This
sounds like a broken record in many ways but still is worth stating; trust the
process and the results will come to you. There are so many examples of this in
life. One of the great benefits of sports, particularly our sport of swimming,
is that often when you least expect it, success pops up right in front of your
eyes.
Swimming
is especially blessed since it rewards individual effort with success. Ours is
a team sport, make no mistake. The right culture on a team allows all who wish
to reap rewards a chance to do that. But as an individual it is YOU who decide
if you want to move forward; it is YOU who decides to plug ahead despite
adversity; it is YOU who chooses the “harder” path even when others seem to
have it “easier” than you do.
Today
at the pool we were doing this drill…you all know it well…or some version of
it. We call it the 3 second drill. While wearing a snorkel (so you have perfect
body position while breathing) you leave your hands extended, one behind you
and one in the catch position for 3 seconds. This gives you the opportunity to
make certain you have completely finished with the trailing hand while having
the leading hand in the correct position – in front of your shoulder with
fingertips lower than wrist which is lower than your elbow.
Mia,
a younger swimmer and thus certainly not the fastest swimmer in the pool, was
doing this very precisely. We had all our kids – 50+ of them – watch as Mia
swam a 25 demonstrating proper fingertip position. They loved it and she was
beaming. We made the comment that Mia just became a faster swimmer because she
is now a better swimmer.
Process
= Results - as Steve Bultman, Texas A&M Women’s Coach says - you cannot
predict when but the work does pay off.
