Training With Imagination

Coach Paul Yetter of T2 Aquatics and former coach of swimming great Katie Hoff wrote this and I wanted to share this with all of you. He has a very active blog called “Developing the Champion Within”, check it out!

To train well takes imagination. Simply showing up to practice and “working hard” does not accomplish preparation for high level performances in meets. Why? The answer is simple: there are MANY people in the world of athletics who show up to practice and “work hard”; most of them feel as if they ‘deserve’ to go fast in meets or athletic competitions of any sort. This type of thinking will get you fast at first (as an age grouper or young athlete)….but there comes a point in time where the hard work you put in is just the same old hard work you’ve BEEN putting in for years. The body and mind adapt to this work. You get into a rhythm. You perform about the same, maybe a second or so slower or faster per 100 meters…but more or less the same performances happen because the same work happens.

Yet, in today’s world, for a myriad of reasons that all have to do with easy answers and instant gratification – we feel like we should access some superior results just because we’ve “sacrificed” and gone to practice….or “sacrificed” to wake up early before school….or “sacrificed” by getting our heart rate up during some repeat 100s in practice. This attitude is a disease that will attack us our entire lives, unless we stop it.

What is sacrifice? Is sacrifice REALLY giving up some sleep? Are we sacrificing when we choose to come home at 11pm instead of staying out until 2? Are we sacrificing when we expand our practice schedule from one season to another? Are we sacrificing when we sweat more at practice, and go faster than our best times in practice? These things are not what I consider sacrifice. These things are called TRAINING.

I believe 90% of teams out there have trouble with the concept of “How to Train”. I believe this because my standards are high, and I don’t feel like it’s a tremendous accomplishment to go to Nationals with three people just like I don’t feel like it’s a tremendous accomplishment to stay in the same job, without promotion, your entire life.

I was extremely lucky to have the opportunity to apprentice with Coach Bob Bowman in 2001-2002, during the time Michael Phelps was developing into the most accomplished swimmer the world has ever seen. Routinely during that season I would watch Michael swim under National Time Standards (cuts for Nationals) in practice. Once Michael started doing these things, others followed. During that year I watched no less than a half dozen OTHER SWIMMERS (not Michael) swim under the National Cuts in practice. Would those other swimmers have accomplished those practice swims without Michael having done it first? Probably, but not in WAVES like it happened that year. Soon, there were 10+ Olympic Trials qualifiers in the group, up from 1 two years prior to that time.

Since that time, I have been fortunate to coach athletes who have thought big enough to shoot for huge goals in practice. Some of these thoughts were implanted by me as the coach, and some of those thoughts came directly from the athletes each day in practice. At T2, we are beginning to think in this way, but we are not there yet. And if we are simply focused on being the best swimmer in the practice group, or the best High School swimmer in the county, then we are stunting our growth in a serious way. If you want to be the athlete who takes our team to the next level – than you have to take our team to the next level in practice. You can’t just swim a little bit ahead of the next guy and pat yourself on the back because of it.

You have to redefine “what is fast” in practice every day. If you go your best times in practice you will go to the meets with the unbelievable confidence that you’ve basically already made it happen, you just have to do what you’ve done before again in a meet. If you want to get a National cut, or a Junior National cut, or a Sectional cut you can either wait for the meets we have once per month to test yourself out, or you can simply go for it every day. Why not? The only reason why we don’t do this type of thing is because we lack the IMAGINATION to make it happen. Not many people consider actually going their cuts in practice. You have to think it’s possible (because it is and it happens ALL THE TIME) – and then you have to intend to make it happen. You are already taking the time to train, you might as well make your training unbelievable – ridiculously good – while you’re at it.

You really only have one choice if you want to be more successful than you currently are. Raising your level of expectation within yourself and for yourself -- and using your imagination for the ENTIRE practice, EVERY practice -- is going to be the key for you to take your swimming to the next level.

You are in charge of this. It won’t be me, your parents, or your teachers at school. It’s all in YOUR MIND and YOUR IMAGINATION.

Winners vs. Losers

Reprinted from poweressence.com.

If you have issues with labels, such as winners and losers, then you probably already believe that you are a loser and you hate it and you hate it even more when others put you into that category. You are responsible for how you see yourself. Learn to take any criticism constructively and to use it to your advantage.

So what if you think you’re a loser? Do you want to change? There may be some things at which you’ll always fail, but hopefully there are areas in your life in which you can win and excel to your full potential. If you’ve tried repeatedly at something and getting no where, then in some cases it is better to drop that goal and use your focus and time to try something else. Only you can determine if you should continue or not, and ending a goal isn’t necessarily being a loser if you’ve tried everything you know of and you still can’t achieve what you want. Giving up too early can be considered a losing strategy, while a winning strategy depends on patience and determination if you are actually making progress toward your goal.

 

Winning vs. Losing

A golfer says, "I sure hope I don't land in the sand trap." A swimmer says, "I hope I don't go out too hard and die," a runner says, "I don't want my legs to cramp up at the end of my race," the list is endless..."I sure hope I don't botch this interview".

Next time you are lining up for your "shot", check your self-talk. Make sure you see what you want rather than what you want to avoid.

Use the following list of comparisons to determine if you are a winner or not. Remember, sometimes it takes losing at things to determine how to achieve successful results. Winners know how to assess current reality relative to their goals, and how to adjust their actions to take winning steps to those goals.  

Winners	Losers
Winners see solutions.	Losers see problems.
Winners take responsibility.	Losers blame others.
Winners find opportunity in crisis.	Losers complain about circumstances.
Winners take action consistently.	Losers avoid taking action and lack consistency.
Winners have dreams.	Losers have schemes.
Winners learn from the past, but live in the present.	Losers live in the past.
Winners make commitment and keep them.	Losers make promises that they always break.
Winners see the gain.	Losers see the pain.
Winners follow the philosophy: “Do unto others what you would have them do unto you.”	Losers follow the philosophy, “Do it to others before they do it to you.”
Winners think about how they can achieve.	Losers give excuses.
Winners make personal development a priority.	Losers neglect personal development.
Winners face their fear, accept it and take the leap.	Losers dwell in their fear.
Winners constantly expand their comfort zone.	Losers stay in their comfort zone.
The Winner says,” It may be difficult but it is possible.”	The Loser says,” It may be possible but is too difficult.”
Winners see an answer for every problem.	Losers see a problem in every answer.
Winners take failure in their stride and learn from it.	Losers fear failure and avoid it at all cost.
Winners try different strategies when they are not getting the results they want.	Losers do the same thing over and over again expecting different results.
Winners set goals.	Losers lack goals.
Winners plan.	Losers fail to plan.
Winners believe there are always things to learn.	Losers believe they know everything they need to know.
Winners are humble.	Losers are egoistic.
Winners continue to hone their skills every day without fail.	Losers make little effort in honing their skill.
Winners work hard.	Losers avoid work.
Winners give their best for the things that they decide to do.	Losers give up when obstacles pop up.
Winners manage their time well.	Losers indulge in time wasting activities.
Winners dream in the day.	Losers dream in bed.
Winners think about possibilities.	Losers focus on obstacles.
Winners are certain.	Losers doubt.
Winners control their own destiny.	Losers leave everything to fate.
Winners give more than they take.	Losers take more than they give.
Winners think whether the crowd is going in the right direction. If not, he will walk the other direction.	Losers follow the crowd.
Winners think and lead.	Losers react and follow.
Winners listen.	Losers fight for every chance to talk.
Winners always find a better way to do things.	Losers stick to one way of doing things.
Winners help others to win.	Losers refuse to help and think only about their own benefit.
Winners find like minded people like themselves that can bring them to greater height.	Losers find like minded people like themselves that will drag them to failure.
Winners make it happen.	Losers let it happen.

You Decide

So which are you? Whatever social status in which you were born, or what you were given by others doesn’t have any relevance to whether you are a winner or loser. How you use what you currently have in current situations determines if you are winning and gaining benefits or losing. If you make the best of your situation, then you are a winner. No matter how bad the situation, you can still feel like a winner if you truly are winning and gaining experience and proverbial ground by taking actions to win. Learn to motivate yourself to take actions toward your goals. Decide to take action NOW!

Sure, that sounds simple to do — just make the most of your life and you will be a winner. But if it were that simple, then why isn’t everyone a winner? Why are so many people unsatisfied with their lives? The answer is that becoming a winner in your life takes energy and action and it usually never happens randomly or by accident. It is something you must do consciously and by choice. Plus, many people don’t have the knowledge and practical skills necessary to develop into winners. They are basically confused or misinformed about how life works. They tend to rely on others to pull them through or provide necessary answers. However, everyone has the potential to be a self-sufficient winner.

 

Take Responsibility

To be a winner, you need to take responsibility for your successes and failures. Many people have decided that success depends on external factors — such as luck, connections, the financial market, fate, other people, God, to name a few. These people do not rely on themselves for success and success rarely manifests for people in this frame of mind. These types of people lack direction and motivation. They believe that they are just along for the ride in life, and they hope for the best, which is usually a handout or better situation provide by other people.

Responsibility and self-direction go hand in hand. You decide where you want to go, and then you take the responsibility for getting yourself there. If required, then educate yourself on how to get where you want to be. Read books and talk to people, but always make up your own mind about it all. Be your own authority and the final decider on what you need to do to be a winner.

Winners usually experience happiness continually. They utilize their available time wisely and can remain in positive mental states while creating values, such as products and services that people want, and thus are rewarded with opportunities, purchases or exchanges of items or services.

Losers are usually trapped in negative-attitude ruts and they use their abilities and efforts in negative and unproductive ways. They spend time trying to find ways to avoid responsibility and avoid taking action toward the things they really want. Most of the time, they end up not getting what they want, and at the same time they have confirmed and reinforced their losing attitude. If you choose to evolve your winning skills, you will start to notice your own thoughts and attitude change for the better. Becoming aware of your attitude is important. If your attitude is negative, then you’re probably not getting what you want or you’re moving in the wrong direction. The path toward winning and success is both an internal and an external one — internally it takes attitude, education, focus, and planning, and externally it takes active steps to achieve your goals, adjusting your steps if necessary, and then taking more steps.

Almost everyone has both some losing and winning qualities to various degrees, so no one is 100% winner or loser. We all have our strong qualities and then there are the areas in which we need to work at it more. Hopefully you now have a better understanding of how to proceed in your personal journey of success and how to live your life like a winner. Find something you’re interested in doing and go for it!

"Winners see what they want; losers see what they want to avoid."