STARTING AGAIN

Hope you all were ready for your first day and everything went smoothly for you.  Lots of new friends, classes and exciting new assignments.

 

As we are about to launch into our journey in the pool, lets lay some groundwork.  As you start this journey you may find yourself in a new group that will provide new challenges as you move along.  You will find some of the challenges easy, and some will probably push you to limits that you thought were impossible.  All of this is meant to put you in a good position come championship season come March and April.  The first part of our journey will involve building a strong foundation which will allow you to become a better swimmer and put you in a great position to attain your goals.  Although this may seem easy, we want you to focus in on all the little things as this will build a good base as we enter into the harder works.  What are the little things you may ask?

 

• Leaving the wall correctly EVERY time ( on your sides with tight streamlines)
• Finishing at wall correctly EVERY time (fingers/hand on the wall
• No breath off first stroke every time
• Underwater dolphin/fish kicks every push off a wall (fast past the 10m and near the 12.5)
• Deep arm off free turns (arm near the bottom and no breath)
• Drilling properly 
• Hydrating during practice 
• Showing up both physically and MENTALLY

 

MEETS

 

Are meets a necessity?  What can be gained by swimming in a meet?  As a swimmer we spend countless hours training in a pool and at certain points it is important to go out and race and measure our progress.  It is important to realize that the progress your making is not always measured on the scoreboard.  It could be something new you have been practicing and now you are going to see what it feels like in a meet/racing situation.  The meets allow you to prepare a plan for each event and then go out and excuse it.  Here is an example of what some of you may think a plan involves,  my goal is to break a 2:00 in a 200 free.  I hear things like that all the time. That is a goal but not a plan on how to do it.  I want you to be smarter and more invested in your goals.  I want you to give me specifics on how we are going to break that 2:00 and by doing that you become not only a better swimmer but a more successful one at that.

 

The meets not only allow you to experience success, but at the same time will also teach you to cope with failure.  As you go through a swimming career there will always be up and downs. All athletes in all sports experience this.  As a 10 and under yo will experience many best times, and then as you move into the 11-12 age group you will still see lots of best time but fewer than before.  Now we enter into those teen years13-15 where the distances change and you see far less best times.  Plateaus will happen and they may happen this year, but then you have that massive growth spurt and will see ridiculous results.  Understand that plateaus do happen and may indeed occur more than once, but We will work through them together and will come out the other side.  

 

With all that said lets take a look at the first few meets so we have an understanding of what we are doing

 

Senior Prep group

 Mako Invite. This meet is early in our training period so I am asking you if you want to swim just pick one day and do not swim ANY of your best events.  Pick off events and distances.

October Open. Again stay away from your best events and try ev ends different from Mako Invite. You have a  choice of one or two days here

Marlin Invite will be discussed later

Swim and Rock will be are first big meet.

 

Junior Gold

Mako Invite You May swim both days but I would like you to swim only a 50 100 200 each day, and only swim one of your best events.

October Open  Same as above but choose different events

 

Junior Blue

Both meets swim a couple of the 50’s if you wish but we would like to see the 100 free 100 back and 100 IM done by November 1.

 

What ever you decide please don’t limit yourself to just the events your comfortable with.  Try some scary things they will help you become a better swimmer.

 Step outside yourself and realize the endless possibilities within yourself and this sport!    

 

PREPARING NOW

The sound of school bells are not that distant away as your headed into your last free weekend.  What all that means is that the start of the swim season and our journey cannot be too far behind. 

Last week we spent time on how to start preparing for that first day of school and so I thought we should take a little time this week on how to prepare for the upcoming season.  We already mentioned that 2 or 3 times in the next couple of weeks it might be a good ideal to find your old summer pool (remember that watering hole) and go for a few swims to help with that heavy feeling the first week

 

One of the key areas for all athletes is the core, and this is also true for swimmers.  Your core will effect your explosiveness in your turns, your hip rotation in your strokes, and it will help in your kicking.  The other area to focus in on the next few weeks are your legs.

 

Here are some drylands tips to work through a couple of times the next three weeks.

 

CORE

 

Basic plank (keep the back straight and head in swimming specific position) 20 on 20 rest x4

Basic leg lifts (don’t strain the neck. Use a towel  under open space of neck). 12x5

Hip Roll (arms on floor palms down extended to side) bend knees up to a  90  degree angle and swing slowly from side to side.  Do 10 to each side for 20 x2

Mountain climbers 30 on 30 off x2

 

Legs 

 

Controlled squats 3 sets of 6 perfect squats

Flutter kicks 20 seconds on 20seconds restx3

 

All this should take 10-15 minutes and it will do wonders that first week of practice

 

Next week we will talk about the season, meets, events and goals for this journey we are about to undertake.  Until then

"Hakuna Matata"

 

 

WELCOME BACK

Hope all of you are enjoying the last few days of your summer vacation.  We hope your summer season went well and you were able to reach some of your goals that you had laid out.  

As the days start getting shorter and the nights a little longer, with the leaves beginning to drop it must be time to turn the page on the past year and look forward to the future with anticipation of the possibilities in and out of the pool.

In about a week you will face the first step in the new season, and it has nothing to do with the pool.  Yes it’s the new school year with all the challenges that will come with it.  Everyone will be starting a new grade level, some may be attending a new schoo, all will have new teachers, and yes we will all be reacquainted with old friends, and will make some new ones.  There will be new lessons to be learned, homework and projects to be completed, an exciting time to look forward to.

In about three weeks it will be time to grab the goggles,cap,snorkel,paddles and kick board stuff them into your bags and head off on that new journey in the pool.  There will be great anticipation a new training group, maybe a new coach.  Questions to be answered such as how will I start?  There are no right or wrong answers but what is certain,is that if you show up with the correct attitude and focus on the purpose of each workout the finish will be in forgettable.

What can you do now to help ease into the new school year?  There are things that you can start doing now to make the transition smoother and less stressful. The first is to start adjusting your body clocks now.   Gradually start going to bed a little earlier each night and getting up a little earlier in the morning.  Do this so that two or three days before school is to start you are on a normal cycle.

Next make sure you start fueling your body properly so that it has a chance to function the way it should. Sometimes in the summer our eating habits tend to get away from us, and now is the time to get them back into check, and as always hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.  And let’s not forget to give our minds a jump start with some light reading that you enjoy before you get the books you don’t like

As for preparing for the pool, you need to get wet.  I would suggest heading off to your summer pools, dive in and go for a little swim.   Start with a 500 followed by alternating a 100 swim with 2 50’s kick.x 5.  Do this 2 or three times a week and it will go a long way in helping that heavy out of shape feeling those first few practices.   It will also go a long way in helping you stay stress free and calm as you start back to school

As we move forward both in school in the pool, Embrace each new day, and stack GOOD PRACTICES on top of each other