THE DISQUALIFICATION

 

Yes that dreaded disqualification, a little yellow piece of paper that is signed by the officials and in most cases given to the coach explaining the swimming infraction by the swimmer.  That is the moment that it becomes official whether we like it or not.

This past weekend I had several swimmers maybe 4 or 5 who came back after races and either said they thought they were DQ or asked if they were.  This happens at every meet and the one thing I normally ask is, What makes you think that?   What I’m looking for from the swimmer is a rule infraction that they think they may have had in the race.  The majority of the time the swimmer states they saw a hand raise.  

First thought,  why are you looking at the official ?  This tells me that no matter what you say and think your entire focus is not on YOUR race.  You can say it is but just saying it is doesn’t make it so.  

The stroke and turn judge is watching 2 or more lanes during the race and they make a judgement call on what they see or think they see.  Disqualifications will happen and they happen to swimmers at all levels. As a swimmer the one thing that you can do to reduce them is to focus on the little things (no matter how little you think they are) during your practice and training sessions.  Be aggressive with your turns, pay special attention to good stroke counts, stop floating into your turns especially backstroke, and two hand turns and finishes in breast and fly.

Take the feedback from the coaches from this past weekend, write them down and let’s get back to the pool and really focus on them going into the swim and rock meet and our mid season December championship meets. 

MANAGING EXPECTATIONS

 

When thinking about your goals and it comes down to times you have one constant and that is your time in any event at this moment in time.  Remember you need to have SMART GOALS and they must be RELEVANT to you.  You can't set goals that pertain to times based on other swimmers or things that are outside your control.

For our purpose we are going to base everything on one event (you can use any event) the 100 free.  In today's world people, swimmers not immune expect instant positive results and have a real problem when faced with conflict and for swimmers it's the time on the scoreboard.

Sometimes when you look up it's like getting smacked in the face, it stings but it's not the end of the world.  Is there a way that you can avoid that moment, I think YES and it comes down to managing your expectations depending on where YOU are in the process.

Think about setting upper and lower expectations when setting goals based on times in addition to your SMART goals.  When you do this you are creating a situation where it's all or nothing.  The goal is still important but you also allow yourself to think bigger and also give yourself a reality check.  

Now let's take an example such as the 100 free:

• Your time at the moment: 1:03:99
• Bare Minimum:  1:03:50
• Smart Goal:  1:01:99
• Stretch Target:  1:00:99

In this example if everything goes right you are slipping under 1:01:00 and that in itself would be amazing but if you don't get there it's not disaster because you have some other goals that are achievable.  Set some reasonable goals for yourself and at the same time don't be afraid to set a stretch target and you need to WRITE them down in your journal or they become meaningless.

Now is the time to sit down and put pencil to paper and figure out what your dreams and goals are for this season before we get into SWIM and ROCK and the DECEMBER MID CHAMP MEET. Be Honest with where you are in the process when thinking about this.  There are many things that will affect the results that happen outside the pool such as; health, nutrition, hydration, sleep habits.  Are you making your training sessions consistently or are you in and out.  When you are at your training session, are you there both physically and mentally and doing what will make YOU a better person and swimmer   It's not to late to do it, SO DO IT NOW and make it happen.

ELECTION DAY

 

So, today is Election Day and although you may still be to young to cast a ballot, I’m sure you will enjoy your day off from school and welcome Wednesday morning will bring an end to all the news surrounding the election.

PRE-COMPETITION ROUTINE:  

Do you have a routine that steady you and eases your anxiety?  Watching and talking to some of you at the last meet I sensed your anxiety and the fact that mentally we failed to prepare.  First of all, it's not the end of the world and it is something that we can work on.  Having those feelings does not make you a bad swimmer, it's just another step in the process that you have to commit to working on.  It's as important as the time you put into your time in the pool.

First step is to think back to that one or two times when you had incredible races and start working backwards.  Journals are great for these exercises.  Think back to that dyad write down short notes to yourself of what you did leading up to those races.  What did you eat?  What was your warmup like

?  What were your thoughts leading up to the race?  Don't over think this basic step.  Just write down what comes to mind.  Maybe even draw a line down the middle and lable them ass positive/negative and that way you are aware of things that help you and things that get in your way.

This is a true and tested way of preparing mentally.that is part of the process that just may lead to that spectacular swim.

How well do you know your history?  Our first three Vice Presidents were chosen by the electoral college and was changed when the 12th amendment to our constitution was passed.  There was a time when the electoral college voted for two candidates with the candidate receiving the majority becoming president and the second place candidate becoming the vice president.  It worked well for George Washington and John Adams, however during the 1797 election the winner and runner up were from opposite parties.  This was the only time in US HISTORY that the president and vice president were from opposing parties.  The 1800 election ended in a tie between Jefferson and Aron Burr which took 36 votes to break, and so before the 1804 election the 12 amendment to the constitution was adopted and passed.

Can you imagine what today might look like without the 12th amendment?

TALKING BACKSTROKE

 

Over the last couple of weeks we have spent a lot of time working on our backstroke.  We have covered a wide range of topics with this long axis stroke starting of course with our STREAMLINES and UNDERWATER DOLPHIN KICKS, to the breakout, the catch, the rotation and finally the kick.

First off for all you Air Hogs out there you get to swim this stroke with your face out of the water so enjoy breathing.

The first and most important thing we talked about was your body position and how that begins up top with your head and how important it is to hold your head still an d looking straight up.  this allows you to keep your hips in alignment and high in the water.  If your constantly changing the position of your head your hips start riding that "rollercoaster" creating a lot of drag decreasing efficiency and making you swim slower.

THE CATCH and PULL: We begin the pull with your hand exiting the water thumb-first keeping your arm straight and slowly rotating the body setting up the catch with the pinky entering first.  We talked about the clock and how we wasn't to make the catch at the 11 and 1 on the clock. We don't want to enter at the 12. notice the picture on the right.  The pull feels similar to a high-elbow freestyle pull. 

THE KICK:  Think SHORT and FAST here.  Kick is driven from the hips not the knees.  Toes are pointed and legs not too wide. Smaller and faster kicks will produce more speed.  Too slow or no kick and your hips drop creating drag and slower times.

ROTATION: With a small rotation on the catch you reduce shoulder drag and resistance, but be careful not to rotate too much (a little less than in free).  Remember Humans are not made to swim in the water efficiently so we are looking for ways to decrease drag and resistance at every opportunity.  This should be your focus during training.  It may take time but eventually it will produce speed and power.  Notice the rotation in the first picture.

TEMPO: Fast backstroke comes down to arm speed and that is challenging for young swimmers because it's hare and uncomfortable, so again we have to work on becoming uncomfortable if we want to swim fast.

FUN FACT

Half of the American population does not know how to swim

MOST IMPORTANT WORD FOR SWIMMERS

 

What is it?  Can you guess before reading any further?

If you guessed STREAMLINES you’re right if you guessed something else your not wrong it just might not be as important as those STREAMLINES.

How important is the STREAMLINE to swimmers of all ages at every level in swimming from the novice to the Olympian, simply put it's gigantic and for short course races it's enormous.  

First off, every lap in your race begins with a streamline whether you are starting or coming off your turn and the longer your race the more streamlines you have during the race.  The streamline starts with your fingertips and runs all the way through your body to your toes.  It's also important in developing that 5th stroke: UNDERWATER STREAMLINE DOLPHIN KICK.

The two biggest  enemies  of every swimmer is drag and resistance and there is a lot of both that is created around the walls as you go in and out of your turns.  While you may not pick up speed off the walls you certainly don't want to lose speed.  The one and only thought you should have going into your turn and coming out of your turn is this: I WANT TO MAINTAIN MY SPEED.  If you can do this that breakout stroke into the next 25 gets easier and more powerful.  

Here is a thought for you to ponder before your next training session.

Let’s say we do our routine Wednesday warmup for our gold group.

400 mixer (100 free-200 back-100 free) How many chances did you just have to work on improving your streamlines? The answer is 16. 

Put another way, thats 16 investments that you and only you are making in your swimming.  That investment will just compound and become larger and better over time and something that you can draw upon on RACE DAY!  This is something that YOU can control and that's a good thing.  The choice is yours!

Here is a 1 minute video for your enjoyment

The four biggest mistakes that coaches see swimmers during races are: 

1. Pushing off the wall and begin swimming immediately.
2. Pushing off the wall with arms apart in "position 11" or the "Superman" position.
3. Head Up looking forward.
4. Not being firm and having a "jello" bodyline.

Just like making your brushing your teeth,  performing a streamline should be the first thing you do in the morning and the last thing you do at night before bed."  Okay not exactly but yo get the idea.  Right!

The sentence that uses every letter of the English alphabet is, "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog."  Check it out if you have doubts.

ANOTHER STEP ON YOUR JOURNEY

 

One of the first steps in your swimming journey this season is GOAL SETTING.  It is important for you to write these down in a journal as a way to hold yourself accountable to yourself.  When you write them down and look at them throughout the season you stand a better chance of attaining them.

SETTING SMART GOALS

When setting goals you will have that one goal that is always constant, never changing but all your other goals will be like moving targets, ever changing from practice to practice, meet to meet, and season to season.

S-Specific.  

M-Measurable

A-Attainable

R-Relevant

T-Time bound

Be as specific as you can when writing down your goals, avoid fluffy goals such as I want to be faster. Duh! We know that or you wouldn't be at workout.  Swimmers come up to me all the time at a swim meet and say I want to go a best time and I always try to respond with, that's great but how are you going to do that.

When setting goals try to change from I want to be faster and write down something like this, "My goal is to drop 3 seconds in the 200 IM by April 1st."  This goal now becomes very specific with both a time, distance and stroke, and it gives you a sense of urgency by setting a date.  But there is still something missing, How are you going to do it?  

The goal becomes just words on a piece of paper unless you choose to change something and this is the hard part when setting goals.Something has to change, so when you sit down, be honest with yourself and add the missing parts into your SMART GOALS.  

You know the missing parts and they might look like this:

• I know my turns are weak and slow.
• My underwater's are weak
• I am not aggressive in and out of the walls.
• I shy away from pushing myself past my comfort zone.
• I know I'm a butterfly, but backstroke is so much easier Chen given a choice.

These are all things that should be included when writing down your goals for the season.

MAKO TIP #1. YOUR SECRET WEAPON

Do you know what it is?  SLEEP

It is impossible to perform, recover or grow without proper rest.  While you sleep your body is working for you repairing your tissues and muscles from the days workout or competition.  This is the most important function of maintaining a regular sleep pattern, it allows your body to heal and maintains a strong immune system to fight off disease.  Outside of injuries, getting sick is one of the leading causes of missing school and workouts.

COACHES TIP-  Create a habit of going to bed at the same time each night (yes weekends too) and get up  at the same time.  We all have an internal clock and if you use it, you'll feel much better and get more accomplished.  Create a dark environment and put your devices away and you'll have a better chance of getting some deep meaningful sleep.

MIKE'S SET OF THE WEEK

This set is a long axis drill for freestyle and will help in three things; head position, rotation, and swimming tall.

20x25 done in rounds of 4. We used snorkels, fins and paddles.

25 superman kick (position 11)@30 

25 Right hand lead@30

25 Left Hand lead@30

25 swim free strong@30

EARN YOUR SUNSET

 

It was nice seeing all of our swimmers and parents this past Saturday.  We hope that we were able to answer any questions that you might have as we get ready for our first day at the pools.  We know that the first few weeks will look a little different as we are waiting on Mason to finish up their construction, but as we always say just focus on what you can control and give it your all and we will be okay.

As we get ready to embark upon our new season it’s time to start putting a plan together, because without a plan all your doing is planning to fail.  Any good plan has to start with some goals both long term and short term and this weekend is a good time to start thinking about them so that we can talk about them next week.

As you start to think and put some goals together let’s understand that perfectionism is not a destination because if it is you just may have a hard time getting there.  Perfectionism can be both an asset in your swimming….but on the other side of the coin it can also be a liability.

Why, number one and I believe this " If you look for perfection in this sport you will never be content", you will never be happy with your races no matter how well you do.  Perfectionist are always afraid of making a mistake or failing in their own eyes, they have a hard time of really swimming with freedom, letting everything go and really enjoying themselves when they race.

Some examples of why perfectionism might hold you back;

• the added pressure that you put on yourself.  It causes you to tighten up and doesn't allow you to relax.
• you start to believe you will Neve be good enough.
• it causes you not set unrealistic expectations.  It doesn't allow you to feel good about the little wins.

All of the above will rob you of the enjoyment for swimming which you have come to love.

"You're never chasing perfection.  You're learning how to form great habits." Swim Cash

As you Jump into the pool this week for your first workout lets learn to practice with a purpose and not just swim aimlessly down the pool practice after practice, make every set count, every streamline, every turn count.  This week is your sunrise 🌅 for the season.  Now let's earn that beautiful 🌅 for the end of the season.  Everything in between is the process, start enjoying it for this is where memories are created to last a lifetime. 

NEXT POST WE WILL JUMP INTO THE YOUR GOALS.

SETTING THE TONE

 

We hope that your first couple weeks of school went well and you’ve settled into a routine.  In another week we will be starting our workouts/training for the 2024-25 short course season.  The coaches are ready and eager to welcome back our returning swimmers, and look forward to meeting and getting to know our new swimmers to MAKOS.

We look forward to an exciting and successful season ahead.

As we start our new competitive swim season it is important for all swimmers to be prepared both physically and mentally from day 1.  Set yourself up to be successful this year from that first workout.

WAYS TO GET OFF TO A GOOD START.

1. GOOD ATTITUDE - 😃 Everyone will have the blues once in a while.  It's human nature.  On those days leave all the outside noise and distractions at the door, don't bring them onto the pool deck.  It will set a bad tone for you, the group and the coach.  Let the feel of the water encompasses your own body and get to work.
2. STUDENT/ATHLETE- It's a privilege to be able to swim which can be gone in a instant.  Your school work always comes first, so do yourself a favor and stay on top of all your assignments.  It's called time management. The week has 168 hours in it.  You sleep 56 hours a week(based on 8 hours a night).  You are in school for 30 hours a week (based on a 6 hour day).  You have 12.5 hours of home work a week (based on 2.5 a night m-f).  You have 6 hours of swimming a week (based on 1.5 4 times a week).  That leaves 63.5 hours a week for whatever.  In other words swimming does not take up all your time so don't use it as an excuse.  Manage your time wisely.
3. SLEEP-😴 Your body needs to rest so it is ready for the next day.  Get use to having an internal clock that tells you each day when you need to go to bed.  Set a time and stick to it no matter what.  If you miss 4 hours one night, you can't make it up.  Those hours are gone forever.  Your feel better and you will avoid illness if you maintain that regular schedule.
4. HYDRATE--The one thing you can control is your water intake.  Bring your water bottles with you everywhere that you are allowed and constantly drink from it.  Especially during workout or any other physical activity.  You need more water at those times.  Just like sleep I f you become de-hydrated it's very hard to catch up and you start to feel the effects very quickly.  So drink.
5. NUTRITION-- Garbage in = Garbage out.  Treat your body as the fine tune machine that it is.  You have all these dreams and goals in this sport so don't sabotage them by feeding the machine with garbage.  If your parents used bad fuel in the family car it would start to perform badly.  You need a variety of food groups to fuel your performances, including carbohydrates, protein, healthy fats, vegetables 🥒 (yes the green things), fruits and of course your fluids.
6. BE ON TIME-- When you get to the pool deck start preparing your body for what you are about to ask it to go through.  Set up a 5-10 minute routine for some dynamic stretching that will actually help you.  Stop just plopping yourself on the ground.  Being on time means getting into the pool with the WHOLE GROUP and not on your schedule.
7. ORGANIZATION-- Have all your equipment on the deck in front of your lane.  We do not want to waste time getting out to get it.
8. LISTENING--  Be prepared to listen to what we are focusing on and trying to get accomplished in the sets.
9. GETTING BETTER-- Every workout, every warm up, every set, every repeat, every streamline, every turn, every underwater, every breath, and every finish is an opportunity for you to grow and get better.  Don't waste even one of those opportunity, it just may be the one that costs you that .01 you need later in the season.
10. SHOW UP--  You can't accomplish your goal if you don't show up.  A workout missed is a workout lost forever.  Stay on your schedules.

TAKE AWAYS FROM 2024 OLYMPIC SWIMMING

 

My take away from the Olympic swim meet is that from we got to see a lot of great racing from some extraordinary athletes.  If it was world records or Olympic records that you were looking for you might have been a little disappointed.  There were 17 Olympic records and 4 World records broken during the Paris games.  You would have to go back to the 1996 Atlanta games  to see so few world records broken. That year there were also fewer Olympic records (13 ) set.   I was fortunate enough to witness those 96 games and person and  saw some outstanding races during the week.

You may wonder which Olympics saw the most world records broken.  You would only have to go back to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing in which the world saw 25 World records fall and an another 65 Olympic records fall.  

That year the Speedo sponsored swimmers wore what they referred to as the LZR racer suit made of polyethylene and neoprene material appropriately nicknamed the “shark skin suit” which was developed jointly with an Italian company, the Australian Institute of sport and yes NASA.  In 2010 the suits were banned ant the athletes had to go back to suits made solely of textiles.  Is that the reason we don’t see the records falling as much, 

Instead of seeing the records fall you got to witness some exciting races where anyone who could find a way to get back to the final eight, had a chance to get to the podium regardless of the lane you were in.  Races that swimmers led from start to finish and other races were if you could find that next gear coming out of the last turn you just might have found yourself on the podium maybe even on the top.  

How does that translate to swimming at our level.  Having said this before and I’ll say it again now and that is this; we put so much emphasis on that final result (the time)  both leading up to the race and when we come crashing into the wall at the finish that we are so tight we forget to just race and have fun with our sport.  

Let’s talk about the things you can take away that will help each of you in your swim competitions.  The first is that I hope when Rowdy Gaines kept pointing out the underwater off those starts and turns that you took notice and have a better understanding of how important they are especially off those last turn when every muscle in your body says NO.  The next thing that he kept pointing out is that you need to stay in your lane and swim your race.  The last thing that I would like to point out is how he kept talking about finishing the race with an explosive kick and a crashing into the wall.

These are all things that we can all get better with but you need to buy into it and commit yourself during every workout.  

If you listened to any of these swimmers especially the veterans who may have taken some time off in the last four years the key message I took away is this; remember why you got into this sport, and have fun with it and enjoy the moment.  Swimming is a part of your life don’t let it become bigger than you are and remember enjoy the process and have fun with it.

Let’s spend a little time over the next few days and start preparing for our school year coming up.  Let’s not wait until Sunday night to start thinking about.  Enjoy that first day and don’t’ forget that means you’re one day closer to the summer of 25. 

We will see you next week.

VACATION TIME

 

Now that swimming and diving all stars ⭐️ is over it’s time to get away from the pools for a while.  You’ve worked hard and now it’s time to give those bodies a chance to recover. 

It’s time to recharge both physically and mentally so that we return to the pools refresh and ready to go.

If you get a little anxious during this time how about some strength training especially your cores.  Something that will benefit you when you get back in the pool.

Wherever you are headed have fun and be safe.

We will see you in a few weeks.

COACH MIKE

WRAPPING IT UP

 With a weekend of fast swimming at all the Long Course and summer league championships it is time to put this season in the books.  Take a needed break away from the pool and spend some time having fun being a kid with nothing to do.   Before you blink it will be time to refocus and turn our attention to a new journey with new goals and aspirations.  

Before we do that take the time to write in your journals about your journey this past season.  Share with yourself the goals you had, with both your successes and failure.  Both are important and vital for your growth in the sport.

CHAMP WEEK SET ( MEET WARM UP EACH DAY)

TUESDAY 

12x50 (4 25 MRS/ 25 free) (4 MRS) (4 25 kick 25 free)@1:00

WEDNESDAY 

9x50 (3 25 MRS/25 free) ( 3 MRS) (3 25 kick 25 free) @1:15

THURSDAY 

6x50 ( 2 25 MRS/25 free) ( 2 MRS) (2 25 kick 25 free) @1:30

FRIDAY

BRING IT ALL TO GETHER 

STARTS TURNS BREAKOUTS FINISHES 

SATURDAY 

OWN YOUR RACE!  NO OUTSIDE NOISES!!  CONTROL WHAT YOU CAN CONTROL!!

This will be the last post until we near the season sometime in mid August.

NO IDLING

 

The ability to accomplish your goals first comes down to how discipline and committed you are, and saying you are without the actions is like an empty promise.  It doesn’t matter whether it’s school, swimming or life the bridge 🌉 between wishing and accomplishing is discipline.  The discipline to know what you need to do, how to do it right and executing your plan consistently.

You just idle around in your lane doing things inconsistently like getting In late weak warmup, bad turns and the beat goes on if you get my drift……

The three essential things that any athlete needs to succeed in sports are,

1. A hunger and passion to succeed
2. The mindset to handle pressure.
3. The self-discipline to do the hard stuff….The stuff others won’t do.

Without that hunger and passion, the mental toughness when things go wrong or get hard  and the discipline to do the hard stuff, your journey becomes longer and the climb steeper.

The consistent swimmers are the ones who understand that to reach their goals takes a high level of commitment and self discipline.  It doesn’t come from doing easy or average work.  If you do average work I dare say you should not expect anything but average results.

“You can either suffer the pain of discipline or suffer the pain of regret—-the choice is yours.”   Discipline is not a punishment either, it is what’s needed to achieve success.

Excuses make today easy, but tomorrow hard.  Discipline makes today hard, but tomorrow easy.

SWIM SET FOR THE WEEK

3 ROUNDS (2nd round kick)

1x100 Cruise 25 MRS 25 free

2x50 @1:00  (25 fast MRS /25 cruise free)

4x25 @1:00 MRS BUILDING SPEED ON EACH 25. WORK ON BREAKOUT AND FINISH (10 seconds apart ). 

CONCENTRATION

 

Concentration.  What is it? How can it affect your race or your workouts?  One of your greatest strengths as a swimmer is your ability to eliminate distractions and be focused and present in the moment, but it takes as much practice as your time in the pool.  However it is often overlooked by many swimmers in today’s world.

I believe that we agree that as swimmers we are often distracted by both

internal and external things both in practice as well as competition.  These are things that take away our focus and our ability to stay on task and remain in the present.

What you focus on will determine how calm and loose you are, the level of confidence you have going into your race and how quickly you are able to rebound from set backs.  Without the ability to focus on the the now your vulnerable to falling into mental traps.

Concentration is the ability of going into a race and finding what is important and letting go of everything else.  Some of these distractions are external such as the pool, the officials,your teammates and sometimes it's the noise in your head that you need to learn how to let go of.

When an athlete goes into a competition athletes tend to be all over the place, they are thinking about the out come, making a mistake, who's watching basically too many things to focus on and not letting go of it all and finding what is important now.

Try this exercise to test your  concentration.  Take 10 different color markers and throw them in the air and see how many you can catch.  Now put a blue one in the middle of the markers and throw them in the air.  Catch only the BLUE one.  Now you have let go of all the other distractions and what is important is catching the BLUE MARKER.  How did you do?

Focus in the NOW.  Not the Past (past races). Not in the FUTURE (the outcome).  Practice focusing in the moment (the now).  You can't be in the past or the future, you can only think about it.  

Stay in the NOW and keep you focus on the right thing, Your JOB which is to race.  When you get distracted you need to be able to catch yourself and c one back to the NOW.  I know in most of my competitions if I felt myself drifting and getting distracted I always used this phrase when I felt like I was being distracted and losing focus, (THE PROCESS).  It always brought me back to the now and it worked it school also.

Find a trigger word that will help you concentrate and as I say you need to practice this as much as you do swimming.

FIREWORK WORKOUT JULY 4th

13 and over triathlon 

RUN 1 mile come thru emergency gate read time off clock coaches will record quickly transitioning move into COMPETITION POOL 

KICK WITH BOARD 300. Read running time coaches record transition to the other pool 

SWIM 500 

When finish cheer your teammates to finish line

9-12 year olds do a biathlon after stretching

Kick 150/ swim 300

Best part is that they cheered for everyone until they crossed the finish line

BRINGING GOALS INTO YOUR RACE

 

Before we get into this I want to make it clear that I believe that having goals and setting them is very important for athletes.  However goals should never be brought into a competition.  Competition takes place in the present and goals are futuristic and should remain in the future.

In other words you take the wrong goals into the race.  For swimmers, I would say the two biggest goals that you you take up to the start is one, winning and two a best time.  Those two goals are by-products of doing everything right in your race.  

If those are your two goals as you step up on the blocks you might be setting yourself up for failure.  Goals and expectations are tools for your tool box.  They help motivate you during training and provide a blueprint for you to work with during practice.  When you take those goals and expectations into competition you get tight, your anxiety levels rise and you end up creating a sense of urgency.  That sense of urgency creates a certain head set, "I have to",  "I've got to", "I need to", "What happens if I don't",  your focus is on the outcome and not the competition.  You start trying too hard and you intuitively start making mistakes. Your reaction on the start may be slow, Your turn is off, your breathing more, your stroke gets short, any number of things might happen.

Your goals and expectations are the things you work toward during practice.  Practice is where you program your computer so that when you step up onto the blocks, all you have to do is hit print and go.  The outcome is in the future and out of your control.  Stay in the present and work the process.

8&under PRACTICE FROM LAST WEEK

WARM UP 300 mix

2x50 (25 breast kick with 3 second dolphin glide 

4x25 (12.5 IMO/12.5 free 1 breath)

2x50 (25 streamline back kick 25 backstroke. STROKE COUNTS)

MINI DOLPHIN READY SET beat the clock with fins

6x25 fast free @1:30. (Clock resets to00 every 90 seconds.  Try to beat your time

TODAYS WORK WORK YOUR DIVES  8 minutes in each lane with a coach

LANE 2 back.  Swim back in 1 same stroke to finish

LANE 4 breast swim back in 3 same stroke to finish 

LANE 6 fly swim back in 5 same stroke finish

RING THE BELL FINISH

1x25 free no breath (can you beat last weeks spot) Go all the way and ring the bell

CONSISTENCY

If your looking for consistency in your races look no further than consistency in your preparation leading up to those races.  When we talk about preparations, we are not talking about the days before or even the few weeks before the race.  While you view every race as a big one what we are talking about is that target meet of your season which normally comes during championship season in March or April.   In your summer league it’s divisionals an maybe a lane to race in at all stars.

Race or performance consistency demands consistency every day in your preparation, consistency in your focus and consistency in your effort every day.  Many swimmers 🏊‍♀️ who have trouble with this pick and choose when they will give it their all.  That’s not how great swimmers become great.  These are the athletes who have LAZY PRACTICE HABITS.  They fail to grasp that the reason for their inconsistencies in competition are because of their inconsistencies during practice.  They believe that they can flip a switch on race day and

magical things will happen.  They believe that if hey say it enough and tell enough people than he magic will happen.  If  that occurs it will truly be magical because it won’t be because of hard work and consistency in workouts, and thus that is the biggest reason for inconsistency in competitions.

Consistency does not mean that you will swim a lifetime best or have your best performance, why? Because your human and its human nature for athletes to have an off day.  When that happens don’t make excuses or pout.  Don’t be too hard on yourself either.  Talk about the race with your coach, listen, learn and o back to he pool and work on it.  There is never the perfect race, maybe in that moment but new goals are set and the next challenge is set.

I never understand why the SUPER BOWL is advertised as the biggest game, maybe it is for those athletes in that moment on that day, but they have played 58 of these BIGGEST GAMES.

It is very difficult to be “ON” every day of competition let alone during workouts.  The season is long and grinding and you’re human, it’s going to take a toll.   It’s hard being an athlete especially for a swimmer because you are always looking to that stopwatch for justification for all your work.  Sometimes though you have to look past that stopwatch and accept the little wins this sport has to offer.

On those occasions when you’re a little off, it is essential to focus and work the best you can in that moment and again not be too hard on yourself.   During workouts it easy to settle into a comfort zone but it’s at this time when adversity smacks you in the face that you need to push yourself past that comfort zone.  Do the things that other swimmers refuse to do, identify the things you need to work on and then get to work.  

Remind yourself to work on consistency and the pursuit of excellence and not perfection.

9-12 MONDAY MADNESS

WARM UP THE USUAL 300 (1x1x1)

100 mixer free/back

2x50 free 1 build 1 fast

4x25 IMO (streamlines smooth long stroke)

HEART RATE SET with fins

4 rounds

3x25 free @30 no breath out no breath in

1x50 back kick smooth

MAIN SET TODAY

4x25 back pause get set @40

2x50 back build to fast turn and get home. @1:30

4x25 back spin tempo @1:00

2x25 back elevator @45

4x25 breast @40 stay low on breath fast hands drive legs

2x50 @1:30 build to fast full extension turn fast back

4x50 @1:20 (odds back to breast.  Evens breast to free. PUT IT ALL TOGETHER HERE

FINISH UP SET 

2x25 fast fly from a dive. Walk around

GREAT JOB

BODY LANGUAGE

Body language speaks volume and will say a lot about a swimmer.  For a swimmer, a good body language and the way you carry yourself are important tools to have.  Your head (your mind) and your body are connected and the way you think goes a long way in how you feel and race.  The way you carry yourself goes a long way to in either  raising your energy and confidence, or it can also lower it.

The real test for your body language comes when you face adversity which swimmers know all too well and it can be lurking in any race.  We also know that when things are going well its very easy to manage our body language and thoughts.

A swimmer with good body language:

• Looks determined and focused
• Keeps their head up and shoulders back
• Radiates a great energy
• Displays a humble confidence 
• Walks with purpose 

On those days when you feel a little down, practicing positive body language can raise your self-esteem and make you feel better about yourself.  We've talked before about CONTROLLABLE and UN-CONTROLLABLE aspects of your swimming and your BODY LANGUAGE is a controllable.  These are habits that will make you or break you and they need as much attention as the habits you work on in the pool.

Maintain the power over your BODY LANGUAGE.

TRY THIS TREAT TO BEAT THE SUMMER HEAT

UNICORN SMOOTHIES (can be ready in 5 minutes)

INGREDIENTS;

1 oz chocolate (melted).   

1 cup fresh mango chunks

2 ripe bananas 🍌 

1/2 cup rasberries

1/2 cup milk (divided)

1/2 cup frozen blackberries

1 marshmallow

2 ice cream sugar cones

1/2 cup whipped cream

2 tsp pink our blue decorating sugar

STEPS:

1. Place the melted chocolate in a sandwich-size bag.  With kitchen shears, snip small holes in one corner of the bag.  On two glasses, draw eyes and a smile with melted chocolate.  Refrigerate glasses until chocolate sets.
2. In a blender, puree the mango chunks and 1 banana until smooth.  Transfer to a measuring cup or small pitcher.  Rinse out the blender.
3. I break or cut pallyn same blender, puree the raspberries, 1/4 cup milk, 1/2 of remaining banana until smooth.  Transfer to another measuring cup or small blender.  Rinse out the blender.
4. In same blender, puree the blackberries, 1/4 cup milk and remaining 1/2 banana until smooth.  With kitchen shears, snipe the marshmallow into 4 small pieces.  Carefullwhipped creamy break or cut pointy ends off the cones.
5. Divide the mango, raspberry, and blackberry smoothies between the two glasses, layering carefully. Top each with 1/4 cup whipped cream.  Stick cones into to form horns.. Stick marshmallows into whipped cream to form ears.  Top with the decorating sugar.

 

Our Thursday meet ready set

WARM UP (2x2x2) THE USUAL

200 mixer free back x25 (work no breath on free and underwater’s on all walls). WE WORKED ON THIS ALL WEEK.  GET IT DONE

2x100 (50 kick/50 free/back) rest 10 between

2x50 @1:00 (1 build 1 fast)

HEART RATES UP SET

3x

4x25 (fast /smooth) 20 seconds rest between rounds

MEET PREP SET WITH STARTER (5 heats of 6)

After each 50 go to other pool active recovery no playing.  Wait until your heat is called

After each segment strong to finish

4x50 (#1 breakout and explode to 12.5.  #2 breakout explode and get to your turn.  #3 breakout explode get to wall and explode to 12.5.  #4 ALL OUT PERFECT RACE

THE RIGHT STUFF

 

Do you bring the “right stuff” with you to every workout and every competition ?   When I say stuff I am not talking about thoughts about what you’re going to be doing later, or what should I follow on your phone , we are talking about showing up with the “right attitude” a winning attitude. 

In swimming as in life one of the most important choices that that you can make is the attitude you choose.  When you have the right attitude and the right perspective anything you do goes from impossible to possible.

It’s hard to show up everyday for workout, but life is hard too.  It’s hard to perform a perfect streamline off every start and turn, but life is hard too.   It’s hard to go all out on one more repeat, but life is hard also. 

If you don’t show up with the right stuff, the right attitude, the right mindset you’re always going to come up short in the end.  There are three characteristics that all athletes have; “ your ability, your motivation, and your attitude.” Your ability is what you are capable of doing in every workout and every competition.  Your motivation will determine what you do with your abilities.   Your attitude determines how well you do it.

When you bring the right stuff with the right attitude;

• You bring your best effort 
• You keep a good focus 🧘‍♂️ 
• You don’t make excuses
• You take accountability 
• You stay optimistic 
• You look for solutions 
• You bring a good energy
• You are grateful for everything .

“There is little difference in people, but that little difference makes a big difference.   The little difference is attitude.  The big difference is whether it is positive or negative.”  W.Clement Stone 

Do you have the “right stuff?”

WORKOUT OF THE WEEK

WARM UP USUAL

200 mixer free back

2x100 (50 kick 50 free to back) 10 sec rest between 100’s

2x50 free @1:00 (1 build 1 fast)

Let’s go deep end 

WIDTHS 

10 minutes streamline and fast UW WALL TO WALL

2 ROUNDS 

4x25 IMO @40 (all underwater’s past flags)

3x50 @1:00 (fly free/. Back free/. Breast free)

1x75 kick ( 50 12.5 fast 12.5 smooth. 25 fast)

Rest hydrate for 2 minutes

Sprint set use both sides no breath to cone no breath cones in “gold meadow sprints”

? X25’s from both side @1:00 drop 2 seconds each time

 

REGRETS

 

Regardless of your sport, we all have those days where we struggle with our training.  You wake up every day and you know what’s ahead of you  and what needs to be done.  However sometimes you also come up with a variety of excuses and reasons that get in your way.

Things that might get in the way without you ever realizing it and the first reason is telling yourself not to work hard when you know that you are slacking and could push yourself a little more.  The reason you don’t is that you have become uncomfortable and the problem with not working the process is that you are going to feel that same way in your races.  

It’s at that point that you need to go outside of your comfort zone and figure out what you are truly

capable of in the pool.  Here is why you should push that envelope not only when you are training but at all competitions also. 

There will be that day that you swim your last race, hang up the goggles, put the tech suit away and wake up the next morning without that chlorine smell in your hair and when that day arrives, you don’t want to look back with regrets.

You want to swim or walk away from swimming knowing that you put everything out there and you had nothing left in your tanks.  Don’t be the swimmer who asks, “if only I had worked harder or tried something different?”   Did I reach my true potential?  This should be your highest goal to walk away knowing that you gave your all each and every day.

Work hard in the pool and follow the process so that when you walk away you can do so with no regrets.

OUR FRIDAY RACE DAY SET 13 and overs

USUAL WARMUP (2x2x2). 

200 mixer free/back by 25

2x100 @2:00 (50 kick IMO /50 free/back)

2x50 @1:00 (1 build/ 1 gold medal swim)

PRE SET WITH FINS

4 rounds

3x25 UWD TO 10 meter finish fly kick to walls @35

1x25 fast swim round 1&3 back tempo get stroke counts. Rounds 2&4 fly @40

RACE DAY WITH THE CLOCK WITH FINS

30x25 free all race @1:00. (Lane 4 stay under 15/ lane 3 and 2 stay under 18/. Lane 1 stay under 22)

GIVING BACK

 

80 years ago today shortly after midnight the invasion of Normandy began with airborne troops dropping from the sky to capture 2 bridges for the troops who were to land later in the morning

Those that took part I that invasion on D-Day sacrifice so much for you to have the freedoms that are afforded to you today and at times it’s easy to forget history and to take those freedoms for granted.

Those who put on that uniform do so not only to protect our country but they also do it to pave a better road for those who follow in the hopes that they won’t have to fight.   

What does this have to do with you and swimming?  How can you give back and make it easier for your community?  This world has takers and givers, which one are you.  It’s easy to always take from your swim team, always asking what they can do for you.

For the next 7 weeks practice giving a little back to your summer teams.  First off embrace the newbie’s, the munchkins on your team.  Help them understand the expectations and set the standards by example.  Take them aside and give them a word of encouragement or a tip such as a turn or a finish.  These young swimmers look up to you and just by you taking a second to speak to them will have a tremendous affect on them.  Cheer for all the swimmers in the pool, meet the little ones at the end of their races and walk them back to the team area.  Talk to a teammate who has just struggled in a race.  Listening to them goes a long way in how they will rebound.

Above all, be a leader and remember what we talked about and how some of the strongest leaders are the quiet ones.  Sometimes I believe some swimmers think to be a good leader you have to be the loudest, the one who loses your voice.  I believe it’s the one who goes around, notices things and always giving words of encouragement to teammates.

Be a giver this summer- - - - not a taker.

SET WE DID FOR CRAZY TUESDAY 9-12)

USUAL WARMUP 300 done as. 

100 mixer free/back by 25

100 (50 kick/50 free to back)

4x25 IMO (for fly go until you struggle finish free)

SET

4x50 free @1:10 

Rest 1:00

3x50 free @1:05

Rest 1:00

2x50 free @1:00

Rest 1:00

1x50 free race from a dive

Build each 50 in each round with the last one being at race pace

We finished up with this set

4 rounds with fins

4x12.5 fast fly finish fast free 1 breath

1x50 social kick

FINS OFF

2 rounds of 

1x25 fly

1x50 back to breast

1x25 race free

Have fun racing this weekend

.

SABOTAGING YOUR SWIMMING

TOO TIRED

TOO BUSY

TOO WEAK

NO WHINING

NO QUITING

NO EXCUSES

You can have RESULTS --or--EXCUSES not both.  GOOD THINGS COME TO THOSE WHO WORK HARD AND DO IT THE RIGHT WAY CONSISTENTLY.

So, you have made the sacrifices and done the work in the pool and are ready to step up onto the block and race, but are you mentally ready?  Thinking that everything is done without really focusing on the mental side of swimming can bring all your hard work crashing down.

I believe that the number 1 way that you sabotage your swimming is by walking onto the pool deck with a negative attitude.  This could range from lack of in interest, LAZINESS, or arrogance.  The number 2 way is when you make excuses and blame your poor performance on your surroundings.  Seeking senseless excuses after a poor performance is a way to make it all right in your mind for your swim.  You refuse to accept  responsibility for "your swim".  Every time you race it is an opportunity to grow in the sport and learn what was good and what you need to focus on when you get back to training.

The third way which will directly lead into the 4th way is, believing that every race should result in a good result and feeling bad, breaking down into tears and losing hope if it doesn't.  Every athlete in every sport will have ups and downs in their training and competitions, sometimes they will perform poorly but the ones who persevere will be the ones who rise to the top.  This leads us into the next thing that swimmers do, they either avoid talking with their coach or they do talk to the coach but really do not focus on what is being said and then go and complain behind their backs.  Coaches know this is true because we see the same things being done during training that were talked about.  

Now that all of your summer teams have started and you spent a week dodging the storms I hope you got in sa few practices.  I thought I would share every week a couple of practices that we did.  So on the first day this was what it look like;

WARM UP (2X2X2)

200 mixer free/back

2x100 (50 IMO kick/ 50 free to back holding UW to flags)

2x 50 free @1:00 (1 build/ 1 fast)

SET WITH FINS 16x 25 @45

odds free kick superman

evens back kick superman

EVERY 4TH ONE SPRINT

BIG SET TUESDAY

2 ROUNDS

4x25 fly @40 (1-3 body dolphin #4 fly swim

2x50 free to back @1:10 with fast feet to turn

4x25 free @30 CHANGING GEARS

REST 1:00 REPEAT