LISTENING

When you all listen to your coaches and teachers, do you listen with the “intent” of understanding.  There is a big difference.  

There are times when we have specific instructions for what our sets are designed to accomplish, but as you leave the wall down that black line Logan and I often wonder if we were speaking your language.  

When giving feedback after a race I hear a lot of coaches including myself touching on the same specifics of a swimmers race that they need to go back to practice and focus on.  Some of the things that I hear are what I call meet specifics that are used very well by the fastest in a meet.  These meet specifics are streamlines that are critical in trying to reduce drag and get up to race speed.  Underwater dolphins 🐬 or fish kick off your streamlines.  It is important that you understand being under isn’t fast in itself and it is something that takes a long time to develop.  Body position which could be your head, core or hips,  and your kick power and size of your kick, too far out all your doing is splashing.  These are all things that you need to focus in on when going through drills and set and when it doesn’t happen it becomes the coaches dilemma.

Let’s say we are working through a descending set and you all are putting in a great effort with your intervals.  The question is do we allow allow you to continue with the set even though your not working the walls the way the fastest do in the meets.  Do we praise you for for the effort or start over since our meet skills are being ignored.

SO when you listen, let’s try and listen with the intent of understanding and put that into practice as we work our way through practice.

THE FINAL PUSH

PRESIDENTS MEET WRAP UP

This past weekend the Mako swimmers attended this 3 day meet at the Freedom Center.  Although this meet was long it ran very smoothly and provided a great atmosphere for some great swims from the participating Mako swimmers.  

Most of you had a specific plan with goals for this meet.  We had an abundance of best times turned in by our Mako swimmers with many qualifying for Junior/Senior champs, JO’s and the NASA meet in April.

Makos had a large contingent of swimmers come back for finals on Saturday.  A large number of whom were going to experience finals for the very first time and gained valuable experience as they challenged themselves with not only another race but also how to warmup in that type of environment.  Although our Mako swimmers would be swimming late at night(7:40 and beyond) they all showed up and swam really well resulting in many personal best and grabbing more qualifying times for the big. 

We would be remiss if we did not send out a BIG SHOUT OUT to Lexi Morrison for taking 2nd place in the 9 year old pentathlon in the meet. You rocked it 👧.

As with any athletic event some swimmers were disappointed that they came up short, but we want you to remember that this was not due to lack of effort.  You can take pride in the progress that each of you have made to get to this point.  Never question the fact that you are a better swimmer and person than you were back in September.

UPCOMING MEETS

With the conclusion of the qualifying meets all of you now have your championship meet set for the end of the short course season, and whether you find yourself in Junior/Senior champs, JO’s, or the Mako Spring Champ meet or NASA, it is the time that everything becomes a little crisper.  It could be that extra bounce in your step.  This is the time of the year to get a little more excited, a time to take stock in how far you have come since September.  A time when you will swim the event for the last time this year.  Maybe your a 12 and under and you will be swimming your last 50 (except for free).  

It is important to be in a positive mental state so that you are in a good place to have success.  It starts today!  Don’t make that mistake of doing all the hard work and sacrifice in the pool only to sabotage it all with what is between your ears.

GO TO WORKOUT 
Due to the high school state championship meet this weekend we will not be having practice Friday and Saturday.  Here is a little workout if you can get to one of the county recreation centers.

MEET WARM UP (1150)
400/300 swim
4x 50 kick descend @1:00 (Remember our kicking strategy)
200 kick no boards
3x50 kick descend (15seconds rest)
200 IM drill/swim

SET (1800/2950)
3 rounds
4x50 stroke /choice (20 seconds rest) these should be strong A4 with the 4th A5
2 x100 (1 build 1 fast ) 30 seconds rest
1x200 free smooth

Kick set with fins (500/3450)
8x25 kick with snorkels 3 fast @30 1 easy 1:00
4 x50 kick swim with snorkels @1:00
1x100 easy swim 

QUARTERS (all quality on @1:00) breakouts turns finish on last one
2 rounds (1000/4450)
50 1st 12.5 fast
50 1st 25 fast
50 37.5 fast
50 all fast 
50 easy

Cool down

A DAY OFF

A question that always comes up is, Should I skip practice the day before a meet?  You would think that the answer is easy from a coaches view, but when you mix in the opinions of both swimmers and parents the answer to the question becomes very blurred.

The first thing to remember is that preparing for a meet whether it’s a training meet, qualifying meet or a championship meet you want to keep things as normal as you can.  Nothing new, nothing less, just small tweaks.  You and your body are on a schedule, stick to it.  Think 🤔 of this scenario, you’ve missed a day or two of school, now that first day back always brings with it the problems of getting back to a routine.  You and your body always feel a little off and sluggish as you try to get back to a normal routine, not a good place to be on race day.

First off is that if the day before a meet is a normal day for training then that is where you should and need to be. The benefits of sticking to a normal schedule are many some of which are;

• Keep muscles loose and supple.  In other words instead of sitting around and allowing your muscles to tighten up, you are keeping them flexible so they will move freely.  Another reason your cool downs are so important.  The tighter they become the more effort is required to get them and you to a good place.
• Maintain good technique.  Have you ever had the feeling of heavy arms and legs after returning to the pool after a few missed workouts.  That overall sluggish and uncomfortable feeling as you try to swim.  Again not a good feeling for race day! 
• Final adjustments. Maybe you need that final start off the blocks, that final turn or finish.  Maybe you just need that feeling of doing a few fast breakouts.  Training time is where this is accomplished, not at meet warmup with crowded lanes. You should show up on race day with a clear mind and ready to go.
• Mental toughness. If you feel tired an sluggish your brain will send out all kind of messages to your body to hold back.  Again not a good place to be on race day. By making all your practices you give yourself that toughness to draw upon during challenging situations.

Your coaches are keenly aware of the point of the season you are entering.  They are aware of the meets, the purpose of the meets and how to prepare you for race day.  I know it’s a cliche but you have to trust the process and stick to it.  There is no coach that can guarantee success, but they can promise that you will be in a better position to succeed if you stay the course.  If you deviate and go down a different path all sorts of thoughts and doubts enter the picture.

Take this last thought into race day.  “You are tougher than you think.  Faster than you know.  And more capable than you ever truly realize.”

PUTTING IT OUT THERE

This Sunday the last of our two qualifying meets of the year will be held at the Claude Moore pool.  Warmup times for the 12 and under’s are at 8:00am.  The 13 and overs will warmup at 12:30.  Please be on time.   The 13 and over session will have positive check in for events so please plan accordingly.  This is your responsibility not the coaches.

I have been asked about suits for this meet.  Simple answer is if you are near your cuts and going for them you should suit up.   If you happen to be swimming events that you have already for or off events you should just wear a good tight suit period.  Let’s be smart about this meet and understand your reasons for swimming certain events.  

I hear a lot of talk at meets about your seeds and I truly believe that too much attention is placed on this and you may not be totally honest with yourself when you say it doesn’t affect you, but it definitely affects your mindset.  Your thoughts are all over the map and you’re lost when the only thing that should matter is what happens in your lane, from the time you go off the blocks until your fingertips hit the pad at the finish.

This Sunday let’s not wait around for that good swim to come knocking on your door.  It’s easy to put this statement out there, I’m  going to get a best time, saying it doesn’t make it so.  Once you put it out there, you need to find a way to go get it.  It may require you to step outside of your comfort zone.  Maybe you will need to go out a little stronger off the blocks and into that first turn, or maybe you’ll need to work the middle of the race a little harder, or it might  require a stronger tempo with both your arms and legs that last 12.5 yards.  Whatever it might be it is going to take more than just saying it and that is something that you’ll need to reach deep inside and find. We can help you if you listen but ultimately it’s up to you to find.

Trying to Understand

Sitting here outside on this gorgeous day thinking of something to

write, actually not really thinking just waiting for that thought to come and find me and it just did. Things I hear from you the swimmers that I just don’t understand.

Things I don’t understand; I forgot to do my flip turn.  How can we help you get to where you want to go if you just are not focus or trying.

Things I don’t understand; skipping repeats during a hard set.  Do you just stop when your race gets tough. Come on man!

Things I don’t understand; having little effort with your turns during practice.  Short course races are all about the walls and turns.  Stop looking at the walls as an excuse to slow down and relax. If you lose all of your excuses just maybe you will find better results.

Things I don’t understand; breathing from the flags in when finishing. Of course I get that it’s easier with the breath but just maybe your opponents are focusing on the finish and not getting air. Just maybe!

Things I don’t understand; I don’t have a water bottle. Of course its easy to take a break and go get water, but maybe with a little planning you won’t have excuses to miss repeats.

Things I don’t understand;  I might not do well or I might fail.  So what.  Try and wrap your head around this, what’s the absolute worst that can happen?  Not much.  This is sports and I have not met a perfect athlete yet that always has a good day.  A long time ago every Saturday there was a show called the Wide World of Sports, and it always started with Jim McKay and this phrase “The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat”.  Let both experiences make you not only a better swimmer but a better person.

Things I don’t understand;  I’m tired and not motivated.  You don’t own this one people, everyone has those moments it’s human nature.  But coach what do I do about it.  Goes back to that positive self talk.  I read an article about habits a while back and the short version was to think about motivating yourself with habits.  We all have them, we get up, we dress ourselves, we feed ourselves, we do our homework ( hopefully) we attend practice for whatever sport we are participating in.  We do not have to motivate ourselves, we know that to function we have to make it a habit, and we should take the same approach with our swimming.  OUT WORK YOUR POTENTIAL!!  How many of you can look in the mirror and say that to the person staring back.