TAKING CARE of the FRONT END

 It has always amazed me to watch swimmers come in 5,10, or 15 minutes before practice flop down with their phones and do nothing that will help them have a good workout.

If you take care of the front end of your practice, the rest of the workout will pretty much take care of itself.  Win your workout.  Elevate your swimming.

I am sure a lot of you think that if practice starts at 5:00 am or 5:00 pm there is no harm just sitting around and just waiting until a minute before to start getting ready.  Tells coaches that you clearly are not focus on practice.  How many of you have ever seen your coaches show up late for practice?  Yes incidences do occur in every ones lives from time to time that cause us to be late, but when it happens all the time it becomes a pattern and not one you want to be judged on.

I like to think of warmup as "victory warmup" where we get a bit of a long swim in to make sure we are in working order usually anywhere from 5-8 minutes.  We then go into a small aerobic set on a interval with a mix of drill-kick-swim.  We then start to engage our heart rate with a small descending set usually stroke/ free.  None of this is done super fast so it gives you a chance to get in touch with all your working parts.  If you can nail this warmup it will make the rest of the workout run smoothly.

Maybe instead of walking onto the pool deck, flopping on the floor with your devices you could maybe do some dynamic stretches while talking to each other about the day such as;

• how was your day?
• much homework?
• any projects?
• anything exciting?
• what's practice going to be like?

Eliminate distractions as you get ready for practice which is hard to do in today's world of social media.  Focus on the right things, the things that will help you in warmup.  Get your mindset in the right place.  Instead of thinking about all the things that are wrong, move your mind to a healthy place.   BECOME A STACKER.   Stack your good practices on top of each other.

Let's have a good week.

WIN YOUR WORKOUTS

CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON NEARS

 

We are now entering the final leg of our season.  We all now know which championship meet we will be competing in.  It could be JUNIOR/ SENIOR CHAMPS, 14 and under CHAMPS, MAKO SPRING FLING or the SAINT PETERSBURG CLASSICS.   

Make no mistake, wherever you find yourself swimming this is YOUR CHAMPIONSHIP meet.  Your last races of our short course season, a time to embrace, a time to relax and a time to swim FAST.  If you have put in the time, the effort and worked hard it’s time to see it come to

fruition.

For the next few weeks take the time to work on the little things such as starts, breakouts, underwater’s, turns, finishes and race strategies so that as you step up onto the blocks to race that there is no doubt in your abilities.  This is not the time to go into panic mode with a lot of questions.  That time has passed, and all you can do now is work on the things that you can control.  The biggest thing that you can do right now is keep showing up, work hard and work on your positive mindset.  With that positive mindset the possibilities over the next few meets are endless, however you can’t just say the right things in fact you don’t have to say a thing to anyone.   All you need to do is say it to yourself and believe what you are saying.  Sometimes that is hard like everything else.  It also takes practice like everything else.

So, what can you do now to get ready for your championship meet?  The very first thing is to decide on "the list" of events that you want to race.  Things to consider to set yourself up for success; are relays a possibility?  How much recovery time will you need between events:?  Chance of swimming at finals? That is a hard one because at this level except for the first few seeds everyone is fighting for those spots.  Talking about finals, I catch a lot of swimmers talking about finals first thing in the morning.  Bad Move.  You still need to RACE  prelims to get there.  When racing in prelims most of you if not all of you will have to at least race your seed time to have a shot. Have a plan to succeed, failure to plan is planning to fail.

LATER

PRESIDENTS MEET WRAP

 

I wanted to take the time and thank all the swimmer’s parents for your patience and perseverance this past weekend.  Thanks for working with your swimmer getting them back and forth to the pool.  If they haven’t said it yet I am sure that they appreciated your efforts as did the coaches.

I would also like to thank you for all your volunteering efforts throughout the weekend.  We had parents who stepped up and helped with timing, stroke and turn, and marshaling.  We could not have done it without your efforts.

Thanks also to all the swimmers who raced this past weekend.  You all came in focused and knew what you were there to do and that was to race as best you could at that moment.

While we had many swimmers make their cuts we had some that came up a little short.  Which ever side of the pool you ended up on, take a moment and celebrate because all of you came with a lot of energy and put your best effort forward.  If you came up short you’re allowed to be upset, it’s hard and believe me I know, but I also know that your time does not define you.  It’s what you do now that will define you, it’s Monday and it’s time to get up and move on.  Everyone who swam this past weekend was a winner 🏅.

President meet 500 Friday night

 If you are only swimming the 500 free on Friday night please let me or heather know and I’ll check you in.  For 13 and overs arrive between 5:00-5:15.  For all 12 and under’s arrive 6:00-6:15.  Don’t forget to have a timer and be prepared to have a counter .

THE FINISH

How do you finish?  Are you aggressive? Do you try and swim through the wall?  Do you pull up right before there touch?  

You've had a great start, streamline and breakout.  Your turns were fast and crisp and your stroke and race strategy were right on setting you up for a great finish.  Why throw it all away by letting up on your way to that finish.

There are four key elements that every swimmer needs on the way to a great finish:

1. Finish with your head forward--pushing towards the wall. (not looking at the score board)
2. Finish with your hips high and legs driving towards the wall.
3. Finish on a full stroke. (arm or arms fully extended to the pad)
4. Finish with your legs working at maximum speed.

Now let’s get to the pool and find ways to find time!

THE TURN

 

How do you approach your turns in a race?  Chances are that you approach them the same way you do in practice.  Yes the wall involves an obstacle, but only if you approach it like that. When approaching that wall, do you challenge all your energy to that target?  "Wall stands for We Accelerate Lazy Limbs"---turns are an opportunity to gain speed and "find time".  Other than your start there is no other time that your moving as fast as you are coming off that wall.  This is a great detail to work on in practice every day as it will translate to a great opportunity to gain momentum and speed in your races.

Always go into your walls with a "Great Mindset", thinking power, aggression and speed.  When race ing free and back keep your turns simple and fast, with that last stroke chin on your chest and throw those legs over the shoulders and explode off the wall.

During your breast and fly turns always hit the wall in full extension with your head down.  As soon as you touch the wall snap your hips and knees to your chest and get your feet to the target on the wall.  When you go for air keep watching the hand on the wall, Don't turn your head.

A lot of times swimmers turn the head and then turn it back to the wall.  

Slows down the transition.  "Ideally from the time your hands hit the wall to the time your feet touch the wall should be under 1 second."

Work on getting a personal best on your turns.  you have to do therm during practice every time you come upon a wall.

THE STREAMLINE

 

So the other day we talked about exploding off the blocks on your starts but, what comes next is just as important.  It will determine how how you carry your speed off the start and transfer it into your race.  Yes we are talking about the streamline and depending on the event you may just have two or a few.  This means  you need to work on it every turn, every wall in practice.

In their search for that "personal best" sometimes swimmers find ways to lose time in their races.  There are three ways that you can lose time after the start, even before you take that first stroke.  

The first way is to have a great start only to follow by doing nothing and what I mean is that you just glide into that first stroke.  This kills what momentum you gained off the start.  let me repeat that.  This kills what momentum you gained off the start.  We should follow every start with a minimum of 3 fast, strong and explosive kicks into that first stroke.  Simply put if you don't YOU WILL lose time.  Again you need to commit to this and work it during practice all the time.

The second way is that swimmers sometimes fail to realize that those underwater kicks not only need to be strong and explosive but they need to be directed towards the surface so you do not run out of air.  if the kicks are not directed towards the surface swimmers tend to lose air pop to the surface, stop kicking, lose momentum thus losing more time.

The third area is kicking into that breakout stroke.  Swimmers often stop kicking as they go into those first few strokes and then start the kick again.  This is like riding your bike and hitting the brakes at full speed and then trying to get up to speed again.  This takes a lot of extra energy.  "Kick into that first stroke with speed and power----hitting the surface like a great white shark hitting it's prey.  It's not only faster but it scares the daylights out of your opposition."

Again there are many areas within your race where you are looking for a "personal best" that will go a long way in determining that final time.  There is no magic involve just hard work and repetition.

THE NEXT CHAPTER

As we begin that final stretch into our championship season it's time to really buckle down and really focus in on the things that will give you that little edge heading into your races.  Any little thing that you can improve both in and out of the pool will give you that advantage as these meets roll around.

It starts with your attitude and having that positive mindset and working on it every day.  Avoid the noise and drama that swirls around each of us in our daily lives.  If it does not involve you and most of all if it doesn't help you and where you are going stay away.

It's time to put those finishing touches on your swimming and I challenge each of you to double down and focus in on every start, every breakout, every streamline, every stroke, every breathe and every turn that you execute during practice.  This is your movie, your not only the star, your the director, the editor. 

I imagine that each of you are searching for that one thing which is to shave time off of your personal best.  You might be searching for that next "gimmick" that some salesman will try and sell you.  There are no "gimmicks" or magic powder that we can sprinkle on your heads that will help you swim faster.  The magic that your looking for is called "HARD WORK"  and "ATTENTION TO DETAILS."   Thats it, pretty simple stuff, right.

It all starts with the first 15 meters and how you respond to them.  Those 15 meters are reliant on the start and your underwater technique and it's not something that will happen magically on race day with out hard work.

Let's look at the start and there is a common mistake swimmers make here and that is they "flop lazily into the pool instead of taking a strong powerful, "coil spring" position and being ready to explode of the blocks when the beep goes off."  Another area of concern is the placement of your feet on the block.  When you step onto the block place the front foot with the toes over the edge, the back foot should be high on the wedge in a straight line towards the pool, this is where your power comes from.   Let's work on starting like a champion.

 

EVERY HEAT IS WINNABLE

Do you show up on race day lacking self confidence or thinking 🤔 of all the excuses to fail?  If that’s the case why are you racing on that particular day?  

You can have a fancy new tech suit, brand new goggles,  a state of the art venue to race in but what it really comes down to is what’s under the cap and between the ears that will determine your fate in any race.

Walking into that state of the art venue without the proper mindset and understanding that your purpose is to race and win, that is your job, if you can’t do that your only wasting your time. Now I am not saying you will win every time out, but what I am saying is that you have to have a positive mindset as soon as you walk onto the deck and know that every heat is winnable.  Showing up on race day hoping to do well is not a good strategy to be successful.  If you have done the work and worked on your weakness you need to trust that process and have the confidence that you’re ready for it.  Don’t look for reasons to fail.  Go out with the attitude that every heat is winnable and ask yourself when you step on the block,  Why not me today?   It’s almost a guarantee that 1-3 will usually have personal best.

Have a great time racing this weekend!