Two really good sets for confidence

We trust that we all can agree that the most important muscle in the human body is confidence. As we prepare for the March Sectional meet here in California we are looking for some fast swims. After this meet the swimmers go into their high school season (which has already begun with some dual meets). They like to bounce off of the March club meet into HS meets and then the ever present, never ending, all powerful emotion, of the high school champs takes over.

We did the following 2 sets with our middle sprinters this last week…kids who think the 200 is the best race in the world…they don’t care what we think and we do care what they think!

After all the warmup and a short kick set we did this on Thursday:

4x200/3 rotating a fast 50…1^st 200 the first 50 was fast, 2^nd 200 the second 50 was fast

3x200/3 rotating a fast 100…1^st was the 1^st 100, then the middle 100 then the last 100

1x200 all fast

They were flying. We set benchmarks in terms of times to aim for. We used a recent meet we had and said swim the last 200 within 10 seconds of that race time. At that meet they had suits on in finals but no rest or shave…just to give you an idea.

When they saw how fast they were going the excitement was palpable = confidence.

On Saturday we did the same thing with 100’s.

4x100/1:30 rotating a fast lap

3x100/1:40 (so they could do strokes) rotating a fast 50

1x100 all fast…Again they swam fast = confidence

In the 200 set they had 1600 yards, 700 of which was fast.

In the 100 set they had 800 yards, 350 of which was fast.

We’ll let you know in a week how the Sectional meet goes. We anticipate fast swims.

The Power of Discouragement

Chapter 11 of Chop Wood Carry Water is all about the power of discouragement as it relates to human growth and developing potential.

The actual word “discouragement” means a lack of courage. We tell our team that to our knowledge no one on our team lacks courage…if nothing else than the simple act of getting up on a block and racing down the lane with no one to be held accountable except you. That, in our opinion, is exactly what courage looks like.

Disappointment is very understandable; discouragement is not.

Akira, the sensei at the samurai warrior training camp, is having this discussion with John – the young man who wants most of all to be an archer samurai warrior – about discouragement. John is learning about the process and dealing with ups and downs is paramount to his success.

Akira says there are six things you can do to fuel your heart with encouragement:

1 – What you watch

2 – What you read

3 – What you listen to

4 – Who you surround yourself with

5 – How you talk to yourself

6 – What you visualize

The very best part about this process is that these 6 items are all choices each person can make every day. Keep reminding your swimmers that their greatest power in life is the power to choose.