HANDLING LAST-MINUTE NEGATIVE THINKING AND SELF-DOUBTS

7/9/2013

BY ALAN GOLDBERG, PHD//COMPETITIVEDGE.COM

The problem...
You're behind the blocks feeling pretty good about your BIG meet. Your best race starts in just a few minutes and everything has gone OK for you leading up to this meet. Your practices have been good and your taper felt right. But when you get behind the blocks, the “noise upstairs” starts. “Oh my gosh! What if I false start?” “This is my last chance to qualify, and if I don't, my entire season has been a waste!” “What if I die on the last 75 again?” “I don't think I got enough sleep last night!” “Maybe I ate too much… or not enough…” As you listen to this stream of negativity, it seems to build in intensity. Soon, your confidence and all those good feelings rapidly do a disappearing act! You try to “be positive,” but it's as if that negative part of you isn't listening...

Did you know that you can still swim your best under pressure even if you are flooded with last minute negative thoughts and self-doubts?
That's right! You can still have the race of your life even if all of those old familiar negatives are loudly playing in the back of your mind. The trick here is learning how to effectively manage them, and the very first step in doing this is to understand some of the myths that swimmers believe about these last minute negatives and doubts.

Key myths about last-minute negative thinking and your racing:

• You have to “be positive” in order to swim fast
• Negative thinking always lead to poor swims
• You can control your negative thinking so that you stay positive
• When last minute negatives pop up, you must immediately push them away
• Negative thinking and doubts are very bad and mean you're not ready

What's really true here?
First off, you need to understand that all of this last-minute negative stuff is absolutely and totally NORMAL! Even the very best swimmers in the world entertain last-minute negative thoughts because it's simply part of being human. Just because you may be flooded with last minutes doubts, doesn't mean that you're not ready or you'll swim poorly. These unexpected negatives are simply a reflection of your nervous system amping up and getting you ready for the upcoming race.

The problem here is not the negative thinking or doubts by themselves. The REAL problem is how YOU respond to them!

That which you resist, persists!
When you get freaked out behind the blocks because your mind has suddenly turned negative, and then you try to push the negatives away with things like, “I have to stay positive!” and “Don't think that,” what ends up happening is that your negative thoughts and doubts get even stronger and louder. Why is this? Because you can't really control your thinking! Don't worry! NO ONE CAN! And the good news here is that you don't need to! What you need to do is train yourself to have a calmer, more accepting stance whenever the negatives start clamoring for your attention.

How do you calmly handle the negatives?

• Avoid fighting with your negatives and trying to turn them into positives
• Remind yourself that last minute negative thoughts and doubts ARE NORMAL
• Reassure yourself that you can still swim YOUR VERY BEST with them
• Understand that your response to the negatives is what's important here
• Immediately refocus your concentration on your pre-race ritual behind the blocks

Focus on DOING and FEEL, not on THINKING
Swimming fast when it counts the most is all about keeping your concentration on what you're DOING both before and during the race. This means that both your pre-race and during-race focus should be on FEEL! So rather than engaging the negative thoughts with more thinking by trying to “be positive” or pushing them away when you're behind the blocks, switch your focus to the feel of your stretching, taking slow, relaxed breaths or whatever else you typically do in your pre-race ritual. If the negatives pop up while you're racing, let them be and immediately refocus your concentration on staying long and smooth, on how much water you're pulling, your breathing pattern or what you need to be doing in order to swim fast.

Keep in mind that I have worked with Olympic medalists who have taught me this very important lesson. Last minutes doubts and negativity DO NOT predict the kind of race you're about to have unless you engage them by fighting with or trying to change them. When your thoughts turn negative, relax, let them be and refocus your concentration on the task at hand.

As a sports psychology consultant, Dr. Alan Goldberg works with swimmers at every level. A presenter at the Olympic Training Center, swim coaches clinics and clubs around the country, Dr. G specializes in helping swimmers struggling with performance problems, get unstuck and swim fast when it counts the most. He works over Skype, providing one-on-one consultation with swimmers and other athletes around the world. Dr. G has written over 35 mental toughness training programs and books. In addition, he is a regular contributor to Splash Magazine.
For more FREE mental toughness tips and swim articles, go to Dr. Goldberg's website, www.competitivedge.com and click on “choose your sport” and then “swimming.” You can also visit him on Facebook, follow him on Twitter and sign up for his free, monthly mental toughness newsletter.
Want to get a head start on your mental toughness training? Dr. Goldberg's BRAND NEW 7 CD Swim Program with track-by-track Training Guide now available! All products in his store at a 10% discount for USASwimming.org. readers. Coupon Code at check-out: USASwimming. FREE SHIPPING NOW AVAILABLE.
Questions? I hope you'll feel free to contact Dr. Goldberg at Goldberg@competitivedge.com or call directly (413) 549-1085.

Taken from usaswimming.org

Problem-Solving Swimming

Posted by Glenn Mills on Sep 13, 2011 09:53AM
The new season is upon everyone.  How you approach how you're going to reach your goals will be an important aspect of starting your season.

Swimmers will typically start each season either excited for the training, dreading the training, or with goals so lofty that they' maybe a little bit tentative with what's upon them.  Starting the season with a plan is probably the most important thing you can do, or setting training goals that are realistic when thinking of your season goals.  However, don't focus only on "how much" you're going to train, but start the season thinking of "how" you're going to train.

When you think of swimming, are you constantly analyzing how you approach the water?  Do you think about how your hands initiate the catch, how the fingers slide against the water and the exact point in which you make that connection and start to move forward?  Or do you approach the sport with the notion that by just training harder, you'll accomplish what you set out to do.

When you think of swimming as a series of equations, or problems that have to be looked into, or solved, there are a never-ending number of problems, and solutions to help you continue to swim faster.
Identifying wasted motion is actually pretty easy.  Case in point, I went for a jog yesterday.  While not a runner, I understand there is technique in everything we do, so I started to think about why I am so slow.  Taking physiology, age, and being a breaststroker out of the equation, I started to think about littlle details in what I was doing.  How was my posture (leaning back)?   How high was I lifting my feet off the ground (barely, more like shuffling)?   How did my feet connect with the ground... heel-toe, or toe-heel (side first then rolling to flat)?  What were my hands doing (actually relaxed)?  What was the cadence of my breathing (started inhale for 3 strides, exhale for 3 strides... turned into inhale for 1 stride, exhale for 1 stride)?  What I learned from a simple 3-mile jog (other than the fact that I could listen to the entire Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon album), is that there is SO much to think about when I'm trying to do something that we're naturally supposed to do... how much is there really to think about during swimming?

It's easy to get so caught up in making intervals, or hammering sets, that we forget this is a technical sport, and it's the times that we're hammering that give us the best opportunities to solve problems.

My favorite quote over the past year has been one by Albert Einstein -

"Doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results, is the definition of insanity."

If you swim the same way every day, without a doubt, going from out of shape, to IN shape... you're going to get faster, but are you really teaching yourself the skills necessary to reach the next level?  I've written on the site many times about being the hardest worker, and it's great if you are (you strive to be).  However, the people we'll be watching in London next year, are the ones who don't just work hard.  We'll be watching the swimmers who solve problems... problems that come with being human in the water.  Awkward bodies not meant to move through the water quickly, creating tremendous resistance, and lying horizontal in a substance that keeps us from getting what we need to survive... oxygen.
In looking at a very quick list, if you're in the middle of a very difficult set, having a hard time keeping up, or in the zone where you simply can't hurt enough (I remember those days... LONG ago!), then here are some ideas of ways to solve the problem of not going as fast as you want:

• Switch responsibility of the pull from your arms to your lats - all strokes.
• When are you going to air?  Early, or late in the stroke cycle? - freestyle.
• Rotate your shoulders completely out of the water on each recovery - backstroke.
• Use your hips more to help you clear the surface for your breath - butterfly.
• Where are looking? - all strokes.
• Are you pointing your toes off the push off? - all strokes.
• Where are you finishing the stroke? - all strokes.
• How fast are you recovering your hands? - breaststroke.

Rather than me just sitting and thinking of endless possibilities of things to think about, list yours below.  These are not things to think about during drill sets, but rather, when you're in the thick of training, when it's very difficult.

Most athletes, when in pain, focus on the pain.  Great athletes, when in pain, focus on how to keep shifting responsibilities of the body to keep going as fast as they have been.

Don't fall in to the trap of being a regular athlete.  Use the mental capacity you've been given, and use your brain to solve the problems that come with pain, and being tired.

On that note... I'm going for a jog.  Hopefully be back before dinner.
brain training, swim technique, swim training

Posted from GoSwim.com

The One Extra Degree Makes All The Difference

At 211°, water is hot. At 212°, it boils. That one extra degree makes all the difference. Are you content with just being pretty good? Or are you ready to go the extra degree?

How Bad Do You Want It?

The Swimming Edition

"Life's only limitations are those you set upon yourself, for as long as you strive hard enough anything is achievable". - Chad Williams

Most of your limitations are based on your beliefs about your incapability, of your lack of progress and of what you've heard or seen. When you start focusing on your conditions of lack instead of possibilities, you are telling yourself that you are not going to succeed in your attempts.

If you want to challenge your mental restrictions, you must make a firm decision to win. Even individuals who are physically challenged have proven that they can succeed in whatever they have set out to do.

If you are physically complete and yet are unable to achieve anything worthwhile, you may have to seriously check the way you have been thinking and notice what you have been doing. Unless you have done all that you can and as long as you can, any excuse that you are at a disadvantage is unacceptable.

How do you overcome your limitations?

Change your beliefs.

Ask yourself if it is true that you are limited and what exactly are your stipulations? Drill down inside you to find out why you think that you are not qualified? Keep asking until you find the answers. The reason behind the questioning it is to challenge your limiting beliefs and override them with empowering ones.

Recognize them.

It's useful to know what they are so that you will now what to do. Once you recognize your drawbacks, make a decision to do something about them or ignore those that are not a real hindrance. If you lack the knowledge or skill, you can acquire and hone them or get expert advice.

Become passionate about your goals.

When you are obsessed with your goals, you become courageous and will challenge the limitations that are holding you back. You will dare take more risks and become unafraid of making mistakes. Set them high and know exactly why you want them. Your reasons will inspire and motivate you to go through obstructions along the way.

Directing your focus.

Focus of attention is important in determining where you are heading. If you focus on lack, you will attract more of them. When you focus your mind on the end result, you can't help but move towards it. Plan your path and move ahead.

Set a higher standard.

You need to set a higher standard for yourself. You should have a determination to get over your old patterns of limited thinking and mediocre accomplishments. You don't have to repeat the past and stay the same.

Expect the best.

Have great expectations. It means having an optimistic view about life and your capabilities. When you have a positive outlook and expect good things to happen, they will.

I don’t need easy, I just need possible

Can I do that? Yes, if you dare to DREAM & BELIEVE than PLAN!

I really want to drop five seconds in my 400 and ten seconds in my 800 freestyle. Do you think that is possible?

Absolutely! If you believe it is possible, it is. If you believe it is not possible, it likely isn’t. It is amazing how much our beliefs can alter how our body physically is able to respond.

Often, when I work with clients, in whatever their endeavor, the most common issue is not dreaming big enough, or not believing a lofty idea or dream is really possible. Assuming a person is open to seeing what is possible, it also helps to create a thorough plan (that is reviewed on occasion for adjustments) of what you want to do over the time frame you are looking at.

This summer, we have been blessed to watch the youngest Olympian, Katie Ledecky (age 15) swim the 800 meter freestyle. In two years she has gone “from 8:58.86 in 2010 to 8:19.78 at the 2012 trials…that’s a 39 second drop!!!” per Chris Morgan’s article: http://swimswam.com/2012/07/oh-ye-of-little-faith/

A year ago, she didn’t even have the Olympic trial cut in the 800! Now, she is close to the world record! And I believe that she can continue to drop and potentially get that record here in London!

During my years swimming internationally for Team USA, I roomed a few times with friend, Olympian, and 800 freestyle world record holder, Janet Evans. In 1988, she was one of the few to win against the East Germans.

In my interview with National Team Swimmer, Julie Cooper, Julie shared rooming with Janet in 1989 and how Janet thought before breaking the 800 free world record. http://swimswam.com/2012/07/stories-of-us-national-team-members-and-interview-with-julie-cooper/

From my perspective, a champion creates an amazing life for him/herself. Our minds decide what we want to do and focus on being open to the possibilities (i.e. not just going a certain time, but maybe even faster than what we dared to dream possible).

As the Olympics inspire many people, may Katie and Kate Ziegler (the two American 800 female freestylers) be inspired to bring out their true best as they race in the 800 meter freestyle.

And, may you know that it is okay to dream big, create a plan, and stay committed to the dream.

Copied from swimswam.com

A little bit about the author:

Katrina Radke appeared to be on top of the world. At 14, she was the youngest member of the U.S. National Swim Team, and later she was a member of the 1988 U.S. Olympic team, placing fifth in the 200 meter butterfly at the Seoul Olympic Games. She won four gold medals internationally, held American records, U.S Open records, Australian Open records, and Italian Open records. She served as co-captain of the United States National Swimming Team and held Top 10 World Rankings for seven straight years.

But what nobody knew was that she had been battling immune system issues since the age of 15, ultimately finding herself essentially bedridden, relegated to using handicapped parking, while in her final year of college at Cal Berkeley. After years of mystery, she was finally diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome (CFIDS), a debilitating chronic illness. Once she was able to put a name and face to her disability, she called upon her athlete s determination to fight her way back, ultimately even to swim again at the Olympic Trials. In Be Your Best Without the Stress, Katrina uses her inspirational story to guide others through the minefield of health and wellness issues.

From farm town girl to Olympic Swimmer, to bedridden and beyond, therapist Katrina Radke uses her inspirational story, professional experiences, and powerful yet simple tools to help you find what drives you to be your best, while feeling deeply satisfied in all areas of your life. This life-changing book helps you awaken to lost aspects of yourself, become more aware of your impact and importance, and commit to decisive actions that will help you live your best life, one designed and fulfilled by you.

Keep SHINING! And if you want to learn more about ways to think BIG and take ACTION, check out my book, Be Your Best Without the Stress.

Katrina Radke is an Olympic Swimmer, and Bestselling Author of Be Your Best Without the Stress, where she shares her own Olympic story, and tools for you to realize your true potential.

Another Level

By Head Coach Paul Yetter of T2 Aquatics from his blog, Developing the Champion Within.

What must an athlete do to “Take it to Another Level” ?

I often find myself in conversation discussing this subject. It’s discussed in the office, on the pool deck, over the phone with friends, coaches, parents – and on the deck with swimmers. It’s occurred to me that different people have their own ideas of what “Another Level” actually is, and differing opinions regarding how we go about getting there.

I have a problem accepting the idea that “Another Level” is an actual place or circumstance. To me, “Another Level” can happen anywhere, based on an individual’s mind-state – particularly in regards to swimming training and performance.

I’ve heard collegiate swimming referred to as “The Next Level”, in comparison to USS club swimming. Also, I’ve heard club swimming referred to as “The Next Level” when compared to High School swimming. I understand the idea behind these statements, but consider them to be large generalizations – generalizations which are believed by athletes, and in my opinion do them an injustice. “The Next Level” is not a fixed state, circumstance, or place – is a readily accessible mind-state, to which we have constant and ever-expanding access.

The “Next Level” is whatever we make it. The “Next Level” is OUR CREATION. Without interaction with the “Next Level” – and I mean exciting, personal interaction – the “Next Level” only exists as a fictional place in a fictional time.

We are at the Next Level as soon as we wake up and create it in the pool, on the track, on the deck, or in the office each day. As soon as we raise our standards, we are THERE – looking the next level directly in the eye. Once we are seeing that next level in daily training, we must begin to search for the next NEXT LEVEL. There is always another level! The next level is not found as you move from High School swimming to Club swimming, although the amount of practice time may increase and your coaching may change. Similarly, the next level is not reached because you take yourself from a Club swimming situation (as a High School Student) to a Collegiate swimming situation (as a College Student). The next level is reached by changing your mind – changing the way you think, changing your standards of what it means to be successful, changing your ability to think bigger than your currently are, changing your sense of creativity and what you consider possible, changing your resolve to experience physical discomfort, changing your determination to put off overloading social ‘responsibilities’, changing your ability to not only ignore – but dismiss detractors of your goal from your mind.

It takes practice and confidence to feel this way, and create your next level. You have to think about it a little bit, and decide that you are the creator of your life.

Out-training and out-working your “Old Self” is one way to create your “New Self” – and once you do it, THAT’S the next level.

Yes You Can!

The Importance of "Self Confidence" in Achieving Your Swimming Goals

Belief is the knowledge that we can do something. It’s the inner feeling that what we undertake, we can accomplish. For the most part, all of us have the ability to look at something and know whether or not we can do it. So, in belief there is power: our eyes are opened; our opportunities become plain; our visions become realities. (Unknown)

By Wayne Goldsmith
Have you said (or thought) any of the following in the past few months??? "I can’t do it," "They are much faster than me. I’ll come last," "I’m hopeless," "I’ve never been able to do that, so I know I can’t do it now," "It’s just too hard. It’s impossible."

You are not alone. Many swimmers have these thoughts and say these words from time to time. Most swimmers (and people generally) have times when they get a little negative and lack faith in their abilities.

When swimmers say "I can’t" or "it’s too hard," what are they really saying?

Swimmer says: "I can’t do it." Swimmer means: "I am not prepared to try because if people might think less of me."

Swimmer says: "They are faster than me. I’ll come last." Swimmer means: "If I can’t win there’s no point trying."

Swimmer says: "I’m hopeless." Swimmer means: "I have no faith in myself or my ability to succeed. I have no confidence."

Swimmer says: "I’ve never been able to do that, so I know I can’t do it now ." Swimmer means: "I’ve never really prepared for this or learnt how to do it correctly so the chances of me doing it now are not very good" or "I tried once and failed, so I am not going to try again."

Swimmer says: "It’s just too hard. It’s impossible." Swimmer means: "I’m not prepared to try.”

Confidence is believing in yourself to do what has to be done. To do what needs to be done, with faith in your ability to achieve it. To meet new challenges with an expectation that anything is possible. To accept failure as an opportunity to learn from the experience and try again. And try again. And try again if necessary.

Confidence is trying to achieve and if you fail knowing that it was the nature of the task or the circumstances or just plain bad luck, not your lack of character that is to blame. Confidence is learning from that failure and trying again with more energy, more commitment and greater determination than before.

What do some of Australia’s most successful people say about CONFIDENCE??

"Confidence comes from accepting a challenge and achieving it using the best of your ability. Confidence builds through training to meet your challenge". Phil Rogers (Commonwealth Games and Olympic Medalist).

"Confidence is about believing in yourself and your ability to do something -- not necessarily believing in your ability to do it perfectly or better than other people, but believing that you have as good a chance as anyone to achieve something. Confidence is having the courage to get up and try and face whatever the outcome is -- good, bad or something in between." Chloe Flutter (Australian Representative Swimmer -- now Rhodes scholar).

"In my experience, confidence is best achieved through controlled independence. If a young athlete is constantly challenged to be independent (within reasonable bounds), they will learn to rely on themselves and know how to thrive without the assistance of others in moments of greatest need. The ability to follow good decision making processes is a crucial part of this. For young athletes, teach them to take personal responsibility ( control the controllable and develop a chameleon-like ability to deal with the rest). Confidence is the ability to believe you can do something and the courage to do it - if others have made the hard decisions for you and you have never had to live with the results of your own actions, you can never be expected to know full confidence and the power of the self". Marty Roberts. (Dual Olympian, Commonwealth Games Gold medalist, University Graduate, father of two).

“Attitudes such as belief, optimism, high aspirations, and anticipation of the best possible result—all these positive states of mind add up to confidence, the keystone for success. But of course it pays for all of these to be built on the firm rock of a sound preparation". Forbes Carlile (Legendary Coach, successful business man, author, leading anti-drugs in sport campaigner).

Confidence it seems, is a skill -- a skill that can be learnt. You learnt to swim. You learnt to tumble turn. You learnt how to do butterfly. You can learn to be confident.

Leading Melbourne based Sports Psychologist, Dr Mark Andersen agrees: "Many people believe that confidence is something that comes from the inside, but we probably develop confidence from the models we have around us, that confidence really comes from the outside. If we have coaches, parents, teachers and instructors that model confidence in our abilities and let us know that they think we can do good things, slowly their confidence in us becomes internalized".

A few tips to develop confidence:
accept who you are and learn to like and respect yourself.

Nothing helps build confidence like learning the 3 P’s. Practice to the best of your ability. Develop a Positive Attitude to trying new tasks. Persevere, Persevere, Persevere.

Understand what motivates you to do well then you can harness your energy in the right directions.

Failure is a race or a meet or a task -it is not a person. Failure is not the person: it’s not you- it’s the performance. Learn to separate who you are from what you do.

Learn to talk to yourself positively. When the negative thoughts come, learn to replace them with positive ones. I can’t = I can, I won’t = I will, I will try = I did. Remember the old saying, "If you think you can or think you can’t, you’re probably right".

"The greatest achievement is not in never failing but in getting up every time you fall". Keep trying and it will happen.

What you believe, you can, with effort and persistence, achieve. Dream a dream, believe in that dream, work towards achieving it and live the dream.

Anything worth having is worth working to achieve. Talent is important, but there are many talented swimmers who don’t make it to the top. TOUGH, TENACIOUS TRAINING makes up for most talent limitations.

Successful people are not afraid to fail. They have the ability to accept their failures and continue on, knowing that failure is a natural consequence of trying. The law of failure is one of the most powerful of all the success laws because you only really fail when you quit trying.

Ladder of Achievement 100% I Did 90% I Will 80% I Can 70% I Think I Can 60% I Might 50% I Think I Might 40 % What is It? 30% I Wish I Could 20% I Don’t Know How 10% I Can’t 0% I Won’t This is called the Ladder of Achievement. It shows how your attitude towards a goal or task can impact your ability to achieve it. The ladder of achievement suggests that an attitude of "I can’t" has almost no chance of success whilst "I won’t" is no chance at all. Change "I can’t" and "I won’t" to I CAN - I WILL - I DID !

Swim Coaching Brain

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."

Goal Setting – What’s the Big Deal?

Well, we are going out on a limb here…all of us already know what the big deal is about goal setting. If you don’t know where you are going two things will happen for certain: 1) you will not get there, 2) you will get lost. As we approach our first LC meet of the season we have stressed the importance of writing goals down. It helps focus. Practices become livelier. Stroke technique is being worked on.  We are always encouraging you to push into unfamiliar territory – to get comfortable with the uncomfortable, in terms of physical discomfort caused by exertion.

USA Swimming puts out a weekly newsletter for all members and the article below was in a recent one. We thought it hit the nail on the head in several ways. We hope you will enjoy it!

SEVEN REASONS PEOPLE DON’T SET GOALS AND HOW TO OVERCOME EACH OF THEM

by Kevin Eikenberry, Chief Potential Officer, The Kevin Eikenberry Group

Talk to ten people and nine of them will tell you they believe in goal-setting. These nine people will tell you that goals are important, that they can help you be happier and healthier, and that they are the best and fastest way to achieve more in life.

I would agree with those nine people. Unfortunately eight of the nine, when pressed, will tell you they don’t set many (or any) goals; that they really want to, but….Actually, I’m being a bit optimistic here. I’ve read several times (through I can’t corroborate it with specific research right now) that only about 3% of people ever set and write down any goals. If most everyone thinks goals are important, and most everyone would like to be happier, healthier, achieve more, etc., etc., etc., why don’t they set goals?

There are seven reasons that I have observed.

1. People don’t know how to set goals.
2. People are searching for the perfect way to set goals.
3. People are afraid to set goals.
4. People are afraid to succeed.
5. People are afraid they won’t succeed.
6. People don’t want to set the goal too high.
7. People don’t want to set the goal too low.

After looking at and thinking more about this list, I believe they really are excuses for not setting goals, not reasons. Let’s look at each excuse, and then explore how to solve the problem and erase the excuse.

As you read the list this time, read them all with a whine in your voice, and look for which on the list is your personal excuse (there may be none—good for you; there may be more than one—good for you for being honest—now you have the opportunity to change your habit).

EXCUSE #1 “BUT I DON’’T KNOW HOW…..”
This makes sense in a way. How can we do anything if we don’t know how to do it? Maybe you really don’t know how, but to be honest the resources to help you learn are plentiful, and we aren’t talking rocket science here. There are thousands of books about goal-setting and hundreds of free resources on the internet. (Actually an Amazon.com search on goal setting nets more than 30,000 results, and a Google search on the same phrase yields more than 23 million results. Solution #1—Find a resource, read it and get started.

EXCUSE #2 “BUT I WANT TO SET THEM THE RIGHT WAY….”
This excuse is the opposite of Excuse #1. There are some people that collect goal-setting books, tools and techniques like others collect baseball cards. Yes, there are many approaches; and yes, some may be better than others or work better for you. But none of them will work until you do. Solution #2—Enough collecting! Pick an approach and get started.

EXCUSE #3 “BUT I’M AFRAID….”
Afraid of what? The unknown? There is nothing to be afraid of, except the unknown of trying. Recognizing your fear is a great first step, but setting goals isn’t like the unknown climbing Mt. Everest or swimming with sharks. There really is nothing to be afraid of (although there are two more excuses related to fear.) Solution #3—The best way to conquer a fear is to do the thing you fear. Set a goal. Start with a small, short-term one if you must, but just try it!

EXCUSE #4 “BUT I’M AFRAID I’LL SUCCEED….”
Actually, this excuse falls into a special category because people typically won’t really say it and might not even think it. But in reality, it may be the biggest and most powerful excuse of all. If you set a goal, you might achieve it, and in a paradoxical way, some people are afraid of the change that might come with that achievement. Or, in some other cases they don’t feel worthy of achieving it. Solution #4—Start with a small goal, one that will help you build your confidence and show you some success that you can manage. (If you have significant self-esteem issues that are preventing you from feeling worthy, I encourage you to get help.)

EXCUSE #5 “BUT I’M AFRAID I’LL FAIL…”
OK, so you may fail. If you set a goal to lose 20 pounds and you only lose 10 is that so bad? How many pounds would you have lost if you hadn’t set a goal at all? Repeat after me: “There is nothing wrong with failing. Failing is just a chance to make corrections before trying again.” Solution #5—Let go of your fear; just a little bit, just this once. Just set a goal.

EXCUSE #6 “BUT IF I SET THE GOAL TOO HIGH, I MIGHT NOT REACH IT…”
You hopefully can see that this is a combo-pack of Excuses 3 and 5 (and maybe a bit of #2 as well). If the goal is motivating to you, you will make progress. Maybe the goal is massive, and maybe you won’t reach it; but if you set it you will move in the right direction. Plus, imagine the big satisfaction of meeting-or even exceeding-that big goal. Solution #6—Set a big goal, and go for it!

EXCUSE #7 “BUT IF I SET THE GOAL TOO LOW, IT MIGHT NOT BE WORTH THE EFFORT.”
How can this be? If you set a goal and reach it, great! Then you can set another one, big or small. Just like anything else, with practice comes greater skill. Some of your goals may be easy to reach, and that is OK. Over time you will learn to calibrate the goals you set to be just right for you. Solution #7—Set a small goal and get started.

Have you noticed a theme in these solutions? Since you know goals can make your life better, set some. Set one or set fifty, but just get started. The best way to get to where you want to go is to decide what that destination is. The best way to start setting goals is to set one. (Yes, it is just that simple.)

Get started. Set a goal, even if it isn’t perfect. Set a goal, even if it’s too big or too small. Set a goal, and I’m guessing you already will have achieved one of your biggest goals

—”You know, I really ought to set some goals this year….”

THE MAGIC OF AN OPPORTUNITY

3/14/2011

 

BY MIKE GUSTAFSON//CORRESPONDENT

Imagine Doc Brown from Back to the Future came up to you and said, "Today you're going to set a world record. The only thing you have to do is race."

You'd swim that day, right? You'd be the first person in the pool, warming-up, excited and ready to swim?
World records aren't broken every day. The opportunity is rare. You'd take advantage of it.

Unfortunately, time travel and Doc Brown do not (yet) exist. Swimmers don't know what the future holds. Sometimes, we don't feel like swimming.

Instead of swimming that looming, ominous 1500m this afternoon, we'd rather go to the beach. Or go shopping. Or take a nap. There will be another day, another race, right?

But you never know. Sometimes the difference between breaking a world record or not is simply showing up to swim.

Take Kate Ziegler.  At the Indianapolis Grand Prix, Ziegler told me that on the day she broke Janet Evans' hallowed 1500m world record, she didn't want to swim that evening. She wanted to go to the beach. She wasn’t really feeling it. Fortunately, her coach convinced her to swim that afternoon. The rest, as they say, is history.

But what if she had gone to the beach? What if she never swam that day? For whatever reason, the nuts and bolts were zooming in perfect harmony that day. Would they realign? Could she repeat that same performance the next day? Next week?

What if she didn't swim that day?

I was once told from the creator of "Friends" that the hardest thing to do in the entertainment industry isn't getting your foot in the door; it's being prepared when you're already in.

People always get their foot in the door, but they rarely take advantage of it.

It’s that old “elevator pitch” theory. You should always be prepared when you live in Hollywood, because you never know who could be stuck in an elevator with. Some of my friends went from assistants to executive producers in 24 hours because they were stuck in an elevator with someone like Rosie O’Donnell, pitched her an idea they had rehearsed, and made the most of their opportunity. No joke.

Swimming is similar. Any given lane at any given time is an opportunity. "Give me a lane, anywhere, anytime," one famous swimmer used to say, "and I'll aim for perfection."

Sometimes, swimming is viewed in a linear path. You’d think, “Times will get faster. Races will get easier. I’ll eventually get here, do this, swim that, and by this year I’ll be where I want to be.” Swimmers sometimes circle on the calendar, "This is when I'll swim my fastest. This is the plan."

But swimming is rarely predictable. It’s not this linear, easily-planned calendar of time progression. It's more a chaotic fun house. It’s opposite than what you’d expect. You swim fast when you expect to swim slow. You swim slow when you expect to swim fast. One day, you could be planning a trip to the beach, while your body secretly knows, “I could be breaking a world record right now, this very second.”

You never know when the swim of your life will happen.

You can’t plot out the future. And unless Doc Brown swings by your house and points out the highs and lows of your future swimming career, it’s best to say to yourself, “Give me a lane, anywhere, anytime – and it could be magic.” 

Punctuality

Posted by Glenn Mills on Mar 07, 2011 08:36AM (0 views)

I have to imagine it's going to be tough to put down my thoughts on this subject without sounding like an angry old man who talks about how it used to be.

With that said... what's the deal these days with swimmers, people, not showing up to practice on time?  Have we got to a point in society in which we're so important, so egocentric, that those we work with are only there to serve us?  I'm sure people have a word for people like me, who is habitually early or on time.  I panic if I think I'm going to be late for a train, plane, meeting, lesson, or practice.  I'm not really sure where that all started, but I can certainly pinpoint exactly where it was reinforced.

My Dad was a business professional with the same trait that I have... so I'm thinking he was the initiator of the habit.  He always spoke of respecting other people's time, and if you had a time set up to meet, to be on time for that... no matter what.  He was a usually over prepared for things, and promptness was one of those things.  My Mother certainly added to this being a music teacher, her entire passion involved time.  She sang in the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus for 25+ years and was forced to respect time, sure in a bit different way than I'm trying to point out here, but imagine the exactness of time she had to respect.  Come into a phrase too early.... STOP the conductor would yell.  Come into a phrase too late... STOP he'd yell again.  She had to be precise with her time, and we, as children were also taught that in all that we did.

Pinpointing the reinforcing of this is also very easy.  I can remember moving to Cincinnati to train under then coach, Skip Kenny (Stanford legend).  I lived with a family (eventual Olympic Silver Medalist, Dave Wilson) and he drove to practice.  We had to drive nearly 45 minutes one way to practice and we were never late.  It simply wasn't allowed.  We had people who drove nearly 90 minutes TO practice, and no matter what time practice was, they were never late.  If practice started at 3:00 pm, the deck was filling for stretching and pre-practice ab work at 2:40.  When the clock hit the 60 at 3:00... we were either IN the water, or had to complete the entire practice butterfly.  We didn't get kicked out, we were tortured more.  The coaches didn't see much use in kicking out someone who obviously didn't want to be there... so they would just make them work harder.

My next coach was Denny Pursley (former US National Team Coach and now UK National Team Director), and I remember morning practice starting at 5:15.  We were required to be on deck and stretching at 5:00.  My Mom and I lived about 3 miles from the pool, but it still took about 8 minutes with the lights (yes, I had it timed down to the minute).  Every night before I went to bed, I'd have all my gear put together in my bag.  I'd set the alarm for 4:45 and there was never a SNOOZE tap.  On rough nights, I'd go to bed fully dressed just to make sure I didn't have to waste time dressing... who was going to see me anyway.  While I had the time as close as possible, there would always be that 1-2 minutes of leeway just in case, but I can't remember anyone who was ever late for practice, and certainly no one was habitually late.

It basically got to the point where there was simply NO ACCEPTABLE excuse for showing up late to practice.  Now, I'm sure there were a few, I could just never think any up.

OK, I have to admit, I remember one day when my training partner, Glynde Mangum and I were stuck in traffic heading to afternoon practice with then coach Jay Fitzgerald (now of Pine Crest).  We knew were going to be in HUGE trouble, so to diffuse the reaction in any way we could... when we got to the pool, we proceeded to walk in and dive directly into the pool with our clothes on to show our remorse.  We spoke just last week about it, and seemed to remember a chuckle coming from Jay, just before he gave us a set of 20 x 400 breaststroke long course.  We paid the price.

What is the point of all this ancient reminders of "how it used to be"?  It's to again, put the ownness of performance on the athletes.  If you're a coach and you're habitually late, then you get what you deserve.  If you're a swimmer and you're habitually late, and you miss stretching, shaking out your arms, getting your gear together, or the proper warm-up for your practice, then... well... you get what you deserve too.

Practices are generally designed, by competent coaches, for you to perform at specific times.  Those practices can also teach you so much about when you're body is actually ready to swim fast.  I know this sounds crazy, but that can play a big role at swim meets.  Missing part of the warm-up, really means that you, and your coach really doesn't know exactly when, how much, how much stress, where the heart rate should be... when you're ready to swim FAST!  You're setting up a guessing game for performance.  If you're that talented, then good for you, but I can count people that are THAT talented on one hand... and I still have a couple fingers left over.

Even if I ONLY speak of your ability to perform, you should show up on time.  When you consider your working relationship with your coach, and your teammates.  When I speak of the respect for their time, for the fact that the coach has spent time prior to practice designing specifically something that will make you faster, or a better swimmer... and you show up when you feel like it, it simply shows very little respect for their time and preparation.

What I can tell you from age and experience, coaches are generally SO forgiving, and care about you as an athlete so much, that they tend to overlook your taking advantage of them.  They want you to perform for many reasons, and see you smile at the end of the season so that you're happy.  When you swim fast at the end of the season, you'll also be much happier.

Summary:
Punctuality = Respect
Punctuality = The Coaches Ability to create effective training
Punctuality = Forming good habits that you can carry forward into your professional life

Of course, there will be times when things come up, and when you're habitually on time, it's not an issue.  That's when communication becomes important... but that's a topic for another article. :)  

Now, set your clocks 10 minutes ahead, and see you at the pool (on time).

Punctuality – GoSwim!

If You Knew

Posted by Glenn Mills on Jan 11, 2008 09:03AM (2,683 views)

If you knew that the work you were doing today would reap rewards tomorrow... would you do it? If you knew that something you SHOULD do today COULD reap rewards in the future... would you do it?

Therein lies the problem with life. Nothing is guaranteed.

There is a direct relationship between work, and reward. For the most part, reward comes not from luck, not by chance, and not from knowing the right person or from being in the right place at the right time. In most cases, reward comes from being prepared for a situation when it's presented to you. Those key situations, the ones that offer a way to advance yourself, will be coming your way throughout your entire life, and in every PART of your life -- athletics, career, academics, and social. The question is always: Are you ready to answer the call when opportunity is offered?

As an athlete, you KNOW you have to attend practice to succeed. What's not so obvious is that WHAT you practice and how you EXECUTE the practice is what determines how WELL you succeed. Attendance does not equal success. Attendance with correct focus allows success. Attendance with desire allows success. Just because you show up at practice, and keep showing up a hundred times during a season or thousands of times over an athletic career, doesn't give you an automatic pass to success. Anyone can show up at practice and go back and forth. It's those who show up with a purpose who succeed. It's those who execute today's practice as if it's the ONLY gateway to their goals who will be closer to their ultimate goals.
Look at your everyday life. Look at your school work or career. If you KNEW that reading an extra 30 minutes a night would guarantee you better grades, would you do it? If you KNEW that studying those formulas an extra 15 minutes a day would assure you of passing next week's test, would you do it? If you KNEW that by understanding the needs of each potential customer would get you the sale, would you study your customers? If you KNEW that by streamlining TIGHTLY off every wall you'd travel faster while swimming LESS, thus improving your times with no additional effort, would you do it?

You wouldn't answer NO to any of those, would you? And, if you did, there are other websites for you to look at. ;)

Preparation is the key to EVERYTHING if you want to be successful. While it's easy to argue that people DO still win the lottery, I personally don't know anyone who has. I'm sure there is someone out there with a story of a lottery winner. I'm sure it's very exciting but, alas, it's not ME and it's probably not you if you're reading this. Most of us are destined to be on the work/reward track. But if you keep a positive attitude about this, you can take a lot of pride in the fact that you have created your own success in life.

To stay positive you need to embrace the challenge. The path is clear, but it's not easy. The hard-work path requires that you stay current on your work so that you can stay current on reaping your rewards. Success will come with more regularity when you prepare for it. Remember: When it comes to success, luck has NOTHING to do with it.

If You Knew - GoSwim!

Swim Team Goals, Roles, and Attitude

December 3, 2010, Feature by Tonya Nascimento, Swimming World intern

TALLAHASSEE, Florida, December 3. HAVE you ever thought about how your actions affect the team? Swimming is categorized as an individual sport, and you do get awarded for individual performance, but do not be deceived into thinking you are on your own or that your actions affect only you.

Think back to your greatest race. Could you have done it without your teammates in your lane and lanes next to you during practice? Without your coach giving you challenging sets and seeing you through? Without your parents driving you to practice or supporting you in other ways? It likely spurred you on during the race to have your teammates cheering.

No one succeeds without the help of others.

No swimmer made it to the top of the podium entirely on his own. As a senior age-group swimmer, I still remember a 200 freestyle race where I was on best-time pace, spurred along by my crazy teammate who was bear-crawling down and back along the deck, screaming as loud as he could. I remember the "secret" tangled finger good-luck send-offs and the inside jokes that kept the high-pressure meets fun. I remember the sacrifices of early morning practices, constant chlorine hair, and unshaved legs until the championships – that didn't seem like sacrifices, but more like membership to a special club, because we did it as a team.

To make the most of your swimming career, and to swim the best you can, become a valuable team member.

Commit to team goals.
As an individual, you have an idea of what you want out of swimming. Hopefully, you even have well-defined goals that motivate you (see Goals that Motivate and Using Progress Goal Times to Improve). Do you know the team's mission and goals? What are you working toward as a team? If this is unclear, you might want to bring this up with your coach and suggest a team meeting.

Once your coach and teammates have a clear vision, your job is to commit to it. This means the team goal needs to be as important to you as your individual goals. What do you need to do to help the team succeed? Make sure you put in enough effort to fulfill your role. If the goal is very important to you, it might require putting in extra time and energy.

Know your role.
What is your role? What do you contribute to the team? Do you attack each set, challenging your teammates to beat you? Do you lead the lane? Do you demonstrate a positive attitude?

There are several roles on a team, such as wallflowers, team leaders, good followers, counselors, social directors, motivators, team clowns. You might cleanly fit in one role or have parts of several.

• Wallflowers are those swimmers who hang on the wall and find ways to skip out of sets. They are not committed to team or individual goals and tend to drain team energy. If this is your role, it is important for you to evaluate your participation and either decide to commit to swimming or to try another sport. Wallflowers are not good teammates.
• Team leaders are the first in the water and the last out. They work hard, listen, and have a positive attitude. Qualities of leadership might be found in many swimmers, but the team leader tends to be one that others turn to and follow for direction. Keep in mind that leadership can be learned. If you would like to be a team leader, talk with your coach about the behaviors you need to demonstrate to best help your team.
• Good followers are just as important as team leaders. Good followers pick up on and immediately follow the example, attitude, and decisions of the team leaders that help the team toward its goals. Team leaders do no good without followers.
• Counselors help struggling team members, are the first ones there when swimmers are disappointed in their races, and help resolve conflict between team members.
• Social directors plan ways for the team to get together and get to know each other better outside of practice and meet time.
• Motivators have a lot of energy. They consistently encourage others, are incessantly optimistic, lead cheers, and show enthusiasm for swimming.
• Team clowns make others laugh. Their sense of humor lightens the mood at practices and meets and makes it fun.
  When you become aware of your role (or roles), you can evaluate how you contribute to or detract from the team. When you know how you contribute, the resulting sense of importance and belonging can help your performance.

Take one for the team.
Only four can swim on a relay. Have you ever missed the cut? If so, did you grumble and wish you had a weaker team? Or did you cheer on the four who made it and then vow to work a bit harder to beat them each practice so that next time it would be you?

A strong team is sometimes tough because you are not always on top, but it is a strong team that gets you to the top eventually. The competition within the team gives you daily race practice so that you swim faster at meets. Creating conflict and in-fighting due to dissatisfaction with your coach's decisions on who gets what spot only ends up hurting you. When you have an attitude for the team, you end up making the entire team, including you, better.

Respect your teammates.
You do not have to like your teammates. You do not have to be best friends. In order to have a successful team, you do need to respect them. Respect means offering encouragement during practice sets and at meets, cheering them on, and otherwise helping them achieve their goals. It means focusing on the ways they are helping the team, and it means addressing the behavior (not the person) when changes need to happen. It means putting forth your best effort at all times and displaying a positive attitude, even when on a relay with teammates you don't like.

Become a favorite.
Many people think it is bad for coaches to have their favorites. The truth is that every coach does; it is human nature. It is not bad for the team as long as every swimmer has a chance to become a favorite. Those swimmers who are favorites tend to be coachable; they buy into the team vision and team philosophy set forth by the coach, and they trust the coach's instructions and decisions. They work hard, put the team before themselves, show integrity, and are honest with themselves and others. Do have these qualities? These are all qualities that help your team, encourage sportsmanship, and ultimately lead to success and enjoyment in swimming.

Evaluate your attitude.
It's a good idea to evaluate your attitude as a team member. Think about the legacy you want to leave behind. At some point you will graduate, move, or otherwise leave your team. How do you want to be remembered? What will your teammates say about you?

Think about whether or not they will likely remark about how you were always a hard worker, always positive and upbeat, an inspiration, someone whose impact is missed. Or if they might talk about how you were a wallflower, a slacker, a wimp, and only concerned with yourself.

If you were the fastest swimmer but a poor teammate, mention of your speed will likely be followed by mention of your negativity. Your greatest legacy is one based on how you helped your teammates. Are the team goals a priority? Do you show respect to your teammates? Do you have the qualities that could make you a coach's favorite? Work now to develop a positive team attitude and leave behind a desirable legacy.

You might be one whose actions get your teammate to make a cut, and you might be one whose go-to attitude gets you to make a cut. Whatever the outcome, make sure your actions are what is best for the team, and you will end up better for it.

Pocket Intensity

Posted by Glenn Mills on Dec 29, 2010 06:00AM (0 views)

This article is meant for competitive swimmers who have expressed their desire to be great at this sport. This does not apply to everyone and I don't mean it to. I do NOT carry this level of intensity with me anymore in my swimming, and only wish it on those who do choose it.

I've toyed with writing this article for a few years. I've always been a bit in amazement by people who feel attitude at a specific time will get them through a situation against someone who has been preparing for years.

Like the short video above, which is obviously a friendly competition to highlight the great talent by the smaller, and seemingly younger wrestler, no talk in the world, or intimidation could possibly get the larger athlete through this competition. In a skill sport, no matter how "intense" he decided to get, talent and preparation will always overcome someone who talks a good game.

Swimming, unfortunately for people who choose when to be intense, is a skill sport. It's a sport in which the technique you use is as, if not much more important than the fitness level you achieve. Simply put, could you imagine a competition in which average people show up at a pool, and get to race even former Olympic swimmers? You can usually tell someone who's achieved a certain amount of mastery in swimming by watching them for just a couple strokes. You can also usually tell someone who is still in the developmental stages of swimming. The thing that stands between them... years of preparation.

If you've decided that swimming is your sport, then you're going to have to also decide on your level of intensity. Trash talking doesn't exist in our sport, and usually when it does, it has a history of playing against the trash talker. No matter the level of respect that comes after the fact, trash talking hasn't been very successful in the sport of swimming. The Americans telling the Australians how he was going to beat them in the 2000 Olympics only fueled the fire of the opponents and helped them win. Just as the French team telling the American's in 2008 how they were going to smash them, helped create one of the most exciting and memorable races in the history of the sport. How foolish do people feel when they talk a good game, then fail.

I'm also not saying there's really anything wrong with an Olympic Silver medal. Are you kidding me? I'd take one, and those athlete's who have earned them have prepared incredibly, and if for only an instant, a mistake, or an strategical error, the would also be Olympic Champions. Those are just two very striking examples of trash talking in swimming.

What bothers me the most if the trash talking that takes place at the beginning and at the end of the season. Everybody seems to be intense when it matters most. The beginning of the season, especially in the goal setting meetings, there is talk of heroic feats to come at the end of the season. The visions of holding the hands high in victory at State Championships, Junior Nationals, and even higher... everybody is a champion at the BEGINNING of the season. The same happens during taper. Those that are of this persuasion seem to think that a few sprints, or NOW focusing on starts and turns will turn everything around... and their personal TOUGHNESS will prevail. It's only on the last length of a hard fought race, when there's simply nothing left and the competition is leaving them in the dust, does reality set in. No amount of tough talk, or "pocket intensity" is going to will something great to happen.

Greatness comes with constant intensity. The intensity that isn't glamorous. The intensity that reaches over to the alarm clock at 4:55 am to shut it off and climb out of bed. The intensity to work an IM set when you're a sprint freestyler. The intensity to push off in streamline and do 3 or 4 dolphin kicks off each wall in practice.

This type of intensity isn't what people like to talk about. This type of intensity carries with it more of a feeling of drudgery than the screaming american gladiator. This type of intensity is usually lonely, hard, and extremely waring on the psyche of the individual who practices it. It doesn't come with woots and hollars and fist pumping in the middle of practice. It normally comes with gasping for air in the :03 seconds of rest between intervals, or the soreness of muscles day in and day out.

I heard a great quote the other day that works well here. "You can't build a reputation on what you're going to do." - Henry Ford

My advice as a former athlete. Stop talking a good game, and get IN the game. Preparation and intensity isn't just about yardage and fast swimming. Intensity means showing up on time, completing a practice with integrity, not cheating, and trying to get something out of every length you swim.

If you don't carry that level of intensity with you on a daily basis, good luck pulling intensity out of your pocket at the end of the season.

Hope that works out for ya. ;)

Cheat Success or Honest Failure?

Posted by Glenn Mills on Dec 28, 2010 04:51AM (0 views)

This starts with a question:
Is it better to appear successful when you had to cheat to do so, or fail while following the rules and trying your hardest?

While this post could easily be extrapolated to pro sports, or the Olympics with steroids or blood doping, this is simply about practice.

Coaches across the world spend countless hours developing season plans, crafting practices that hopefully intrigue and excite swimmers into giving effort in areas the coach knows the swimmer needs work in. If the swimmers accomplish the practices as written by the coach throughout the entire season, chances are very good for success. However, if the practices are performed in sections... specifically only the sections swimmers enjoy or feel like working, and the rest of the practice is cruised, or worse, cheated on to get through, then in reality, the design of the practice is no longer valid.

A good practice will either overload a specific muscle group (like upper or lower body), or focus on a specific swimming task (like speed or distance), or be an overall general distribution of many muscle groups or techniques so a more general understanding of the water can take place. Very few practices, when done as written, are bad practices. Failure to do practices as written, again, make the overall practice have less long term impact to your goals.

Picking and choosing when to work is understandable. Picking and choosing when to be legal is NEVER understandable.

There are several simple rules to practices that, when followed, make it much easier to accomplish a practice 'as written'.

Here are a few:

1. Start from the wall, not the flags.
2. The lane lines are to DIVIDE the lanes, not to serve as an additional form of propulsion for you.
3. Turn at the wall, not the flags. Don't forget, the flags are to tell you that the wall is coming soon... they're not a temporary signal for you to turn right there.
4. Leave the prescribed time behind the person in front of you. Quick hint; if there are 6 people in a 50 meter lane, you don't have to go :05 seconds apart... or :04... :10 seconds apart will give you your own space and allow you to focus on your stroke, pace, and even give you more work because there's less chance you'll get caught in the draft of the swimmer in front.
5. Kick sets are for kicking. Pulling on the lane line, or using your kick board as a paddle, or simply flat out swimming doesn't mean you're working your legs... YOU'RE CHEATING!
6. Unless your coach has told you to switch strokes at the 12-1/2 or 25 (long course), chances are they've designed a set that was meant for the same stroke to be swum at the END of the length that you started with at the BEGINNING of the length. So swim the entire length the same stroke.

Come on coaches... how long could this list be, but if your swimmers all followed just a few very simple rules, all the time, how much better would your team be?

Swimmers, if you have a kick set that you're having a hard time making by following the rules above, and you decide to cheat to make it... it may APPEAR that you've succeeded, but you know you've failed. While there may be another swimmer in the pool who has NOT made the set, but done everything according to the simple rules above, at least that swimmer has a guideline as to how close they came to making the set, and hopefully the next time, will get closer.

Here's more specific information. If there are two swimmers who have a set of 10 x 100's on 1:10 (pick your pool... it's theoretical). Swimmer A does everything legally and makes the first 6... then starts to fall off the pace. Struggles home and is missing the interval by :05 - :08 seconds by the last one. While they may get yelled at by the coach, or heck, praised by the coach for their effort, they know that the next time that set comes around, they know that if they make 7 or 8 of the 100's on 1:10, that they're improving. Swimmer B on the other hand... also gets to #6 successfully, but notices on #7 that by the 50 turn, they're simply not going to make the interval... at the 75 turn, rather than swimming all the way in to the wall, they turn at the flags and come back just in time to leave on the 1:10... the same practice is applied for the next 3 and unless the coach saw this, appears to have accomplished the task at hand.

If Swimmer A and Swimmer B were of exactly the same ability level... who got a better practice?

The most fitness comes in athletics when you continue to push through a certain point and just keep going. Even if you don't make the intervals, if you're doing everything correctly, at least you know where you stand.

Here's my feeling on young competitive swimmers. I don't mind slow swimmers. They have so much upside, so much to learn, and so much hope. What I can't stand are cheaters. Even extremely talented swimmers who cheat. To me, it's just a waste of time.

Swimmers. Look in your heart at your next practice. When you cheat, you're not just giving yourself a break, you're also disrupting the design of the practice. This disruption means you're not getting the work you were supposed to get. Because of this, if you cheat regularly in practice, you can NOT blame your coach at the end of the season for your failure. You are the only one to blame.

Moving into a new year is the time for resolutions. Athletes need to question themselves and understand that they hold their own destiny in their hands. Failure to grab that destiny in a positive, and honest way, will ultimately lead to dissatisfaction.

When that happens, take ownership of your failure and use it as a lesson. Don't look to see who you're going to blame, blame yourself.

At the same time, if you take the opportunity to swim practices with integrity and honesty, although you may appear to be going slower (because you're actually doing the set), you'll ultimately understand what it really means to be an athlete and will more than likely be very happy with your career. I can't even promise that it will pay off THIS season. It's almost January... it's almost too late for THIS season.
However, the summer season will be here soon... how happy do you want to be?

On Getting Started When You Don’t Feel Ready

by Sonya Derian

“Don’t wait for your feelings to change to take the action. Take the action and your feelings will change.” ~Barbara Baron

A few months ago, I challenged myself with Adventure Boot Camp. I thought, “What would be more challenging than waking up at five in the morning and working out with a group of ladies for an hour, four days a week?”

And I have to say, it was tough! I couldn’t walk for 3 days.

But as the days progressed and my muscles acclimated, it occurred to me: I’m someone who can roll out of bed at 5 AM and within a half hour, lift 8-pound weights over my head while jogging a track. I didn’t know that I could do that!

That’s the thing about taking an action. You don’t know that you can do it until you do it. And then you become someone who does it.

That’s how we grow into new lives.

How often do you stop yourself from doing something, waiting for something else to change before you move forward? You think you need to wait until you’re more prepared, knowledgeable, financially savvy, confident, secure—or insert excuse—to take the action. But then you never get to that place and never take the action. Then 5 years pass and you’re still talking about it, feeling “not ready yet.”

Sound right?

Maybe you feel a sense of urgency to step out, own your power and live our out loud, but aren’t sure what your purpose or path is. So you stop yourself because of the feelings you might confront. It’s easier if you know what you’re doing first. That lets you feel more confident moving forward. Like you won’t make a fool or yourself. Like what you’re doing is “right.”

But what if there’s never that guarantee? What if the only way to find out is by doing it? What if the only way to gain confidence is to do the thing we you’re not yet confident enough to do? What if the only way to gain knowledge is to jump in and find out what you need to learn? What if the only way to get more prepared is to prepare as much as possible, and then learn the rest as you go?

There is always something in us that knows and knows that it knows. We have an inner compass that knows the way. The only way to get feedback from this knowing is through being engaged. Not in our head. Not in our mind. Not in theory but in action. In real time.

It’s like that game we played as kids. Someone hides something, and you go looking for it, waiting to hear “hotter” or “colder” or maybe even “boiling hot!” as you move. Those little pieces of guidance help you figure out whether you’re getting close or not.

The only way to find that item is to start looking not. You can sit around and plan, waiting for the stars to align just right. But you won’t get any feedback until you actually start moving and looking.

Your inner compass does the same. It will always give you feedback on what you need to know, what you need to do differently, what you need to do next—as long as you get out of your head and get moving.

Whatever it is you want to do, it starts with getting out of your comfort zone. You’re not one small person waiting to create big change. You’re a powerful person wanting to create small change. You have tremendous power to create in this world; but just like the energy vortex that exists behind an outlet, that power is useless until you plug it in.

Plug it in.

Sign up for that class. Make the call. Face your taxes. Put up that website, even if it’s not perfect. Pay for the membership—just get on board. Have the difficult conversation. Place the ad. Send off the resume. Go to that networking event. Make the introduction. Get your book-keeping in order. Dust off the manuscript. Distribute the flyer. Get rid of the clutter. Go on that date. Take the trip. Call the publisher. Make the collection call. Ask for the raise. Publish the article. Make the speech. Take the test. Schedule the visit. Call the creditors. Fill in the blank—it’s yours to determine.

Do that thing you’ve been putting off. Don’t wait for your feelings to change to take the action. Just take the action and see how your feelings change.

And remember: you are not doing this for the outcome, although there will be an outcome. You are doing this because you are the creator in your life and you have decided that now is as good a time as any to jump in.

Sonya Derian is the owner and founder of Om Freely, a company dedicated to helping people live out loud, tap into their power, and transform their lives. To pick up your free ebook: Om Freely: 30 Ways to Live Out Loud, please visit http://omfreely.com . Or check out her online store at: http://cafepress.com/omfreely. Photo found here.

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