WEEK AHEAD

Hey kiddos we had a good start to the season last week so lets focus and continue that effort into our second full week of workouts.  My favorite kick set from last week;

• 4x25 kick build boards
• 4x50 back kick focus keep hips up tight core throw water off toes (bad habit using arms off walls. should only use arms flags into turns)
• 4x25 kick BLAST PURPLE no boards
• 100 back swim (focus good rotation minimum 3 good underwater dolphins off turns)

This will be one of our staple kick sets throughout our journey.  We spent a lot of time with our long axis drills (right and left hand lead) in a attempt to engage your hips and get you to think about swimming taller which can be a difficult concept for sprinters.  Notice how we are on our sides, nose down, top arm relaxed on side and out of water.  We are looking for "Good Body Position".  This week we will continue our work with our long axis drills (free and back), our turns (fast feet to wall) and get into our one of our short axis stroke (breast).  We will start using our in line boards with breaststroke while we work on our body position and kicking.  

This week again our main focus is focusing on body awareness and body position, holding those streamlines as tight as we can to reduce drag and increase our efficiency. Have you written down the word that best describes you and the major thing you would like to accomplish by May.  

• A number of years ago I attended a coaches conference at the Olympic training facility and one of our sessions was “What are the motivating factors for an age group swimmer”.   Often it is recognized that 12 and under’s are considered as age group swimmers when really USA swimming considers 14 and under’s age group swimmers.  The coaches all threw out what they assumed a young swimmer considered to be the fun side of swimming.  A study of swimmers came up with an entirely different look to this issue.  Here is a list of the top 10 things the swimmers said when they were talking of fun;
• Being with friends
• Winning races
• Varied workouts 
• Being know as a good swimmer
• Trying to improve my times/  Being on a team
• Cheering for each other
• Relays
• Compliments and encouragement from the coach
• Getting in shape
• Feeling of accomplishment 

Take a look at these.  Did any of yours make the list?  Just for fun rank these 10 in order of importance to each of you.  Next add any of yours to the list in ranking order.  Good thing to put in your journals so we can discuss them.

Let's have a good week in the classroom and in the pool.  If things don't go as planned today get a good night sleep and do better tomorrow.