We tell our athletes that if they want to be successful then they should hang around successful people, choose their friends wisely. We would definitely go to a clinic to hear what Pat Summitt has to say. Enjoy!
Patricia "Pat" Head Summitt (born on June 14, 1952) is an American women's college basketball coach. She is currently the head coach of the Tennessee Lady Vols basketball team. She is the all-time winningest coach in NCAA basketball history, men or women, in any division. She has been coaching since 1974, all with the Lady Vols, winning eight NCAA national championships, which is second only to the record 10 titles won by UCLA men's coach John Wooden. Summitt is the only coach in NCAA history, and one of three college coaches overall, with 1,000 victories (Gene Bess of Three Rivers Community College and Harry Statham of McKendree University being the other two). She was named the Naismith Basketball Coach of the Century in April 2000. In 2009, the Sporting News placed her number 11 on its list of the 50 Greatest Coaches of All Time (in all sports); she was the only woman on the list. In 36 years as a coach, she has never had a losing season.
Quote of the week:
"Responsibility equals accountability equals ownership. And a sense
of ownership is the most powerful weapon a team or organization can have."
Coach Pat Summitt
To Do Today: Follow the Tennessee Lady Vols 12 Principles:
1. Respect yourself and others.
2. Take full responsibility.
3. Develop and demonstrate loyalty.
4. Learn to be a great communicator.
5. Discipline yourself so no one else has to.
6. Make hard work your passion.
7. Don't just work hard, work smart.
8. Put the team before yourself.
9. Make winning an attitude.
10. Be a competitor.
11. Change is a must.
12. Handle success like you handle failure.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Sunday, March 20, 2011
The Healing Power of Water
The following is a shared item from one of our readers. We felt strongly that some folks out there would find the information useful. While we do not personally know those at the link provided it surely sounds like an organization with the best interests of its users in mind…and we support that. If any of you tri-athletes are dealing with running injuries we are sure you will appreciate the concept of being able to continue your running without the impact.
There is something undeniable calming about water. The way it envelopes you, cradles you, the sounds, and even the smell, all can evoke feelings of peacefulness. It’s not all about holding hands and listening to waves crashing though, water also happens to be one of the most effective and efficient therapeutic tools that we have readily at our disposal.
Therapy pools come in all shapes and sizes, from the compact unit in your next door neighbors home gym to the giant multipurpose ones used by professional athletes, and this wide range of users is a clear testament to how beneficial and how easily accessible therapy pools really are. The popularity of water therapies and therapy pools is in large part due to the natural buoyancy of water. This displacement of body weight means that anything from mild stretching to high energy cardio workouts can easy be achieved without the bone jarring and often damaging impact that you would face on land during the same activity.
This is of great importance to those people coming back from a serious injury and to those people with limited mobility.
Once an injury has occurred, the chance of re-injury is a definite fear, and in most cases, rightly so. The road back from an injury can be a long one if the rehabilitation period isn’t handled correctly. Attempting too much too soon or without sufficient support can set you right back to square one while significantly increase your down time and this is where therapy pools reign supreme. Water cushions and supports your body yet still provides enough natural resistance to build and improve strength and muscle tone.
Besides the obvious road to recovery from an injury, therapy pools are utilized in many other ways as well. Diabetics can experience improved circulation, people with compromised mobility due to weight or physical disability often find movement within water less difficult and restrictive, and even patients with neurological injuries or disabilities can benefit but the soothing effects of warm water. Stroke victims, paraplegics, those with MS, or people who have suffered traumatic injuries- the list of people and circumstances that can be aided by therapy pools is near endless, as are the types of pools available for both commercial and residential uses.
In this day and age a pool no longer has to be just a pool. It can also be an economical and multi functioning asset in your ability to achieve and maintain health and wellness for the future.
The Healing Power of Water
There is something undeniable calming about water. The way it envelopes you, cradles you, the sounds, and even the smell, all can evoke feelings of peacefulness. It’s not all about holding hands and listening to waves crashing though, water also happens to be one of the most effective and efficient therapeutic tools that we have readily at our disposal.
Therapy pools come in all shapes and sizes, from the compact unit in your next door neighbors home gym to the giant multipurpose ones used by professional athletes, and this wide range of users is a clear testament to how beneficial and how easily accessible therapy pools really are. The popularity of water therapies and therapy pools is in large part due to the natural buoyancy of water. This displacement of body weight means that anything from mild stretching to high energy cardio workouts can easy be achieved without the bone jarring and often damaging impact that you would face on land during the same activity.
This is of great importance to those people coming back from a serious injury and to those people with limited mobility.
Once an injury has occurred, the chance of re-injury is a definite fear, and in most cases, rightly so. The road back from an injury can be a long one if the rehabilitation period isn’t handled correctly. Attempting too much too soon or without sufficient support can set you right back to square one while significantly increase your down time and this is where therapy pools reign supreme. Water cushions and supports your body yet still provides enough natural resistance to build and improve strength and muscle tone.
Besides the obvious road to recovery from an injury, therapy pools are utilized in many other ways as well. Diabetics can experience improved circulation, people with compromised mobility due to weight or physical disability often find movement within water less difficult and restrictive, and even patients with neurological injuries or disabilities can benefit but the soothing effects of warm water. Stroke victims, paraplegics, those with MS, or people who have suffered traumatic injuries- the list of people and circumstances that can be aided by therapy pools is near endless, as are the types of pools available for both commercial and residential uses.
In this day and age a pool no longer has to be just a pool. It can also be an economical and multi functioning asset in your ability to achieve and maintain health and wellness for the future.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Random Quotes
We read everything we can that is related to sports and high level performance since we know that the information we see stimulates us to think about how we might apply it to what we are doing, be it in the pool, the weight room or on the coaching deck.
Here is a sampling of this week’s encounters. Thanks to Al Saracevic, Christopher McDougall and Michael J. Stott respectively for their writing.
This is from Herb Elliott, Olympic champion and world-record holder in the mile who trained in bare feet, wrote poetry, and retired undefeated.
And from Tony Batis, head coach, Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics we get the following message.
If you have any favorite gems please let us know and we will share…it does have a positive impact on our collective swimming community. Have a great week!
Here is a sampling of this week’s encounters. Thanks to Al Saracevic, Christopher McDougall and Michael J. Stott respectively for their writing.
Bay Area sports psychologist John Ellsworth was asked what he thought were the mental keys to success in the upcoming NCAA Men’s March Madness Basketball Tournament. "1) Trust what you know to be true – teamwork, preparation, leadership and mental toughness. 2) Focus on the process, which means staying connected to the present, in the moment and totally connected to the immediate task at hand. 3) Mental flexibility. Don’t complicate things by overthinking about a play, situation or mistake. Distractions only create mental congestion, and mental congestion restricts mental flexibility.”
This is from Herb Elliott, Olympic champion and world-record holder in the mile who trained in bare feet, wrote poetry, and retired undefeated.
“Poetry, music, forests, oceans, solitude – they were what developed enormous spiritual strength. I came to realize that spirit, as much or more than physical conditioning, had to be stored up before a race.”
And from Tony Batis, head coach, Palo Alto Stanford Aquatics we get the following message.
“Anything in life lends itself to burnout if delivered the same way day-in and day-out. While there are stable components to all programs, I believe the pattern in which it is presented and how it is delivered greatly impacts the outcome.”
If you have any favorite gems please let us know and we will share…it does have a positive impact on our collective swimming community. Have a great week!
Sunday, March 6, 2011
A Coaching Conundrum
We went to a meet this weekend. It was a developmental meet with very little at stake…or so we thought.
We were struck with the importance of the performances by the swimmers themselves in a meet that had very few implications, if indeed any.
Early and mid-season meets are a great chance for swimmers to practice that which they have been working towards in training. These meets give coaches an opportunity to gauge how well they have been coaching. (We overheard one coach this weekend chastising his swimmers for not doing things correctly – such as breathing inside the flags at the finish on a freestyle race – while simultaneously declaring that this same flaw was one they always did in workout. Our reaction, kept to ourselves of course, was that this is a coaching problem, not a swimmers’ problem.)
So, we digress…when a swimmer in a development meet puts a lot of importance on their time we ask ourselves…WHY?
There is so much more to competitive swimming than the time. Olympians go several years digging for a tenth or two and still manage to stay involved and not get too upset at swims that are not their “best times.” Yet our younger swimmers who are training strenuously and are not “primed” to swim their fastest are still concerned about the times they post.
We believe that the culture around our sport needs constant evaluation. Are we serving the best interests of our swimmers? Are we striving to give them tools they know can help them get where they want to go? Are we as coaches fully informed about how to help youngsters “get better” – whatever that may mean?
We asked more than one swimmer this weekend the following question; “If you came into workout today and we asked you to swim 3 really fast swims with 30 or so minutes of rest between them, then go have lunch and come back and swim three more really fast swims, would you be able to do that?” Each one of course said, “Yes.”
We then asked the rhetorical question – with a smile on our face – “What is the difference between that and what we are doing at this meet?”
We are very pleased to report that the answer to that question was most often, simply a smile. We feel we made some progress this weekend. That in turn makes us feel like we used our time and efforts wisely.
What say you?
We were struck with the importance of the performances by the swimmers themselves in a meet that had very few implications, if indeed any.
Early and mid-season meets are a great chance for swimmers to practice that which they have been working towards in training. These meets give coaches an opportunity to gauge how well they have been coaching. (We overheard one coach this weekend chastising his swimmers for not doing things correctly – such as breathing inside the flags at the finish on a freestyle race – while simultaneously declaring that this same flaw was one they always did in workout. Our reaction, kept to ourselves of course, was that this is a coaching problem, not a swimmers’ problem.)
So, we digress…when a swimmer in a development meet puts a lot of importance on their time we ask ourselves…WHY?
There is so much more to competitive swimming than the time. Olympians go several years digging for a tenth or two and still manage to stay involved and not get too upset at swims that are not their “best times.” Yet our younger swimmers who are training strenuously and are not “primed” to swim their fastest are still concerned about the times they post.
We believe that the culture around our sport needs constant evaluation. Are we serving the best interests of our swimmers? Are we striving to give them tools they know can help them get where they want to go? Are we as coaches fully informed about how to help youngsters “get better” – whatever that may mean?
We asked more than one swimmer this weekend the following question; “If you came into workout today and we asked you to swim 3 really fast swims with 30 or so minutes of rest between them, then go have lunch and come back and swim three more really fast swims, would you be able to do that?” Each one of course said, “Yes.”
We then asked the rhetorical question – with a smile on our face – “What is the difference between that and what we are doing at this meet?”
We are very pleased to report that the answer to that question was most often, simply a smile. We feel we made some progress this weekend. That in turn makes us feel like we used our time and efforts wisely.
What say you?
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Born To Run
We are part way into author Christopher McDougall’s book about the Tarahumara runners. “Born To Run” – subtitled “A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen” is a wonderful story with lots of interesting characters and insights into the world of ultra-running. At the same time it is a look at human performance that is spell binding. We are pretty safe when we say that there is something in this book for everyone, athletes and non-athletes alike.
On page 111, “Don’t fight the trail,” Caballo called back over his shoulder. “Take what it gives you. If you have a choice between one step or two between rocks, take three.”
Then this mesmerizing paragraph:
“Lesson two,” Caballo called. “Think Easy, Light, Smooth and Fast. You start with easy, because if that’s all you get, that’s not so bad. Then work on light. Make it effortless, like you don’t give a shit how high the hill is or how far you’ve got to go. When you’ve practiced that so long that you forget you’re practicing, you work on making it smooooooth. You won’t have to worry about the last one – you get those three, and you’ll be fast.”
Enough said for today .
On page 111, “Don’t fight the trail,” Caballo called back over his shoulder. “Take what it gives you. If you have a choice between one step or two between rocks, take three.”
Then this mesmerizing paragraph:
“Lesson two,” Caballo called. “Think Easy, Light, Smooth and Fast. You start with easy, because if that’s all you get, that’s not so bad. Then work on light. Make it effortless, like you don’t give a shit how high the hill is or how far you’ve got to go. When you’ve practiced that so long that you forget you’re practicing, you work on making it smooooooth. You won’t have to worry about the last one – you get those three, and you’ll be fast.”
Enough said for today .
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Have You Ever Wondered?
We pretty much do all the time...wonder that is.
We are thinking all the time about how to get our swimmers to swim faster; how to get them to realize the relationship between effort put in and results obtained; how what they do away from the pool has bearing on what they do in the pool; how the dry land component can add or actually subtract from what they are doing; how their emotions can help or hinder their progress; how to understand that what a high school coach wants may not be in the best interests of what they want personally from the sport and how to resolve that conflict; how they can actually get really good grades and stay very fit in the pool; how they can manage their time so that homework gets done and morning practice can be a regular thing for them...the list is endless. All the things we think about apply to our Masters swimmers as well with the obvious change in emphasis as their lives go through various stages of time commitments and focus.
But what we really do is wonder...if all the information that is available to all the swimmers, coaches and parents is, well available, how come much of it is ignored? That's what stumps us a lot of the time. In this day and age of information availability how can so many people either not be aware or not know how to apply it or simply not "get it"? It mystifies us.
Take something as simple as head position in freestyle. When you watch the fastest swimmers in the world and see their heads down and their hips up how can you as a swimmer or coach allow yourself or those you coach to swim with their heads up, water at the hair line and hips riding low in the water? Or since you know the importance of the kick in all strokes why don't you spend real practice time getting faster and stronger at that segment of your swimming? Perhaps if you kick 10x100 on the 2 mins and you could swim them on the 1:30 you are giving up 5 minutes of practice time and therefore total yardage but at the expense of the kick power...we wonder about that kind of stuff.
And if everyone knows that the cells produce ATP from oxygen and lactic acid why don't they train both systems? And if they do, why don't they allow enough recovery so that the swimmers can actually swim at or at the very least, near race pace in practice to know what it feels like?
It seems to us, that if you like doing something and it gives you a real sense of satisfaction then why not do it as well as you are able? Hmmm...maybe that is the answer...we think not but who are we to be all knowing...
We are thinking all the time about how to get our swimmers to swim faster; how to get them to realize the relationship between effort put in and results obtained; how what they do away from the pool has bearing on what they do in the pool; how the dry land component can add or actually subtract from what they are doing; how their emotions can help or hinder their progress; how to understand that what a high school coach wants may not be in the best interests of what they want personally from the sport and how to resolve that conflict; how they can actually get really good grades and stay very fit in the pool; how they can manage their time so that homework gets done and morning practice can be a regular thing for them...the list is endless. All the things we think about apply to our Masters swimmers as well with the obvious change in emphasis as their lives go through various stages of time commitments and focus.
But what we really do is wonder...if all the information that is available to all the swimmers, coaches and parents is, well available, how come much of it is ignored? That's what stumps us a lot of the time. In this day and age of information availability how can so many people either not be aware or not know how to apply it or simply not "get it"? It mystifies us.
Take something as simple as head position in freestyle. When you watch the fastest swimmers in the world and see their heads down and their hips up how can you as a swimmer or coach allow yourself or those you coach to swim with their heads up, water at the hair line and hips riding low in the water? Or since you know the importance of the kick in all strokes why don't you spend real practice time getting faster and stronger at that segment of your swimming? Perhaps if you kick 10x100 on the 2 mins and you could swim them on the 1:30 you are giving up 5 minutes of practice time and therefore total yardage but at the expense of the kick power...we wonder about that kind of stuff.
And if everyone knows that the cells produce ATP from oxygen and lactic acid why don't they train both systems? And if they do, why don't they allow enough recovery so that the swimmers can actually swim at or at the very least, near race pace in practice to know what it feels like?
It seems to us, that if you like doing something and it gives you a real sense of satisfaction then why not do it as well as you are able? Hmmm...maybe that is the answer...we think not but who are we to be all knowing...
Sunday, February 13, 2011
OOPS! Sorry 'bout that...
Two weeks ago we said we would give our answers in a week...and then we had a better idea...so here are our answers to the quiz two weeks ago. Keep in mind that no two coaches will agree exactly on anything and neither will swimmers. Having said that, here are our answers and the reasons. Please make your comments known along with the reasons why...feel free to disagree
Swimming 101
A Mid Term Quiz
1. In freestyle which is more important:
2. In backstroke which is more important:
3. In the IM which is more important:
4. In the breaststroke which is more important:
5. In butterfly which is more important:
The answers - according to us!
This is an open book, open note quiz. It is permissible to ask others before you answer. All answers are final, unless after further thought you wish to change your mind. If you are a student of multiple choice quizzes you will automatically know the answer to # 3.
See you at the pool!
Disagree? Let us know which ones and why and we will have a friendly exchange of ideas and quite possibly we will all get smarter at what we are doing...a very good thing ...
Swimming 101
A Mid Term Quiz
1. In freestyle which is more important:
- a. Head position - this is our choice since body position is #1 and that is set up by the head position...remember to lead with the crown of your head looking down at the bottom of the pool as opposed to ahead, watching where you will be going...if your head is down your hips will be up creating a flat line in the pool...and that is a very good thing!
- b. Depth of kicks
- c. Elbow position on catch
- d. Volume of air on breath
2. In backstroke which is more important:
- a. Depth of entry on catch
- b. Hip rotation
- c. Arm speed during recovery - this is our choice over #1 since doing this will make it easier to do #1...tempo is king in backstroke and recovery speed sets that up...of course make certain your baby finger leads the entry as opposed to your knuckles.
- d. Kicking with the soles of your feet
3. In the IM which is more important:
- a. Push the fly and breast hard
- b. Push the back and free hard
- c. Float the fly; it is a 3 stroke race - this was the easiest one...since you know in advance that on all multiple choice tests the answer to 3 is always C...ask any person who has taken the SAT's ...really ...the fastest IM'ers in the world get through the fly with the least amount of effort and while they may be near the front after the fly they really are not concerned with leading...the race is back, breast and free.
- d. Save your legs for the freestyle
4. In the breaststroke which is more important:
- a. Foot speed
- b. Recovery speed
- c. High hips
- d. Streamlines off walls
- e. All of the above
- f. None of the above - this was our choice here since a. & b. was not an option...all of the above are important but the question is "which is more important" and in our minds the correct answer is not included here...and that is that it is most important in breaststroke to spend as much time as possible in each stroke cycle in the streamlined position...which absolutely means fast foot speed and fast recovery speed but more importantly holding the streamlined body position as long as possible while not allowing yourself to slow down...very challenging stroke to swim.
5. In butterfly which is more important:
- a. How big your kicks are - of the available answers we think this is the best one since the size of your kicks will determine how fast your tempo is...bigger kicks, slower tempo, slower time...smaller kicks, faster tempo, faster time...it is competitive swimming after all.
- b. How many breaths you take
- c. How fast your turns are
- d. How far you can go underwater
The answers - according to us!
This is an open book, open note quiz. It is permissible to ask others before you answer. All answers are final, unless after further thought you wish to change your mind. If you are a student of multiple choice quizzes you will automatically know the answer to # 3.
See you at the pool!
Disagree? Let us know which ones and why and we will have a friendly exchange of ideas and quite possibly we will all get smarter at what we are doing...a very good thing ...
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Thanks So Much For Sharing
Karen swims in our Masters group darn near every day she is in town. Links to her and her wisdom are at the bottom of this blog. She contributes greatly to the humanity of mankind.
Thank you Karen! To find out more please follow the links below. And while we are at it, what about you? How has swimming helped you find out how life works more smoothly? See you at the pool soon!!
www.themetaarts.com/pages/karendrucker.html
www.karendrucker.com
Just Show Up
by Karen Drucker
The Four Rules of Life:
1. Show Up
2. Pay Attention
3. Tell the Truth 4. Don't be upset at the results.
Joan Borysenko
These last few months have been a doozie. Stress on top of stress. So much so that I threw my back out, caught a cold, walked into a wall and wound up with a big gash on my nose, and then I had to speak, sing and do a concert all with laryngitis! Wouldn't you think that maybe I could listen to my own songs that talk about breathing, letting go, and surrendering? Yet maybe that's why I write those songs - to remind myself when I forget. I must say, though, that what sustained me through this stressful time is my new favorite expression: "Just show up."
It's really a motto that I live my life by: Just show up. What that means to me is that when I would much rather hide under the covers, be in denial, run away from a problem, eat a pound of chocolate and chase it with some Ben and Jerry's - the bigger idea is to just show up and face it, whatever "it" is. It might mean pushing through my fears of going for it, or just staying in the room when I am having a disagreement with someone, or making the commitment to sticking my butt in that exercise class I signed up for in January when I committed to lose those 10 pounds. Or it might mean showing up for myself - making that scary phone call for a job, putting myself out in a social situation that might be uncomfortable, or telling the truth to myself about a situation. It's just bringing myself to the party and seeing what happens.
Easier said than done of course. There have been times when I was just too scared to do something or felt that the time was not right. I wrote a song called "Gentle With Myself" where I sing about being gentle and kind to myself and only going as fast as the slowest part of me feels safe to go. I believe there are times to sit back and wait until the time is right, and then there are times when I know I have waited long enough and it is time to just go for it.
The way that this shows up with regularity is around my swimming practice. I have been a competitive swimmer since I was six years old. I quit after high school vowing to never get near water again--I was done and finished. No more chlorine smelling skin, green streaky hair and no social life. But at some point, after a break up with a boyfriend and having daily pity parties, I started back slowly on an adult "masters" swim team just for fun. Since I had swum for so many years it all came back to me in an instant, and it was the one place in my life that I could experience ease and effortlessness.
Fast-forward about 20 years. I have been swimming regularly, even got into long distance open water swimming, and I am now in a very steady routine. But that was the word: routine. I had been swimming at the same club for years and feeling like "just showing up" was enough - I wasn't working very hard, I wasn't motivated, and I wasn't pushing myself, I was just swimming along about 2-3 times a week. Normally that would be fine but then I would justify that I could eat a huge cheeseburger and fries cause I "had just worked out" - well not really!
The switch came when someone told me about another club that was having master's workouts in my area with two fabulous coaches - one of whom I knew from years ago. I showed up one day and was hooked. New people, new routines, new sights to look at and a whole new commitment to swimming that I had not felt in years. Don, one of my coaches, even gave me some stroke technique that I had heard before but I guess was finally willing to try. Seems that I had been swimming for 40 odd years with two hammers in my hands - slapping the water like I was purging all my emotions from my pores into the water. He would encourage me to try swimming with "soft hands." Soft hands? He said for me to just imagine I was gently putting my hands in the water and pulling the water through with ease and gentleness. Could this be a life metaphor for me? Going through my life with ease and effortlessness as opposed to thinking I had to try hard, work with intensity, and pound my way through life? Could I actually allow it to be soft and gentle?
I keep showing up and practicing swimming with soft hands...and lo and behold I seem to be swimming faster and easier than I have in years. Given this stressful time that I mentioned in my personal life, I found that the only constant in my life was showing up for swim practice. Even though my life was spiraling all around me with a lot of drama, I would show up, every day, practice my soft hands and notice that life was working out somehow.
So now before I go out on stage, or begin a business trip, or start my day, my daily payer is to treat life with "soft hands" and just keep showing up.
Thank you Karen! To find out more please follow the links below. And while we are at it, what about you? How has swimming helped you find out how life works more smoothly? See you at the pool soon!!
www.themetaarts.com/pages/karendrucker.html
www.karendrucker.com
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Swimming 101
Swimming 101
A Mid Term Quiz
1. In freestyle which is more important?
- a. Head position
- b. Depth of kicks
- c. Elbow position on catch
- d. volume of air on breath
2. In backstroke which is more important:
- a. Depth of entry on catch
- b. Hip rotation
- c. Arm speed during recovery
- d. Kicking with the soles of your feet
3. In the IM which is more important:
- a. Push the fly and breast hard
- b. Push the back and free hard
- c. Float the fly; it is a 3 stroke race
- d. Save your legs for the freestyle
4. In the breaststroke which is more important:
- a. Foot speed
- b. Recovery speed
- c. High hips
- d. Streamlines off walls
- e. All of the above
- f. None of the above
5. In butterfly which is more important:
- a. How big your kicks are
- b. How many breaths you take
- c. How fast your turns are
- d. How far you can go underwater
The answers - according to us! - appear next week. This is an open book, open note quiz. It is permissible to ask others before you answer. All answers are final, unless after further thought you wish to change your mind. If you are a student of multiple choice quizzes you will automatically know the answer to # 3.
See you at the pool!
Sunday, January 23, 2011
What is Most Important?
We had an interesting question from a swim parent last week that we thought we would share with you. His son is a 14 year old freshman who came out of our local summer league at the end of his season 16 months ago. He had raced 50’s and the 100 IM and that was it. His older brother swims at USC and is a national level swimmer who also started a little late in our program.
The Dad asked, “What does my son need to do to keep improving? What is the most important thing for him right now?” He appreciates the level of stroke instruction hi son receives in our pre-senior group and the coaching is really impressive there, which he also acknowledges. The parents want to give him the opportunity to excel, to see where he might go in swimming. We should also mention the swimmer really is into the team and training. This is not one of those situations where the parents are pushing an unwilling participant.
Our response was pretty simple. “Keep getting him to the meets our team signs up for.” We elaborated a bit from there. A swimmer who goes to training but not meets has no idea if they are progressing. We mean getting faster but also how are they constructing their swims, what is their technique like in races and how do they respond to the various stimuli of competition?
We are a competitive swim team and so how we handle competition is important. It is not the only factor in what we do but it is a very important one. We find that kids who go to workouts but rarely compete are more disconnected to the entire process – the team building, character development etc. Conversely we find that kids who go to meets regularly come to more workouts and get more out of the program as a whole. They develop a keen appreciation for the correlation between effort extended and results obtained. This “connecting the dots” is a critical life skill that our sport teaches. But without the racing the lesson falls way short of the mark.
So, we encouraged the parents to keep making the sacrifices required to get their son to the meets. We race approximately once or twice a month, maybe three times in an 8 week period. There are many significant planning issues around a young high school age swimmer to make all this happen. Not the least of which is school work. That one always comes before swimming.
You wouldn’t send your youngster to a school that doesn’t do some sort of testing. The same holds true for our sport. To get the full reward you need to race on a regular basis. It is the only way to hone your competitive skills.
The Dad asked, “What does my son need to do to keep improving? What is the most important thing for him right now?” He appreciates the level of stroke instruction hi son receives in our pre-senior group and the coaching is really impressive there, which he also acknowledges. The parents want to give him the opportunity to excel, to see where he might go in swimming. We should also mention the swimmer really is into the team and training. This is not one of those situations where the parents are pushing an unwilling participant.
Our response was pretty simple. “Keep getting him to the meets our team signs up for.” We elaborated a bit from there. A swimmer who goes to training but not meets has no idea if they are progressing. We mean getting faster but also how are they constructing their swims, what is their technique like in races and how do they respond to the various stimuli of competition?
We are a competitive swim team and so how we handle competition is important. It is not the only factor in what we do but it is a very important one. We find that kids who go to workouts but rarely compete are more disconnected to the entire process – the team building, character development etc. Conversely we find that kids who go to meets regularly come to more workouts and get more out of the program as a whole. They develop a keen appreciation for the correlation between effort extended and results obtained. This “connecting the dots” is a critical life skill that our sport teaches. But without the racing the lesson falls way short of the mark.
So, we encouraged the parents to keep making the sacrifices required to get their son to the meets. We race approximately once or twice a month, maybe three times in an 8 week period. There are many significant planning issues around a young high school age swimmer to make all this happen. Not the least of which is school work. That one always comes before swimming.
You wouldn’t send your youngster to a school that doesn’t do some sort of testing. The same holds true for our sport. To get the full reward you need to race on a regular basis. It is the only way to hone your competitive skills.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Back to Basics - Again
For an athlete or coach to find wisdom all you need to do is pick up the sports page and begin digging. You are pretty much guaranteed to find something worthwhile every day. In Sunday's (1-16-11) San Francisco Chronicle Sporting Green section Al Saracevic writes about a recent conversation he had with legendary Hall of Famer Y.A. Tittle.
When asked if Tittle had any advice for newly hired San Francisco 49er's Head Coach Jim Harbaugh he said, "He needs a touch on the head from the Lord. He's going to be great." And here is the wisdom for today. Tittle continued, "Football, at its core, is pretty simple. You go around the right end. You go around the left end. Run a draw play here and there. Throw in a couple of passes and a lot of heart, and you got it."
As Saracevic put it, "words to live by."
Swimming well and swimming fast is really pretty simple. Swim your strokes right, kick, turn well and know when to breath - and when not to - and have "a lot of heart."
Coaches are quite fond of constructing complicated and elaborate sets and workouts and cycles and...on it goes. Do the basics correctly and add some personal motivation - some "heart" - and you'll do fine.
We will go so far as to say that if coach A swapped a month's worth of workouts with coach B that it would make very little difference in the outcome of the season. That's a very broad generalization but we think you get our drift here.
Figure out your key strengths and weaknesses. Keep it simple. The nuances are important at the Olympic level but for the other 99.9% of athletes and coaches keeping it simple works wonders.
When asked if Tittle had any advice for newly hired San Francisco 49er's Head Coach Jim Harbaugh he said, "He needs a touch on the head from the Lord. He's going to be great." And here is the wisdom for today. Tittle continued, "Football, at its core, is pretty simple. You go around the right end. You go around the left end. Run a draw play here and there. Throw in a couple of passes and a lot of heart, and you got it."
As Saracevic put it, "words to live by."
Swimming well and swimming fast is really pretty simple. Swim your strokes right, kick, turn well and know when to breath - and when not to - and have "a lot of heart."
Coaches are quite fond of constructing complicated and elaborate sets and workouts and cycles and...on it goes. Do the basics correctly and add some personal motivation - some "heart" - and you'll do fine.
We will go so far as to say that if coach A swapped a month's worth of workouts with coach B that it would make very little difference in the outcome of the season. That's a very broad generalization but we think you get our drift here.
Figure out your key strengths and weaknesses. Keep it simple. The nuances are important at the Olympic level but for the other 99.9% of athletes and coaches keeping it simple works wonders.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Be a River, Not a Reservoir
The folks at Simple Truths shared this with us a couple of weeks ago. We thought as we head into the New Year it was appropriate to think about how we can affect change among those with whom we are charged developing. Have a great week at the pool!
"Introduction" from The Right to Lead by John Maxwell
How do you define leadership? What gives a man or woman the right to lead?
These, and other questions, are answered by John Maxwell in The Right to Lead. John is an amazing leader in his own right. His books on leadership have sold over 13 million copies, and two of them have reached number one on the New York Times Best Seller list. In addition, his organizations have trained over two million leaders world-wide.
Today, I'd like to share John's Introduction to The Right to Lead.
What gives a man or woman the right to lead? It certainly isn't gained by election or appointment. Having position, title, rank or degrees doesn't qualify anyone to lead other people. And the ability doesn't come automatically from age or experience, either.
No, it would be accurate to say that no one can be given the right to lead. The right to lead can only be earned. And that takes time.
The Kind of Leader Others Want to Follow
The key to becoming an effective leader is not to focus on making other people follow, but on making yourself the kind of person they want to follow. You must become someone others can trust to take them where they want to go. As you prepare yourself to become a better leader, use the following guidelines to help you grow:
* Let go of your ego.
The truly great leaders are not in leadership for personal gain. They lead in order to serve other people. Perhaps that is why Lawrence D. Bell remarked, "Show me a man who cannot bother to do little things, and I'll show you a man who cannot be trusted to do big things."
* Become a good follower first.
Rare is the effective leader who didn't learn to become a good follower first. That is why a leadership institution such as the United States Military Academy teaches its officers to become effective followers first - and why West Point has produced more leaders than the Harvard Business School.
* Build positive relationships.
Leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less. That means it is by nature relational. Today's generation of leaders seem particularly aware of this because title and position mean so little to them. They know intuitively that people go along with people they get along with.
* Work with excellence.
No one respects and follows mediocrity. Leaders who earn the right to lead give their all to what they do. They bring into play not only their skills and talents, but also great passion and hard work. They perform on the highest level of which they are capable.
* Rely on discipline, not emotion.
Leadership is often easy during the good times. It's when everything seems to be against you - when you're out of energy, and you don't want to lead - that you earn your place as a leader. During every season of life, leaders face crucial moments when they must choose between gearing up or giving up. To make it through those times, rely on the rock of discipline, not the shifting sand of emotion.
* Make adding value your goal.
When you look at the leaders whose names are revered long after they have finished leading, you find that they were men and women who helped people to live better lives and reach their potential. That is the highest calling of leadership - and its highest value.
* Give your power away.
One of the ironies of leadership is that you become a better leader by sharing whatever power you have, not by saving it all for yourself. You're meant to be a river, not a reservoir. If you use your power to empower others, your leadership will extend far beyond your grasp.
In The Right to Lead, you will hear from and read about people who have done these same things and earned the right to lead others. Because of the courage they found and the character they displayed, other people recognized their admirable qualities and felt compelled to follow them.
The followers who looked to these leaders learned from them, and so can we. As you explore their worlds and words, remember that it takes time to become worthy of followers. Leadership isn't learned or earned in a moment.
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