The boathouse at UVA has this sign over their entrance and I thought how can our groups apply this principle in their swimming and daily lives. You are not entitled to anything in life and anything you get be grateful for it.
Around swimming and for most sports where it's up to the individual as to how far we can go it's always said that these athletes have great "time management skills, life balancing skills and the ability to improve with each practice. I fear that sometimes swimmers hear it so much that they have come to believe that all they have to do is pay their dues, show up and go through the workout without much thought on what is really going on. I fear that there is somewhat of entitlement that has begun to form around some of our swimmers.
Coach Erica and I talked about this last evening after practice and the fact that some young athletes just are not listening and how the skills the coaches are trying to teach them are not being put into practice during the workout. We heard one swimmer exclaim as to how the league record is important to them this summer, however we didn't 't see this during our workout. This is where "entitlement " comes into focus, yes they are at practice, yes they are swimming down and back the black line but with little thought about what they are doing. In reality the majority of your best times are left to chance, but so our everybody else's. Figuring out the process and doing those little things all the time and not just before a race are the things that will improve your chances at crunch time. You are not "entitled" to your times.
The next item on my list are practices. You are a young, healthy, and able-bodied athlete and there are very few reasons to miss workouts. There are sometimes where excuses are justifiable but there are not too many. You need to take ownership of your own swimming which includes making workouts, having an idea about your times, and putting more thought into your events art meets. Your parents are not swimming your events, you are.
It's up to you to take care of that person you see in the mirror even though some people will allow you to get away with things, I will not. "ENTITLED TO NOTHING, but GRATEFUL FOR EVERYTHING".
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