small.  Each step you choose will lead you to your goals.  No matter who your coach is on deck, attitude and effort are on you.  No one should have to coach you in those areas.  Those two ingredients of your swimming require no special talent only a choice that only you can make.  Take ownership of your swimming and don’t make excuses, because an excuse only gives you an out and a reason to fail.  No matter how you feel, always show up and put in a honest effort. "

After a race I like to focus on these 2 questions; Did you give your best effort?  Do you really believe you tried your hardest?  Those are the things that you the swimmer can control every race.  The little things we can work on during workouts and everything else’s will take care of itself.

No one gets great by doing “just enough.”  Doing just enough might make you good but it’s not enough to become the best version of yourself.  Remember talk is cheap.  Effort isn’t in the words you speak, it is found in your behaviors and the actions you take.

In closing stop spending your time on outcomes and instead shift your focus on the things that you can control during workouts and in competitions.  Life and swimming are parallel; you will get out of it what you put into it.  Why would you expect anything else?

When you fall asleep at night, know that you put in an honest day’s work.

This week our focus for our senior prep and junior gold groups was on our IM with the emphasis on our breakouts and setting up our transitions to the next stroke.

 

Our next meet is right around the corner and you need to plan your list of races.  Let’s be smart and remember we are still early in the season.  Don’t panic.  The swim and rock meet is coming up in about 6 weeks when we will get suited up and go after our big events.   

Coach Mike

YOUR SNORKEL

 

Do you have a love/hate relationship with your snorkel?  Make excuses for not using it?  

Everyone should have a snorkel by know.  Start working on a positive relationship with it.  The benefits to your swimming are huge.

Coach Mike

 

Remember all three of our groups started a new warmup on October 1. We will stay on this cycle all the way into mid season meets in December.  Knowing what is expected when you walk onto the deck for workout gets you off to an awesome start and helps with any anxiety you may have.  

Walk onto the deck with a positive attitude and leave better than you were.

Have a great week at school and in the pool.