Coach Roger
Head Coach
June 2008
Starting June 2 the following groups will be moving outside for thier practices.
-National Focus
-Sr.1
-Sr.2
-Pre-Sr.
Time for practice is 3-5 with the exception of the Pre-Sr. Swimmers who will leave at 4:30
Make sure to bring running shoes and workout clothes as the water might be a bit cool to swim in for two hours. We will have all swimmers doing something during this time.
For most of the older swimmers our first Long Course meet is this weekend at Greenwich. Make sure you check our web site for all of the meet info.
Roger Simmons
Head Coach
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5 Steps to Becoming a Better Swimmer
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Coach Rob
Head Age Group Coach
June 2008
In my last article for the Coaches Corner, I referenced self-motivation and self-discipline as important facets of successful swimming through goal setting and personal evaluation. Another important piece of the puzzle is self-confidence. During practices in March leading up to the championship meets I told a Senior level athlete “There are a lot of ways to say ‘I tried’, but only one way to say ‘I did’.” This comment is important to all levels of swimming, and I think it ties in directly to self-confidence. Athletes who are entirely confident in themselves and their ability to perform consistently find themselves achieving goals, and often surprise themselves and their coaches and parents with their performance. Positive self-motivation, and regimented self-discipline, contribute to tremendous self-confidence, leading to productive results in the pool.
The test sets for the National Focus group were both repeated last week before our move outdoors. The first test was a 1500 swim (500fr, 400 IM, 300 Fly, 200 Back, 100 Fly) and the group averaged a 22 second improvement from the same swim 3 weeks earlier. This is an impressive number as a group average, and some individuals had even more impressive time drops. The top three improvements were Chris F. (-70 sec.), Julie W. (-62 sec), and Mike L. (-52 sec.). The second test set came after a challenging Friday night workout and still found the average improvement to be 1 second per 100 free. This set was 30x100, every third fast, and the averages were calculated for the 10 fast 100’s. The results of these sets are factors that will lead to the strong self-confidence of these athletes, helping them move towards attaining their goals.
A good measuring tool for self-confidence that I like to refer swimmers to is called the “Ladder of Achievement” from Wayne Goldsmith, Australian Sport Performance Consultant. The ladder shows how your attitude towards a goal impacts your opportunity to achieve it.
The 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
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Coach Kelly
Head 8 & Under Coach
June 2008
There's an old saying in swimming which would likley surprise many parents who've watched one of our workouts, it's " Half of swimming is 90% mental".
Now that we've gotten the first couple meets of the Long Course season under our belts, I am glad to report that the 10&unders have made the most of their early season. At Mako, we've always had 10&unders who worked hard and this year has been consistent in that the the kid's have approached practice with a extremely positive attitude and tremendous desire for improvement. In my mind, this year has been a study in the individual swimmers working hard every day to perfect each aspect of their race and especially focus on learning all of their strokes and the details necessary to be competitive. This is very important because each of you're children is learning that the time put in at practice is every bit as important as the time achieved the day of the meet. As I always tell the kids, "good practice habits make for great race days". As parents, take a moment and ask you're child what they are doing at practice, what their own goals are for this season, and, also, make sure they are having fun!
For any of the 10&under swimmers who read my article and can tell me what the following means, I'll give them gummy bears. Here's the saying:
"Citius, altius, fortius"
Bonus points if you can tell me where the saying came from.
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