Sunday, October 26, 2008

Rehearse Daily Championships - Start with the Legs

Gotta love this internet thing…check out Floswimming.org…As coaches we are always looking for new ideas or new teaching concepts for trusted ideas…

Dry land training takes on all sorts of forms from fancy gyms with personal trainers to basic backyard set ups with ingenuity mixed with personal passion. Go to Floswimming and check out Germantown’s dry land program. The young man demonstrating was outside by the parking lot with a simple 45 lb bar, a medicine ball, a wall against which he was sitting (no chair) while doing exercises. He also showed a nice set of jump ups onto simple wood boxes of various heights. And then, rope climbing with the pool as his “net”. That one might be tough to figure out in an outdoor pool. The message was clear. A few simple and inexpensive tools and you have an athletic dry land program.

If you ever doubted that leg power was important, then you missed the Olympics on TV. This week – as seen on Floswimming – on October 21st Coach Paul Yetter at North Baltimore had his gang kick 5x200 descending 1-5 on the 3:10 interval. One of the gals kicked a 2:13.4 on her back. A bunch of people were under 2:40 in #5. Very impressive.

The motto written on the wall spoke volumes about the mindset in that facility. “If we are to be champions, we must rehearse daily championships within ourselves”. Each of us, coaches and swimmers alike, need to remember that it is daily application of our best that sets us up for championship performances.

Have a great week and rehearse daily…!

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