NOVEMBER 28

Hope all of you had a wonderful thanksgiving with your families.  I am sure you enjoyed getting away from the pool, and the smell of chlorine for a day.  It is now time to get back in the pool and have that last push for our meets in December.

SWIM AND ROCK MEET WRAP UP

Although it was a very long weekend, our Senior Prep and Junior Gold and Junior Blue groups had an outstanding weekend of swimming. Both Friday and Saturday we had 40 swimmers who made finals later in the evening.  We had some Pa. cuts achieved and a lot of JO cuts attained and a lot of personal best throughout the weekend.   Over the weekend I had many swimmers come to me after their races and I ask, "So how was that?" and the answers ranged from "Good", "Not So Good", "Bad" or "Terrible".  My first thought is to ask them if they are talking about the time or the race. 

Don't get me wrong as a coach I know how important that time is to the athlete especially in today's society where instant gratifications seems to be so important.  That being said it never ceases to amaze me the misunderstanding that the swimmer has between the result and the execution of the race.  On the one hand you may have dropped 2 seconds in a race with sloppy turns and finishes.  On the other hand you may have done your same time but with perfect turns and a great finish and a lot of effort.  Looking through my eyes who will I be happier with as a coach.

As an athlete gets bigger and stronger they will always get faster, but one day that will stop and when that day arises that athlete with great technique will rise to the top.

Bottom line is that if you swam fast usually the time is representative of where you are in your training cycle and how you approached  the race both physically and mentally.  If you swam slowly the time is similarly representative of how you applied yourself during your training and how you approached the race physically and mentally.   Don't fool yourself with other excuses.  RESULTS COME FROM HARD WORK , and HARD WORK COMES FROM PERFECT PRACTICE, not just practice.

TOPIC:  TIMES

 We have posted many times now from the fall meet schedule and these times mean many things and are also affected by many things.  What do these posted times mean;  how much stronger we are getting, how much fitter we are becoming, all those important things.  What affects them;  the meet, the pool, water and air conditions, where we are in  the training cycle.
However there are other important things taking place and those are more significant.  That list includes: confidence, skill set, understanding race strategies, keeping stroke together when fatigue sets in, managing failures and its twin impostor success.  This list gets stronger from PERFECT PRACTICE.  

Leading up to meets especially important ones there are things that you can do to put yourself in a better position to succeed.  I no particular order are hydration, nutrition, proper sleep, staying up with your school work, visualize success, practice days in and day out the things that will make you go faster,not slower.

Try to leave the things that can hurt you in a box locked up.  This list includes; worrying about the outcome, focus on times that you want to swim, get caught up in meet hype, looking at psych sheets too much and getting caught up in where you are seeded.  WE TALKED ABOUT THIS BEFORE IT DOES NOT MEAN ANYTHING, IT TELLS US WHERE OUR TIMES PUT US IN THE PAST, IT WILL CHANGE AND WHAT DO YOU WANT IT TO LOOK LIKE AT THE END OF THE CURRENT MEET.   

What I will do for each of you is work the process when putting together your training program, and during this process give you each some little things to help you in the process.  What I want each of you to do is keep your heads up always, uncringe your jaw, relax your tongues, take a deep breath and work the process every day you walk on the deck for practice.

ENJOY THE LEFT OVERS AND GIRLS STAY AWAY FROM THE MALLS.   MIKE 

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THURSDAY NOVEMBER 13

I need to start with some housekeeping items from last week. First off I missed some of our high school students that are trying out for their high school teams this week. I guess they grow up so fast that it's hard to think of them as starting high school, but I do want to mention that Andrew H. Emma L. And Gillian G. Have also been trying out this week.

Also in our Saturday meet a couple of weeks ago Graham Evers swam his first 400 IM.

SWIM AND ROCK MEET : This is a prelim and finals meet Friday and Saturday which means the top 16 (13 and overs) and the top 8 (11-12) will swim again in the evening. You need to check before leaving in the morning to see if you made finals. If you do not scratch ( coaches approval) and fail to show up you will be scratched from the rest of the meet. To fail to show up is bad sportsmanship and reflects badly on you, your coach, and Makos.

Positive Check IN: THIS IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY AND NOT THE COACHES. WE TRY OUR BEST BUT ACCIDENTS HAPPEN. In the past we try to check people in but then if you do not show, the rule says that you WILL BE SCRATCHED from your next event. When the meet information arrives I will update over the weekend. Please understand.this procedure. 
MEET ATTIRE: Part of swimming fast is looking like you know what you are doing. I am always amazed how athletes always have an excuse for not wearing team gear, guess what there are no excuses and I don't want to hear it. "TAKE RESPONSIBILITY". Everybody better be wearing MAKO TEAM GEAR.

WEEKLY TOPIC: SWIMMING OUTSIDE THE COMFORT ZONE

From a coaches view I am always amazed and frustrated when I watch a swimmer swim a "good" race" and as we talk about it a few things are pointed out that may help take that good race and turn it into a "GREAT SWIM". The problem is that the swimmer takes the information back to practice and either refuses to correct the issues or doesn't know how too. They hope that great swim will be the result of hard work ( that is a big part) but so are the little things that you need to do. 

Think of that "Great Swim" as a puzzle that you are trying to put together. If you don't have all the pieces than the chances of completing that puzzle go down drastically.

Parts of your puzzle may include some of the following:

CONSISTENCY: this isn't just about showing up. The question becomes what do you do when you are there. The goal should be consistency in the process which involves turns, breakout speeds, breathing, finishing hard into the walls, pacing speeds.

COMMITMENT: are you committed to your swimming or just interested. Being interested mean you only do things necessary when it is convenient. Commitment means no excuses--only results. Are you easily distracted ? Tough decisions are when the truly committed rise above.

FOCUS: as soon as your head goes in focus on what you are doing during that session to get better. On each set focus on what you are doing to get better, from a turn, push off breakout, breathing, or speed. Don't just "lap swim".

STROKE TECHNIQUE : learn to do correctly, improve at it, and than learn to do it at race speeds!

SKILLS: easy to do good things early in practice, but the challenge is to do the skills correctly in the middle of a hard set when you are mentally and physically fatigue. Also during warm ups and warm downs do you allow for lazy habits to happen. If you do it goes back to commitment. You should be striving to Improve your skills 100% of the time if you want to swim that "GREAT RACE"

TRAINING LEVELS: Expect more from yourself ! If you think you've given everything you can, your only fooling yourself. There is always something else that you can do. Trying is not enough, find a way to challenge yourself. Find a way to go beyond your SELF IMPOSED limits.

REST: are you getting enough (at least 8 hours). If not it becomes extremely hard to accomplish all of the above

NUTRITION : a car will not run on empty and will be sluggish with poor quality fuel. Maybe in this day and age a better example is each of your phones, they do not perform without getting fuel. Your bodies are a machine and you need to fuel and rest it (includes hydration) if you want it to operate at a high level.

Bottom line is that in order to finish your puzzle and get closer to that "GREAT RACE" you need to step outside your comfort zone. If you stay in it and refuse to change anything how can you honestly expect anything to change in your races. Yes you may drop a little time but an average swimmer does that. Be better than average, strive to be great and step outside of that comfort zone.  

I leave you with this poem which has been passed down over the years and has changed a little

The Comfort Zone

I used to have a comfort zone, where I knew I couldn't fail
But the routine and familiar walls were really like a jail
I longed so much to do the things I'd never done before
But I stayed inside my comfort zone and swam the same old race

I said it didn't bother me that I wasn't doing much
I said I didn't care for things like self-esteem and such
I claimed to be contented with things inside my zone
But deep inside, I longed for that special race of my own.

I couldn't let my life go by just watching others win
So I held my breath, and stepped outside, to let the change begin
I took that step with inner strength I'd never felt before
I kissed my comfort zone "Goodbye", and closed then locked the door.

If you are in a comfort zone, afraid to venture out
Remember, every swimmer was once consumed with doubt
So don't hold back--just take that step and seek those pastures new
Embrace your races with a smile, the Great Race is there for YOU.


Next race  strategies    See you at the pool

happy birthday Sophia Rice on Sunday

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We are now into our 9th week of the season and with 3 meets behind us we are now getting ready for our mid-terms which are the next 3 big meets. Here is a look at what is coming up:

SWIM AND ROCK MEET: NOVEMBER 21-22-23 @OAK MARR 
This is a trails and finals meet on Saturday and Sunday and what that means is that the 11 and overs will swim prelims in the morning and the fastest 16 (13 and overs) and the fastest 8 (11-12 year olds) will return in the evening.  IF YOU MAKE THE FINALS YOU HAVE TO SHOW UP OR YOU NEED TO SCRATCH (COACHES APPROVAL) THE EVENT BEFORE LEAVING IN THE MORNING.  IF YOU DO NOT SCRATCH AND FAIL TO SHOW YOU WILL BE SCRATCHED FROM THE REMAINDER OF THE MEET.

I am aware that we have a lot of swimmers trying to get cuts for Lancaster so we are treating this as a championship meet.  This means that you may dust off those fast suits and get them ready,  shave if you need to although I know that you will swim fast because you wear that MAKO cap and Heather Shannon and I have prepared you, and now the spotlight is on you.   That being said if you have 3 events or more at Lancaster we should not be shaving or wearing that suit.  You should also not be swimming the events you are doing in Lancaster.   If you make finals we will than talk about which suit to wear.  Just make sure that the suit you wear is tight.

MAKO HOLIDAY MEET: DECEMBER 6 AND 7 @ GEORGE MASON
This is our championship meet for the first half of our season and if you are not going to Lancaster this is the meet that you should be entering.

DIPLOMAT HOLIDAY CLASSIC DECEMBER 12-13-14
All qualified swimmers should plan to attend this meet.

HIGH SCHOOL SWIMMING :  We have several swimmers in our senior prep group who will be trying out for their respected High School teams next week.  All of us want to wish good luck to Helen Geddes, Audrey Hunter,  Peter Jones, Katie Karlinchak, Katie Krouse, Katie Pontzer, Caylan Roy.  Have fun and swim fast!

MEET WRAP UPS:  All of you have done an outstanding job in the last few meets.  We had a lot of you try some new events and longer events which will open more doors and hopefully give you more confidence when swimming the shorter events.  We had a lot of our Junior Gold swimmers Kai, Catherine L., Jessica B., Matthew H., open that door to the 400 IM and swim very well.  Also swimming their first 200 fly were Jessica B., Justin S., Peter M., Kent C., Kevin B., P.J., Joey D.,  all of who had great swims. Natalie F from the Gold group and Aaron W from the Blue group also swam their  first 1000 free this past Sunday and had some great splits.  Also swimming the 1000 this past week Joey D. and Jackson K. from the Prep group swam the 1000 and dropped over 50 seconds in the event.

I can see our confidence building as we progress though this season and I also see it translating into you events and races at the meet and this is fun to watch.  The result may not always be a best time, but at your stage of development I am looking at so many other things in your races that will help you down the road.

TODAY'S TOPIC  "MENTAL TOUGHNESS"

This is the time of year where your parents may take you in for your annual flu shots and as I was looking back at some of my notes over the weekend I decided that all of you also need a shot of mental toughness in your arms.  No worry NO NEEDLES just some light reading!

Athlete's coaches, peers, maybe sometimes parents refer to mental toughness as an explanation of why certain people fail under immense pressures, whereas others seem to excel during competition.  It's been said that competition is 10% physical and 90% mental.  The following is a quote from Vince Lombardi, " Mental toughness is many things and rather difficult to explain.  It's qualities are sacrifice and self denial.  Also, most importantly it is combined with a perfectly disciplined will that refuses to give in.  It's a state of mind you could call it character in action. "  A mental tough athlete will have complete trust in their ability, no matter how much stress they encounter, and they believe they will be SUCCESSFUL.  At the same time the mentally tough athlete will also understand that there will be those times when they will fail, and the question becomes how they handle that failure and move past it.
The following are some coping strategies to help you become a mentally tough athlete.

MENTAL IMAGERY:  How many times do you just show up at a meet, warm-up, sit down and just talk with friends, and then when it's time to swim head over, get on the blocks swim and come back.   What are you thinking as you stand behind the blocks?  Try to imagine stepping up having a great start and break out.  Feel your body and water unite as slide into that first turn and bounce off with all this speed.  Feel yourself as you increase your arm speed and drive those legs to the finish.  Imagine a great race

EFFORT EXPENDITURE:  When swimming you have to commit to your race, you can't just go through the motions.  Whatever is going on outside the pool, leave it at the door when you come in.  Regardless of your competition or the way you feel OWN YOUR SWIM and  SWIM WITH SOME HEART.

THOUGHT CONTROL:  Don't dwell on the negatives like I'm going to lose or I have to get a certain time or that swimmer is too fast.  These negatives act like extra baggage and only weigh you down both physically and mentally.  This is your race and to own it you need to focus on what you can control and that's this race and swimming fast.

RELAXATION:  Try to find time to relax during the meet, and re-energize your batteries.  Part of this is doing your proper warm-ups and warm-downs, stretching and staying hydrated.
This does not involve running around and being on your phones, and in fact if that is what you are doing your not there to swim fast.

ANALYSIS:  Analyze your performance.  Ask yourself; What were my weakness? strengths? Take that information back to practice and work on those areas so you move from a GOOD SWIM to a GREAT SWIM!

NEXT TOPIC COMFORT ZONE!     MIKE