This Is Your Swimming

So a horse walks into the bar, sits down and the bartender comes over and says, “So why the long face?”

Think about the challenge in this way; the distance between expectations and reality is disappointment. Our sport relies so heavily on personal responsibility. That is one of several things that make it so compelling. You don’t rely on anyone to throw you the ball so you can score. No one else’s fumble costs you the victory.

Your swimming is all about you and your willingness to accept this fact…it is you.

When your expectations don’t mesh with your reality the gap is measured in disappointment. Want less disappointment, then either change your expectations or your reality.

A word of caution…discouragement means literally lack of courage. Few competitive swimmers lack courage. What most lack, at some point in their development, is the understanding about the direct connection between input and output. This is the personal responsibility angle.

Our greatest power in life is the power to choose. And with that power comes the responsibility to be 100% accountable to ourselves for our progress or lack thereof.

The long face we see at swim meets comes more often than not from the gap between a swimmer’s expectation and her/his reality; the bigger the gap the longer the face.

So you decide what you want – expectations – and what your reality is – your training, it’s frequency and consistency; your racing, how often and intense; your maturity – how you roll with the ups and downs of this sport…and then you own your swimming.

The choice is yours. How wonderful that is. No winner would want it any other way. I choose. I work. I get the reward…sometimes sooner, other times later, but I get it.

Coaches, parents and teammates are here to assist…in the end it is you who gets the credit…and we like that relationship a whole lot.

Klay Thompson and Flow

All the great ones know about flow…and so do you. Every competitive swimmer has had the magical race. That race is characterized by how easy it feels and how fast it is; how when you finish you are aware of your effort but not devastated by it; and how it seems that you could go even faster.

It is a blessing and a curse. The blessing part is easy to understand. The curse is that many swimmers keep “looking” for that “magic” to show up and get very disappointed when it doesn’t happen.

But you have had the magic in workouts pretty often so long as you totally immerse yourself in the repeat, even just the lap you are on at that specific moment. That total “being present” is so critical…why? Specifically you are being non-judgmental and thus getting out of your own way. You are just doing, just being – in the moment.

Flow comes when the risk is great and the mind is empty, when you are simply focusing on the doing part.

Klay Thompson is an NBA All Star who plays for the Golden State Warriors. In Game 6 of the recent series against Oklahoma (which the Warriors won by winning 3 consecutive elimination games – talk about risk!) Thompson went “off” scoring at will essentially carrying his team into Game 7. This from Thompson about his performance in that 7 game series:

“Believe it or not, I really don’t think about our accomplishments. You’ve just got to go out there, and if you play focused and you play your hardest, that’s all you can do for yourself.”

When he takes a shot he is not thinking about whether or not it will go in and what happens if it does or doesn’t go in. He is simply shooting. And when he misses (they all miss more than they make!) he moves to the next play staying focused and playing his hardest…might be time for you to channel a little – or big – part of his game into yours.

The Value of Observing

Some say that if you look at the human body there are more organs designed for sensing what goes on around us than for sharing that information. Said more simply, we have 2 ears, 2 eyes and 1 mouth. We also know it to be true that when your lips are moving your ears and eyes don’t work quite as well as intended.

We had the California State High School Championships this past week in Clovis. Thanks to Meet Mobile it is no longer necessary to take splits the old fashioned way. So we spent our time simply watching and listening. Sometimes we were looking for specific things like stroke count and tempo and at other times we were just watching to see what we could observe.

We believe that coaches learn more about faster swimming by watching the faster swimmers than by making a lot of noise about one thing or another. The faster swimmers intuitively demonstrate subtleties. They may have learned initially from a coach but then they further refine it by figuring out what works and what doesn’t through the time honored and tested process of trial and error.

And so we watched to see what we could. There were obvious things like the speed underwater and breath holding. Some less obvious ones were relay takeoffs…at the high school level (even with club kids) they were mostly very conservative – slow. We wonder exactly how much time is spent in training sessions on this skill, one that earns double points no less.

What about starts? Many events are decided by razor thin margins, tenths or even hundredths of a second. The fastest part of the race is the start…we think but are not scientifically certain…not sure if any study has been done to measure this velocity quotient. If this is true then how come so many swimmers do not know how to enter the water cleanly? How much training time is spent on this critical element?

Let’s say you have 2 hours to train each day. First you need the conditioning; no wait first you need the skill set; oops, you actually need both. If this is true (a big if) then how do you allocate your time? How much of the 2 hours is spent doing what…and is it possible to accomplish more than one task simultaneously?

These and other thoughts kept us awake for the 3+ hour drive home…that and satellite radio!

The Week in Review

One of the best things about our profession is the willingness to share openly with each other. There are actually no secrets as it were. There are however many different ways to achieve the desired result.

The first thing is to understand the desired result – that’s your goal. Next in line is the development of a plan aimed at achieving that goal. Then when feedback becomes available you can assess how far along the path of success you have traveled.

Meets are an excellent assessment tool. However, the willing and able coach can make the call on a daily basis about the progress, or lack thereof, without waiting for confirmation at the meet.

As we were doing our assessment after the North Coast Section finals Saturday while driving home we called our trusted and true colleague Coach Dave Krotiak of Fox Valley in Illinois. We chatted about all things coaching sharing tips and foibles and then asked him “So what are you doing that is moving the needle; give us something to work with”.

He paused a few moments then said he was at practice and after 20 minutes of observation didn’t like what he saw so he wrote the following on the board poolside. He then stopped everyone and asked them to read it. He said they and he had an awesome 2 hours after the message was digested.

“You’re guaranteed failure if you practice it every day.”

A Rough and Tumble Week

It has been a crazy week in the swimming world; just like so many weeks in our sport. We are in the middle of High School Championships here in California with tales of glory and lessons taught (and hopefully learned). We now know that our sport can only be clean if High Throughput Testing is in place. Apparently it will not be in Rio…sad but true. We learned that the fall from grace in our profession is so tragic; that any response falls woefully short. While making sense of all these variables seems problematic at best we are reminded by Gary Zukav of the following…

Reality is what we take to be true

What we take to be true is what we believe

What we believe is based upon our perceptions

What we perceive depends upon what we look for

What we look for depends upon what we think

What we think depends upon what we perceive

What we perceive determines what we believe

What we believe determines what we take to be true

What we take to be true is our reality

From The Dancing Wu Li Masters by Gary Zukav

Part Two

Today’s offering is meant to be tagged off of the last posting. It is in specific reference to the comment about “at risk” swimmers. Used last time this referred to those who were unsure about their willingness to commit to their future season, especially in their freshman year in college. (We are rather certain few, if any, of our swimmers are “at risk” in the usual sense of those words.)

It seems to us that a missing ingredient in the mix of success is often a clearly stated goal of what we are currently striving for…what are we after…what compels us to hit the floor early and enthusiastically every darn day…what lights our fire…what makes us willing to sacrifice anything for. The need for a big audacious goal is so obvious to us coaches that often we fail to ask our swimmers, “What are you really passionate about? What do you really want? What are you willing to commit to?” Once the answers to those questions are clear, then it is easy to formulate a plan of action.

And then the big one…hold ourselves and each other – our teammates –accountable. The following made so much sense to us:

“The Powerful Idea: if you want to make PROFOUND improvements in the way you think, feel, perform and live FEW things work as well as being at a LIVE event with other people making the same improvements.” (This comes from Robin Sharma – google him for more)

The “LIVE event” is your workout, your swim meet and any other interaction of a positive nature with your teammate(s) and coach (es). It happens daily and serves to fire you up and keep you focused in times of doubt and temptation.

As you will recall from the last blog, this time of year is full of temptations for high school swimmers. Be one of the ones who enjoy the end of the school year and all the celebration while MAINTAINING FIRM SIGHT of the goal that really matters…that which is ahead of you, not right in front of you.

And The Answer Is…

…it is entirely up to you. We are thinking about high school swimmer/students, no wait we mean student/swimmers – oops. Especially if you are a California Junior or Senior there are so many questions this time of year. High School swim season is nearing the end. This means League, Section and State meets to prepare for, perhaps even taper for – HA.

There is also the end of the year school activities: finals and other school projects, graduation activities, lunches and dinners with family and of course the almighty Prom.

We were talking with a fellow coach last weekend at a long curse development meet and we both had the same experience. We have nearly 100% attendance these days since the “big” meet is in view. Then immediately after that meet is done attendance drops from 100% to sporadic levels depending upon the student in question, no wait, the swimmer in question – no oops on this one.

The swimmers keep training and if your team is like ours we see the whole spectrum; those who aim for a great summer of training and racing and those who do as much as they think they can get away with while enjoying their summer. Especially at risk are the Seniors who intend to swim in college. They have all sorts of plans.

We say “at risk” because the best way to have a successful fall semester in a new program with the demands of college tossed in – studies and student life with pretty much full independence for the first time in their lives – is to be ready physically and race wise.

The only way to do that is to be fully committed to the summer. Here in California our long course season is so short for high school swimmers. Yet we regularly hear the need to travel, take vacations, you name it and we have heard it.

So, the question is – so well put by Coach Krotiak – do you want to earn a Participant Certificate or do you want to contribute to your new team? The answer is up to you. We coaches care a great deal about you and your future.

However, we are only able to coach you when you come to the pool. That is an absolute truth.

Base Sets

We were looking for a way to present a fixed amount of full speed swimming for a short amount of time and distance that would drive focus up (looking for flow here), raise metabolic rates high and improve confidence about handling the race pace physical feeling of collapse. We came up with what we call “Base Set”…you could call it anything.

We have used these sets several times over the last few weeks at least twice a week. We would guess maybe 3 times a week would be max and then perhaps they lose their effectiveness. We actually have no idea – HA.

What we do know is that when we do them, the swimmers get very quiet, focused, determined and close to failure often. We have done only one of the 3 on any given day. We have done 3 rounds always and once we did 4 rounds. We think 3 are best. Each set is surrounded with some aerobic base building of swimming or kicking or pulling; the only limitation here is your imagination. We are pretty happy with the 3 sets and will stick with them, maybe adding one or two more variations…we like keeping it simple so they and we can compare while tracking improvement.

Each set equals 350 yards and takes exactly 6 minutes. All swims/kicks are full speed. Our workouts generally run with a 2000 yard warmup and total out between 6000 and 7500 yards in about 2 hours, Saturdays sometimes a little longer.

Set 1:

25/.20 then 25/.40 non free then 25kick/.30 then 25kick/.30

50/.40 non free then 25/.20 then 25kick/.30 then 25kick/.30

25/.20 non free then 50/.40 then 25kick/.30 then 25kick/.30

Set 2:

25/.20 then 25/.40 non free

50/.40 then 25/.40 non free

75/1 then 25/.40 non free

100/1:20 then 25/.40 non free

Set 3:

25/.15 then 25/.30 non free

50/.30 then 25/.30 non free

75/.45 then 25/.30 non free

100/1 then 25.30 non free

We currently have only a few on our team who can make all 3 variations full speed. Set 3 is the most challenging but 1 and 2 offer mighty fine efforts of speed and non-free quality…350 yards no nonsense in 6 minutes.

Every swimmer who races 500 yards or less fits that 6 minute parameter.

What If

What do you suppose the value is or would be of doing 15x50/1 once a week?

What if you ran a workout without using the pace clock?

Would attendance improve if late comers were not allowed to swim…Or had to sit out the first set?

If you forgot your snorkel you had to swim with a ping pong ball in your mouth…bad idea, safety and all…scratch this one.

What would the effect be if you alternated a week of pure aerobic conditioning with a week of pure speed, a true ultra-fast race pace training week?

How many times in a month do you repeat a set?

What if you went to a meet and raced only off events?

What if you went to a meet and raced the highest total yardage available?

What would happen if you had your most involved swim parent coach type run a workout while you sat and observed?

How about setting up the workout lanes such that on the odd repeats only the guys swam and the evens only the girls?

What is the most off-the-wall idea you have always had but never tried?

And you are rejecting any or all of these ideas because?

Keep It Simple

Today we are inspired by John Leonard’s recent article “Chop Wood, Haul Water.” To quote John, “Chop wood so you can stay warm and cook food. Haul water so you can drink and wash: the everyday things that make life possible. While they are not exciting always, they certainly get very exciting when we are cold, hungry, dirty and thirsty when we don’t do them.”

We are thinking about our swim team and our coaching…and the value of keeping it simple.

A swim team needs a culture to function and differentiate itself from competitors.

Question 1 – Has your team a written statement that accurately reflects your culture? If “yes”, is it posted prominently on your website; if “no”, then get together with leaders of your team and write one.

A swim team needs water to train.

Question 2 – Do you have enough time and lanes to get what you deem necessary done? If “yes”, how secure is your time/lanes; if “no” then what is your plan to remedy any shortcomings.

A swim team needs money to operate.

Question 3 – Do you have enough to pay your staff so you can attract and retain them; enough to rent the time and lanes you need; to pay for travel and the other basics your team needs to be competitive? If “yes”, how secure is your funding stream; if “no” what can be done to remedy any shortcomings. A word about money here…price is what you pay, value is what you get. When you are valuable enough to your members they will pay whatever is necessary to get what they value.

A training program needs both work and rest to have swimmers get faster.

Question 4 – Do you understand the value of each and do you plan for each? If “yes”, do you review it regularly to ensure you are allocating proper percentages for each component; if “no”, then make sure you are writing down what you do so you don’t have to remember the amount of work and rest you are giving your athletes…it is the only real way to measure the effectiveness of your programming.

Confidence is the most important muscle in the human body (might be Rick DeMont’s quote?).

Question 5 – Do you do something every day to build confidence? If “yes”, make certain you keep doing it; if “no”, then get with the program – a steady stream of negativity will make your swimmers/parents move to your competitors.

Chop wood, haul water…not glamorous yet so necessary for success…in the pool, in school, at home, with your friends and mates…everywhere.

Thanks John for reminding us of this basic powerful truism.

Observations from Orlando

We are on our way home following a weeklong of racing at the 2016 NCSA Junior National Championships in Orlando. This meet annually brings together many of the fastest 18 and unders in the country. This year was no exception. We saw several new stars, some from last year still in the mix and witnessed several top notch exciting races with 2016 Olympic Trial qualifying cuts.

This meet is like a full blown coaching clinic in many ways; watch and listen and you can learn. Sometimes things you already knew are validated while now and then you catch a new skill or mindset at work. In no particular order this is what we saw in action…

Underwater dolphin kicking isn’t all that important…underwater really fast dolphin kicking is a top of the line, must have skill…

Racers rule at the end of the day. When the swim is on the line you want a racer on your team, not merely a well-conditioned athlete with great skills

Relays are just about the best form of team bonding imaginable

There are some teams, large and small alike, that have figured out how to have a mindset that fosters total commitment to excellence and process with zero tolerance for lack of same

There are teams with a culture of high intensity and integrity blended which yields a consistent “brand” of excellence…no matter if that team’s swimmer is in the first heat or the A final

We watched hundreds of swimmers each night go absolutely all in for other fellow swimmers who attempted to make Olympic Trials  cuts…the bonding across teams demonstrated a passionate portrait of common bonds…too cool  for words

A five day meet means several of things:

1 -Your team needs no nonsense yet compassionate parental support

2 -Your coaching staff needs to be in shape

3-Your swimmers need to be in shape

4 -You must have your food delivery systems in order

5- Your transportation system must be well thought-out and executed

The team rises or falls on the shoulders of the entire team, not just the super-star(s)

Your team’s strength is built months before the first race begins…physical, mental and emotional…if you saw any weaknesses this week then begin now, as in today, so that the end of summer meet finds you and your team better prepared

Culture is defined when you have a down race or a down day…it is easy to be giddy when the races go great…it is better to be rock steady in your purpose when things don’t go as planned…there are a lot more of those moments than the “perfect” ones

We have a group of guys and gals who have found a common ground in terms of their racing speed…our goal is to get them together and challenge them to challenge each other to push out of the current “status quo”…for instance we have 7 girls who swim a 52+ 100 free…one or more of those girls need to breakout and push into the 50+ to lift themselves and the team to a higher level of performance

If you want to improve say 4 seconds in your race in the next year, all you need to do is improve .01 second per day…but you must make  the commitment for that to happen

We had several swimmers express frustration about their swims – silently we applauded this because a couple of years ago instead of being frustrated they would have cried – we’ve come a long way baby! …our message to them is to take the frustration and use it for motivation…the next time a challenging set comes their way,  lean into it…the next time they feel like giving up on a skill because it’s too difficult – NO  -hang in there working on your game…get that precious .01 each day…

There are going to be 52 swimmers on the USA Olympic Team this summer. They will come from 35 or more programs, each with its nuances. Several things will be common to each of those programs: no cutting corners in the pool; no negativity; excellent nutrition and sleep; lots of stretching so no training sessions get missed due to negligence.

All of those are daily, conscious choices. Make them and dreams become reality.

Quite a week in Orlando;  many thanks to all the coaches who organize this meet and the numerous officials who make this the best meet for the swimmers in the entire country.

One final  thought…we had several swimmers in our group of 20 who never got sick from December through this meet…each of those had a great week…figure out how to stay healthy for large chunks of time…it will do wonders for your swimming…in many cases health – or lack thereof – is a state of mind

See you poolside…very soon!

Intention and Levers

Give me a lever long enough and

a fulcrum on which to place it and I shall move the world.

Archimedes

Laura, an actual swimmer on our team, swam a 50 free in Santa Cruz February 14^th this year. Her time was a 24.96 which tied her best time from 2015. This was a nice swim and put a small smile on her face…well maybe not that small after all! In finals that day she swam her 50 in 24.66 and that produce a big smile for sure.

Swimmers love to record best times and since as they get older it doesn’t happen all that frequently, when Laura, a 16 year old junior, cranked a 24.66 it was a nice breakthrough.

Two weeks later we raced in Clovis and what follows is her numerical progression along with a few short comments:

Day 1 Time Trials – 24.8 – fast but the meet is just getting underway

Day 2 Prelims     - 24.67 -  making progress

Day 2 Time Trials – 24.45 -  (Orlando NCSA cut is 24.39) more progress for sure

Day 2 Finals   -           24.29 – Orlando and Futures cuts

From day 1 through day 2 she said “well, I’ve been 24.8, 24.6 24.4 so I might as well go 24.2”…keep the synched times rolling, that type of thing.

After the 24.29 the smile was ever widening. Later in the week I asked her what happened physically over those 2 plus days from the 24.8 to the 24.2 and she correctly replied “nothing.”

What had been replaced by up front desire was a pure intention level necessary to induce flow. And of course when flow is injected into the body actual physical changes do occur…as a result of the neural chemicals the brain dumps into your system, you are allowed all sorts of access to previous work, belief patterns and neural muscular connections.

Laura had her confidence go up as a result of increasing evidence that she “could” keep the needle moving forward. This allowed her to race “lighthearted” which in turn allowed the 24.2 which has been in her for several months, to come to the surface.

Intention, when stated, especially out loud, acts as the proverbial lever Archimedes referenced above. Coaches see this phenomenon rather regularly. So do teams, when they state a goal then all sorts of resources become available to the team in its quest for success.

The key ingredient is the statement of intention. That acts as the lever. Give it a try…and then get out of your own way and watch your progress.

Interestingly, at Clovis last summer at Western Zones, Laura swam her 50 meter free in 28.00 down from 29.33 the previous summer. I mentioned to her that she might as well swim a second faster for each of the next 4 summers. She smiled at the thought. When she and I revisited that conversation a few days ago she remembered it. I said, “When you do that in 4 years you will own the AR, which currently stands at 24.01 by Dara Torres from 2009, in the era of rubber suits.” She said to me, “Really?” of course you know I said, “Really” back to her…smiles all around.

And so it goes…