Developing the Champion Within

2012-01-04T17:46:00.004-05:00

T2 Aquatics has been in Colorado Springs since the 27th of December, and with 13 practices down we decided to take a day off today! Three of our team members left this morning, while the remaining 8 athletes have 9 more practices to go.

Since we had the day off we took a trip to the "Garden of the Gods" Park. Check out the photos from our trip -- It's definetely nice to get out and do something other than eat, sleep, swim, and lift!

2011-12-29T16:30:00.004-05:00

The Question/Answer Cycle Problem

In the lead-up to competition, athletes who picture a positive result in performance are more likely to reach peak performance, as compared to athletes who picture a poor result. This reality of competitive sports is well-known among sport psychologists, coaches, and athletes – and must be accounted for when considering an athlete’s race preparation.

It is the athlete’s mindset that determines the deftness with which we walk a path of readiness – and make no mistake about it: readiness to succeed is essential to peak performance. The mindset of an athlete who is ready to achieve peak performance can be defined as an “answer—based” mindset. It is proper training, skill, talent, and physical gifts that separate one athlete from another in competition, but it is mindset that separates our “best selves” from the side of ourselves that is too riddled with anxiety and negative thought to perform at the peak level. There is an important distinction to be made here, because it is obvious and simple to understand that an athlete who does not train hard, often, and well, will not think her way into a win when competing against a trained, ready competitor. But to compete against yourself – “your own best self” – is really the task for all athletes because, simply put, competing against your own “best self” is the task any athlete can learn to control. You cannot control your competitors, but you can control yourself.

An athlete’s ability to control her mind and thus her environment allows her to unlock the free-flow of energy available to her at the time of peak performance!

It is near impossible for most athletes to prepare for competition without asking oneself questions like: “Am I ready?”, or “Is my training plan going to work?”, or “What is my competitor going to do”? It is this type of inner-questioning that makes an athlete, to differing degrees, anxious and insecure about their upcoming performance. To their detriment, athletes tend to dwell in this sort of “question-based” mindset more often as the competition draws closer on the calendar. This type of questioning, posed to one’s self in a habitual way, leads to the athlete’s less-than-ideal picture of what may happen in competition – a picture that readily creates its own reality through performance.

An athlete in the “question-based” mindset may think:

“What if I am unsuccessful like I was last year?”
“What will my parents think if I don’t achieve my best time?”
“Am I ready for this meet?”
“Will my taper plan work out?”

These questions have no definitive answer. One can speculate an answer, but to actually find an answer to these questions is impossible. The answers are impossible because the answers can only be found in the future. The future is uncontrollable. The only thing we can control is the present!

A positive athlete will learn to give proper weight to the answers, and give less power to the actual questions. In doing so, an athlete can learn to control their self-talk, and bring their thought process into the controllable present. It’s ok to field the questions, because let’s face it: no matter how hard we try, questions regarding one’s own personal readiness for competition will always make themselves heard. But with a proper “answer-based” mindset we can either turn a question into a positive answer, or dismiss it from our mind.

The basic question “Am I ready?”, in an “answer – based” mindset, is followed with the inner-statement: “Yes, I am ready. Today, I am stronger and faster than I’ve ever been in my life“. You can stop the cycle of questions by answering definitively.

Stopping the ‘Question/Answer” cycle at one question and one answer is essential! Concisely answered questions tend to create an optimistic picture in an athlete’s mind. The question, “What is my competitor going to do?”, in an “answer – based” mindset, is dismissed because as an athlete you are incapable of discerning what anyone else may or may not be capable of and so logically there is no way to field the question. The question, “What if I am not on my pace halfway through my 800?” can be answered definitively with the answer: “I know I can do an 8:40 in my 800, so if I’m off my pace at the 400 I probably have enough in reserve to make it up on the second 400”. By answering definitively and positively, the focus of an athlete’s internal conversation becomes the answer instead of the question. It is much easier to control the answers you give than it is to control what questions may pop up in your head!

Hard, consistent, skill-oriented training is a key ingredient to achieving peak performance, and certainly there is no substitute. We cannot “will” ourselves to a different level of performance with our minds alone! But it is the “answer-based” mindset that separates us from our previous best selves, stops an otherwise habitual cycle of questions/answers, and allows us to transcend our own peak performances.

Age Group Success and the Olympic Dream

2011-08-27T16:17:00.003-04:00

Photo by Paul Yetter (Japan International Meet 2007)

Recently I took a look at the USA Swimming Top 100 All-Time Times List. I looked closely at the Top 25 Times of All-Time (Long Course Meters), excluding the 50 Back, 50 Breast, and 50 Fly -- and searched within these times for names of US Olympians.

I wondered about the USA’s historic best were when they were 11, 12, 13 and 14 years old. Does an exceptional 12 year old have a head start on her competitors who are not ranked as well? Does the 14 year old who is not a highly ranked swimmer stand a chance of overcoming his competitors, to eventually vault into a top-ranked position?

Keep in mind: Out of 14 possible events, there are 350 possible slots in which athletes are ranked (14 events plus 25 rankings = 350 slots). Here are the results:

11-12 Men’s Events: 2 performances by US Olympians / out of 350 possible performances
13-14 Men’s Events: 29 performances by US Olympians/ out of 350 possible performances
15-16 Men’s Events: 69 performances by US Olympians /out of 350 possible performances
17-18 Men’s Events: 96 performances by US Olympians / out of 350 possible performances

11-12 Women’s Events: 33 performances by US Olympians / out of 350 possible performances
13-14 Women’s Events: 80 performances by US Olympians / out of 350 possible performances
15-16 Women’s Events: 98 performances by US Olympians / out of 350 possible performances
15-16 Women’s Events: 131 performances by US Olympians / out of 350 possible performances

You can draw your own conclusions regarding these statistics. I refuse to believe that our best 12 year olds are meant to simply fall off the map, and that they are simply good for their age because of their relative size. High-level athletic performance is too dynamic a quest to believe such a fixed-mindset stance.

Consider this: At age 10, Michael Phelps was one of the USA’s top 10 and under swimmers -- at least when you look at Butterfly performance. He was ranked number one in the USA, and still holds the National Age Group record in the LCM 100 Butterfly in the 10 and under age group. At age 12, he was still very good, but not nearly as highly-ranked on the All-Time USA times list (he is currently ranked 82nd all time in the 11-12 age group). Three years later, Michael Phelps became an Olympian in the Men’s 200 Butterfly. Great, good, great again.

Athletes are not perfect and they certainly are not robotic in nature. They have good days, bad days, great years and off-years. How do athletes, coaches, and parents react when there is a dip in performance? How do we ensure forward progression over time in the face of stagnant performances?

Additionally, what can coaches and parents do to help their athletes and children as they maneuver their way through performance plateaus?

Perhaps I’ll tackle these issues in another blog (this can truly be a rabbit-hole of contemplation), but for now I’d like to leave it out there for folks to consider and discuss.

Training and Racing for the Individual Medley

2011-06-06T13:10:00.003-04:00

A Formula for Faster Medley Times

As an intro to this blog I feel it’s important to convey: The most valuable experience I’ve had as a coach has been to mentor with two Olympic Coaches – Murray Stephens (1996 Olympic Team) and Bob Bowman (2004 and 2008 Olympic Teams). To hear the conversation between these coaches and their swimmers – and to work with athletes alongside them --allowed me daily illumination of our sport as I learned what it took to coach high-level athletes.

Additionally, over the last 10 years I have been fortunate to get to know Coach Jon Urbanchek . Coach Urbanchek has spent decades coaching Olympic Medalists and World Record Holders, and luckily (for me) he has visited his Baltimore-based Daughter and Grand-daughter frequently – a few miles down the road from where I have spent the better part of my coaching career.

I remember listening to Coach Urbanchek on deck one day as he spoke about Tom Dolan (a swimmer Jon coached to a 400 IM World Record in 1996). Coach Urbanchek spoke of Dolan’s success in the 400 IM as being attributed to his becoming a great 200 Meter swimmer in each stroke discipline. Specifically, Coach Urbanchek felt that if Dolan could be within 5 seconds of each 200 Meter World Record (in the 200s of Fly, Back, Breaststroke, and Free) – then he would have a great shot at the World Record in the LCM 400 IM.

The increasing versatility of Dolan’s “overall game” – coupled with the specific speed and endurance capabilities he needed to be great at all four 200’s -- combined to make Dolan the most devastating IMer of the 90s, and one of the greatest of all time. Certainly, Michael Phelps followed the same sort of track, led by Coach Bowman. When I look at Phelps’ career, I see an amazing progression with each of his strokes – in technical ability, sheer speed, and specific “stroke-based” endurance. Phelps’ ability to swim breaststroke well – at a National level – has been fused with his world class fly, back, and free to create the fastest 400 IM the world has ever seen.

The knowledge of Dolan, Phelps – and their coach’s plans was an immeasurable help to me as I moved forward in my coaching career. In 2003, I had the opportunity to coach Katie Hoff, who at age 14 had finished 4th in the USA Summer Nationals in the 200 IM with then-Typhoons Aquatics coach Jack Bierie. I made a personal goal in the fall of 2003 that Katie would someday be in a position to break Yana Klochkova’s existing 400 IM World Record – which she finally did in 2007.

During the 2003-2004 year, Katie spent much of her time getting better at her three least dominant strokes. Katie had been a top-ranked Breaststroker at age 13/14, so I felt she had the most room to improve in her Fly, Back, and Freestyle. We went to work on those least-dominant strokes, much like Dolan and Phelps did –and focused on the 100 and 200 Meter Fly, Back, and Free.

I found through this process a way of predicting Katie’s Medley performances, based upon the results (times) of her 100 and 200 Fly, Back, Breast, and Free. This method of prediction seems to work with many athletes around the world. The formula is this:

Take the athlete’s 200 Fly Time + 200 Back Time + 200 Breast Time + 200 Free Time to get an “800 time” …..divide the 800 time, and add 5-10 seconds.

The same formula can be applied to the 200 IM. Take the athlete’s 100 Fly Time + 100Back Time + 100 Breast Time + 100 Free Time to get a “400 Time”….divide the 400 time, and add 5-10 seconds.

Here’s a practical example of how this works. Katie Hoff’s 200 “Stroke Times” in 2004 were as follows:

2:12.1 Fly + 2:16.0 Back + 2:30.4 Breast + 202.1 Free (9:00 total)….divide 9:00 and get a 4:30, add 5-10 seconds and you get a range of 4:35-4:40. Katie swam a 4:37 that year to qualify for her first Olympic Team.

By 2008, Katie had made some big improvements. Here’s how 2008 went:

2:11.0 Fly + 2:09.9 Back + 2:29.7 Breast + 1:55.7 Free (8:46 total)….divide 8:46 and get a 4:23, add 5-10 seconds and you get a range of 4:28-4:33. Katie swam a 4:31 that year to set her 2nd 400 IM World Record.

Taking a look at Michael Phelps’ 200 IM from Beijing shows similar results. In 2008 his 200 times were:

50.5 Fly + 53.7 Back + 1:02.5 Breast + 47.5 Free (3:33 total)…divide 3:33 and get a 1:46, add 5-10 seconds and you get a range of 1:51-1:56. Michael’s best 200 IM that year was an Olympic Gold Medal time of 1:54.2

Ryan Lochte’s 100 Meter swims showed the same sort of predictability in 2008:
52.8 Fly + 53.3 Back + 1:04.8 Breast + 48.6 Free (3:39 total)…divide 3:39 and get a 1:49, add 5-10 seconds and you get a range of 1:54-1:59. Ryan has since been quite a bit faster, but in 2008 was 1:55.2 off of these swims.

I believe that an athlete has to actually compete in the “stroke” events to ultimately reach their potential in the Individual Medley. Simply having the “potential capability” to perform in the “stroke” events is not enough. There is something about the experience of competing the 200 Breast, for instance, that teaches an athlete the type of stroke needed to swim a great breaststroke leg in an IM. It’s widely known that Tracy Caulkins -- one of swimming’s all-time greats – held an American record in each discipline at different points in her career. Surely this experience was a factor in her lowering the 400 IM World Record to 4:40.8in 1978.

The use of a formula like this one will help coaches motivate a potential IMer to improve his/her weaknesses – an extremely valuable concept when it comes to not only minimizing performance plateaus, but when choosing which events to swim at meets. Particularly at the age group level, coaches and swimmers miss the chance to develop these specific IM-related skills, and instead persistently enter their “top events” over and over. By entering the same events meet after meet, the swimmer does not get a chance to race the 100s and 200s of the strokes, thus limiting their potential for their best Medley performances. In addition, the swimmer often finds that it is difficult to improve their times from meet to meet when the events competed are continually the same events! Aside from the psychological and neurological issues associated with repetitive racing, as you get older and faster it takes more training time to improve an event – and so more time needs to be devoted to training the event, and less time to actually racing it. The athlete tends to do best when prepared with repetition in practice, but variety in meets – leading to that final meet of the season when their best performances in their best events are meant to emerge.

I’d like to see emerging IMers compete in the 100s and 200s of each stroke, as well as the 400 free (for 200 IMers), and the 800 free (for 400 IMers). I believe that the skills and physiology needed to improve these complimentary events has a direct correlation to improving an IM – and mixing the races will keep racing fresh, exciting, and achievement-based for our next generation of Medley greats.

2011-01-16T15:50:00.012-05:00

"The Underdog's Advantage"

Earning a spot on the United States Olympic Swimming Team is an extremely difficult task. It’s even more difficult to earn, from one quadrennial to the next, a second consecutive placement on a U.S. team. Does the newcomer have a statistical advantage when it comes to makeing the U.S. Olmypic Swim Team? Here are the numbers, from the years 1988 through 2008:

4 of 24 men repeat from 1984 to 1988
6 of 19 women repeat from 1984 to 1988

9 of 24 men repeat from 1988 to 1992
3 of 20 women repeat from 1988-1992

5 of 23 men repeat from 1992-1996
3 of 20 women repeat from 1992-1996

4 of 19 men repeat from 1996-2000
5 of 24 women repeat from 1996-2000

11 of 21 men repeat from 2000-2004
5 of 22 women repeat from 2000-2004

11 of 22 men repeat from 2004-2008
5 of 21 women repeat from 2004-2008

The overall percentages are telling: the U.S. Olympic Swimming Team is made of many first-time Olympians, and very few repeat Olympians. In a given year about 66% of the men and 80% of the women are “new Olympians” – not having been a part of the previous Olympic Team, but then earning a spot.

Some of these “new Olympians” are the young athletes, whose rapid improvement through the Olympic year takes everyone by surprise; some are the older athletes who has been hanging around for a few years just waiting to burst on the scene at Olympic Trials; and in a few cases (Morales, Torres, Jendrick, etc) there are those who have been there before – then after skipping a quad have come back into the fold for another selection to the team.

Of course, making the team is still a monumental task whether you've been there before or not. It takes a ton of training and preparation -- and it takes an ultra-tough, determined athlete. But it happens, and it happens quite a bit when an athlete wills themselves out of obscurity and onto the U.S. Olympic Team.

Don’t consider yourself a legitmate contender for the team in 2012? Re-evaluate your expectations. Your chances may be better than you think.

….stay tuned for my next blog entry, which will address the United States’ Olympic veterans – and the amount of hardware collected by these exceptional athletes during their second and third shots at the Games.

2010-11-29T22:00:00.001-05:00

Competitive Swimming
Order of Operations
(and the traits needed to achieve)

1.
Final
Regional – level meet
(skill, speed or endurance)
2.
Win
Regional – level meet
(confidence, skill, speed or endurance)
3.
Final
State – level meet
(confidence, skill, speed or endurance)
4.
Win
State – level meet
(confidence, skill, speed, endurance)
5.
Final
Grand Prix – level meet
(confidence, skill, speed, endurance)
6.
Win
Grand Prix – level meet
(confidence, skill, speed, endurance, strength)
7.
Final
US Nationals – level meet
(confidence, skill, speed, endurance, strength)
8.
Win US Nationals – level meet
(confidence, skill, speed, endurance, strength, optimism)
9.
Final International – level meet
(confidence, skill, speed, endurance, strength, optimism)
10.
Win International – level meet
(confidence, skill, speed, endurance, strength, optimism, need)

2010-10-06T10:55:00.007-04:00

The 10,000 Hour Rule and the Development of Champions

Malcolm Gladwell is considered to be a preeminent sociologist of our time. His book Outliers debuted at number one on the New York Times bestseller list, and it stayed there for eleven consecutive weeks during 2008. One of the main concepts discussed in Outliers is what Gladwell calls the “10,000 Hour Rule”.

The 10,000 rule’s premise: to achieve any great accomplishment in sport, academics, music, or business an individual must put in 10,000 hours of focused work on their craft. After 10,000 hours of focused work is completed the striving individual may finally be ready for truly high-level accomplishment. The 10,000 Hour rule challenges the notion that high achievers are born with their skills. Instead, Gladwell argues, our world’s high achievers gain their skill sets through old-fashioned hard work, consistently achieved in small increments throughout a period of 10,000 hours.

“Well-roundedness” is not the goal for the highest level achievers in our world. Focused practice that is consistent over a period of time is the key to transcendent success – and according to Malcolm Gladwell, the magic number hovers around 3 hours of pratice per day for 10 years.

I’ve spent over half of my life training with and coahcing USA Olympic and World Championship Team swimmers. I’ve noticed that there have been no short-cuts with these athletes in the quest for their ultimate goals. They are normal people who do extraordinary things, and they work hard at their trade virtually every day. They do not take breaks. Their families support their quest. They go to practice when they are not feeling 100%. They bounce back from poor/tired practices with high-level, redeeming work. They are normal people who do things differently.

What are some of the differences? Much of what these athletes accomplish everyday is due to their positive, focused behavior traits. I’ll give a few of examples of the experiences that I’ve had, which continue to shape my coaching mindset each day.

First, my experience as an athlete was exceptional, considering the fact that I had planned to coach swimming since I was sixteen years old. I trained with three different USA Olympians as a High School swimmer growing up in Baltimore, two of whom won gold medals in the Olympics – one in 1992 and the other in 1996. Each of the three Olympians I trained with were fun, normal kids who sacrificed often for their goals. They attended to their goals on a daily basis. None were freakishly tall or muscular, or exceptional physically. They did normal adolescent things like go to dances, take in a movie on the weekend --and they did well in school. They also practiced each day reasonably rested and ready to accomplish their daily goals. They went after it every day, with no breaks and a minimum of extended vacations which were purposefully placed at the end of the summers. Additionally they had a coach that had coached an Olympic Gold Medalist in 1984, who knew how to train athletes to their highest ultimate achievement. The athlete’s daily focus on a goal, and the experience of the coach formed a perfect storm that I was able to witness, form the pool, as a developing athlete.

Next, my experience as a young coach was one-of-a-kind. I watched Michael Phelps train everyday from the spring of 2001 through the spring of 2002 as he developed into the most highly-regarded swimmer the world has ever seen. Not only did Michael train each day without absence, but he did not miss a single length of scheduled training in the pool. I don’t think I saw him get out of the pool to use the bathroom a single time that year. I’d imagine there were plenty of times when he didn’t feel like training, but his goals kept him on-task. Michael’s coach, Bob Bowman would at times remind him that there were other athletes around the world training to win as well – and the work Michael did had to be more consistent and just plain better that the work his competition was doing.

Coach Bowman told me that between 2000 and 2004 Michael missed exactly zero scheduled practices. That’s no missed days over the course of 1460 straight days. I figure Michael swam an average of 3 double workouts per week during that time for a grand total of 2,225 practices over 1460 straight days. If each practice lasted 2 hours (some were more, and some were less) – then Michael trained in the pool for 4,450 hours from 2000-2004. Add 2.5 hours per week of dryland training for 50 weeks per year and that’s another 500 hours of training – meaning that over four years Michael spent a total of at least 4,950 hours working on his craft. There’s no doubt that Michael Phelps’ 8 Gold Medal performance was due to the fact that he worked longer, harder, and more consistently at his craft than his competition – easily amassing 10,000 hours of training between the years 1999 and 2008.

I had the opportunity to work with an athlete of supreme talent starting in 2003, and by that time I was primed for the task. Katie Hoff set the World Record in the 400 IM in 2007 and again in 2008 – winning the 2007 World Championship by over 7 seconds, and taking the LCM American record in the event from a 4:37 to a 4:31. Katie missed five practices in five years, and she trained every day of the week! I figure Katie trained about 2,518 times over the course of the 1,826 days that made up the 2004-2008 time period – just a bit over 5,000 hours over the span of 4 years.

Katie’s success was due more to daily consistency – rather than daily yardage, amount weight work accomplished, or natural skill. There were many people in the world of swimming that were putting in more overall “work” than Katie, more total “volume” – but she put in the most focused, consistent practice of anyone in the world, for years, leading up to her ultimate goal of winning Olympic medals and setting World Records. Focused, consistent practice is the only type of practice that can be counted toward the 10,000 hours it takes to be the best at what you do. High achievers train their ability to focus on a task just like they train their ability to catch a touchdown pass or hit a 12 foot put. The persistence high achievers practice is a more valuable skill to develop than the ability to hit a 90mph fastball or swim under 50 seconds in the 100 freestyle.

Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers helps us understand just “how much” we must attend to our tasks, in order to be the best at our trade. He does not care about how much work it takes to be the best you can be. “The best you can be” can only be measured on a sliding scale, you against yourself -- and being “the best you can be”, while certainly a noble goal, has nothing to do with reaching the top of your chosen field.

Sometimes we don’t really know when our 10,000 hours begins, and we may think we are training for one thing when really we are training for another. I know that the 10,000 hours I’ve amassed as a coach started when I was an athlete -- a fact that I didn’t realize while it was happening. I can realize it now as a coach in my mid-30s, that the time I spent training for my 400 IM was the beginning of my training to be chosen as a USA Olympic swimming coach.

The athletes I see in the pool each day are not only perfecting their strokes, but developing persistence, toughness, and a will to be great that may not help them set a World Record in Swimming – but the skills they develop in the pool may help them discover the cure for breast cancer ten years down the road.

Who will become the next Michael Phelps, Bill Gates, or Billie Jean King? Who will become the next great writer or physician of our time? Whomever it is will certainly have 10,000 hours of practice behind them!

A link to an article about Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000 hour rule can be found here: http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article4969415.ece

2010-09-25T14:02:00.004-04:00

An Open Letter to T2 Aquatics Parents:

We had a great start to our T2 Aquatics season at the “Friday Night at the Races” Meet last night. Parents, thank you so much for you support.

As a brief introduction to this post: for the last 15 years, I have spent over 5,000 days on deck coaching either at meets or practices. I have a unique perspective on the sport given that fact –and although I do not have children of my own I have seen hundreds of kids and thousands of parents through their swimming careers. I’ve witnessed many lows and quite a few high points. I’d like to share with you some of the things I’ve learned about swimming, expectations, and attitude.

At times I am asked by parents, “How do I handle X situation at a swim meet?” Generally this question is geared toward the idea that the parent would like to help their child who may not be having a great meet or a great experience – or possibly they’ve been DQed in a race or missed their event. Often, when meets are going well for a swimmer – the swimmer is happy; and when meets are not going well a swimmer may tend to become upset. Feeling too far “up and down” is something we’d like to minimize in an athletic environment. We’d like to stay “even keel”.

Here are a few tips we (parents and coaches) can all use as we approach competitive situations. These tips will help us maintain perspective – and stay “even keel”.

#1 – Love is primary. A child needs love and a caring attitude from the adults in his/her life. When in doubt, offer support. “How can I help?” is a great question to ask an upset athlete – it puts you in a position where you are offering love and support, while it simultaneously shields you from having to solve your kid’s issue right there on the spot. The coaches are there to figure out the solution either at that particular meet, or in practice leading into the next meet.

#2 – Laugh. If you are having fun and treating the “Swim Meet” experience with a light heart, so will your kids. It’s kind of the same for the coaches. The athletes will mirror the adults in their life, in particular in times of stress!

I witnessed one of our eight and unders get disqualified last night because she swam the incorrect stroke for the first few strokes. She caught herself, corrected herself, and finished the race. Her dad was in attendance at the meet, and did the perfect thing after the race – he smiled and greeted his daughter with love. Not only will this swimmer continue to learn and love swimming due to this light attitude, but the bond between the child and the parent will strengthen due to the simple act of love and acceptance.

If the child picks up on a sense that their parent is upset after a race (or nervous or overly-concerned going into a race), they will pick up on it – and after a while they will become conscious of it. Nervousness and concern with how your child may do is normal, and it’s inside every parent at times – but the best skill you can have is the ability to relax and be yourself, for the benefit of the long term development of the athlete.

#3 – Exercise wisdom regarding the long term nature of our sport. Many parents who are new to the sport see the sport of swimming through a different lens than I do. I have learned to relax at meets and understand that meets simply won’t go perfectly. When a swimmer doesn’t have a great swim or a great meet, I automatically start thinking about the next swim or the next meet. The learning process is the key -- an athlete’s ability to deal with disappointment and come back stronger through hard work and commitment is a great skill to have in any area of life. Getting through disappointment in a positive way is more important than going a 27.8 in a 50 freestyle.

So, if your child doesn’t have a great meet, use the disappointment they may have as a way to help teach persistence and determination. What a great opportunity for you to show support and teach at the same time! You can bet that our coaching staff at T2 is planning for the next meet with persistence and determination – because we take our jobs seriously, and we want everyone on our team to be wildly successful in the sport of swimming.

#4 – Be cool in times of success. If your child has a great swim or a great meet, it’s ok to say “great job” and feel genuine happiness for him/her. It’s ok to show a little excitement too at times, but your ability to temper your excitement goes a long way when things don’t go perfectly. How do you act when things aren’t going well? That’s the hard part of competition for coaches and parents alike. If you don’t get too “up” while the swimmer is having a successful meet – then you won’t have to “fix everything” when your child has a disappointing meet. Staying cool is a great strategy because there is NO WAY any swimmer will have all good meets, or all terrible meets. In one year of swimming at meets just about every swimmer will have each of these: a great meet, a poor meet, and a so-so meet. Count on it, be ready to handle it – and treat them all the same.

#5 – Understand how meet entries work, and how “things go” at meets. I can’t remember the last time I was at a meet where everyone was entered in their exact best times, in the correct heats, and everybody made it behind the blocks on time – with no issues or problems. Sometimes there are issues we can correct as coaches, but due to the fact that we like to play by the rules there are just some things we cannot correct – and simply have to roll with.

Last night we had a female athlete who had to race with the boys, a 10 year old who was mistakenly put into the Open age group, and we had at least one swimmer miss an event. In each instance I witnessed parents acting out of love, support, and sportsmanship in regards to their athlete – and toward the coaches as well. Thank you for that, as we are doing the best we can to do a great job with your kids, and want the best for them as you do.

#6 – Point out positive behavior, instead of certain times or event places. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard a kid talk to me about their event times, when there are 10 other things that are more important at that stage in their development. When swimmers are simply going for best times, they tend to scramble and try too hard -- and it's that "trying too hard" that really gets them in trouble in the water. Generally kids who really "get after it" in a race function in a counterproductive way -- due to the fact that their "trying" tends to lead to greater water turbulence, and a lot of turbulence leads to drag and slower swimming. Great times will come and go, and are difficult to control (if times were easy to control we’d all do best times every time). So we can’t get into praising times. Praise intent, praise preparation, praise the fact that the swimmer raced and didn’t give up on their swim. Praise breaking through fear. Praise thinking big.

By praising behavior traits instead of concrete results, we are praising things that the child (athlete) can control – and by encouraging them to control positive behavior traits, we encourage them to repeat those traits, and in doing so we can lead them to achieve higher levels of performance, through functionally constructive behavior.

It is part of our Mission Statement at T2 Aquatics to offer quality education to parents. I hope this helps you at meets and at home when faced with the task of raising your kids in a competitive swimming environment. Thanks again for your support, and for showing that support to your children last night at our first meet of the year -- it was a great success!

2010-09-23T21:45:00.007-04:00

Another Level

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 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.

Imagination

2010-09-01T11:46:00.002-04:00

Training with Imagination

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.

2010-06-22T20:52:00.001-04:00

Training to Race, Racing to Win

The last week of training and racing have been the highest level performance days I’ve seen since my move to Naples earlier this month. Racing well is certainly the most sought-after skill of any competitive swimmer -- a skill which is backed by a solid training background, and specific race preparation. You’ve got to have both to be successful: an ability to race well, and the motivation and mindset to train yourself to get there.

When we “see ourselves” in competition we must view ourselves as potentially successful in order to achieve success. This mental picture is of primary importance to a fit and well trained athlete. We must have first-hand knowledge of real, concrete components to success that we have developed in training. We must find higher levels of success in practice, in specific race-related areas, to bring that successful view to the mind’s eye – and then through our physical body, into performance.

There is no “overachieving” or “underachieving” in high levels of sport. There is only achieving. An athlete either achieves their goal, or doesn’t. People may say and think that a certain athlete is “underachieving” when they ‘work hard’ and their results don’t match their work; likewise I’ve heard it said that an athlete is an “over-achiever” because the work they put in doesn’t seem to match the level of performance achieved in competition.

At times I think we fail to consider the notion that certain levels of performance are achieved based off the sum of many different components of preparation. We tend to look at things in narrow categories, and give an athlete too much credit for putting in a lot of time with their craft – even if the time spent is only spent training one or two aspects of their potential performance.

Here are few of the categories I see athletes grouped into by coaches, parents, media, and of course by ourselves. The Athlete is:

1. A Hard Worker
2. Mentally and Emotionally Tough
3. Technically Proficient
4. A Great Racer/Gamer
5. Able to Handle Pressure Well
6. Able to Control Life Well Outside of Training (Hidden Training)

Each of these categories is positive in some way. But to possess only one of these qualities does not mean that an athlete is ready to achieve at a higher level of performance. Two won’t do it either. Three might get your better. Four takes you further. Five or Six out of Six…it is here where athletes begin to separate themselves from others.
If you are a member of T2 Aquatics, you will address each of these concepts of high-level performance, and meet them head-on at practice – virtually every day.

You will work hard and develop the habits of a hard worker: diligence, persistence, and consistency.

You will develop mental and emotional toughness because you will perform athletic feats beyond your comfort zone, thus changing the way to think about the limits you impose upon yourself.

You will develop a mastery of technical aspects of swimming technique and racing technique, and become through time, a more efficient athlete.

You will become a better racer and performer because you will rehearse fast swimming under different types of stress on a daily basis during most of the year. The rehearsal you do in practice will allow you to teach yourself the type of neuromuscular and physical output needed to surpass your “old self” in performance.

You will handle pressure better than you ever have because you will teach yourself to achieve at a high level every day.
You will learn to prioritize your life so you can prepare for training and competition with the best in the world.

If you’ve ever competed in swimming, or been competitive in anything really – you know that to have a great experience and have a good time with your sport you must be prepared and confident. Prepared, confident athletes have fun with swimming like prepared and confident students have fun in school. The same can be said regarding prepared, confident businesspersons having fun with their jobs. Our sense of readiness, coupled with the confidence that comes with it allows us to relax and let things flow in competition, the classroom, or the workplace.

We can have a lot of fun getting faster as a team here at T2 Aquatics, we just have to look at things from the correct perspective.

After a weekend of great racing, and then an immediate carry-over to the practice environment this week – I can see that we are well on our way.

To Become a Champion

2010-05-30T16:39:00.001-04:00

To quote Daniel Chambliss, author the book CHAMPIONS:

"To become a Champion, you have to do what Champions do."

Mr. Chambliss' point here is extremely important. The day to day behavior of an individual determines if someone is truly a Champion. Winning medals is great, and so is setting records and qualifying for international swimming teams; I know I've been super hyped up by great athletes who have done these things. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for high level performance.

But it's WHAT YOU DO to get there that is the key, and for this reason I believe that becoming a true Champion is possible for everyone -- including those who may never reach the Olympic podium, or become superstars in their particular field.

A true Champion knows that finding their own path, limits, and abilities to achieve is an ultimate test of self; and testing one's own boundaries as an athlete (or as a student, or as a professional of any sort) is really the part of life that allows us to feel alive, worthwhile, and good about ourselves.

We've all heard it said that we only use a portion of our brains. I've heard the number as 10%: we only actually use 10% of our brain, and the rest of our brain is just a kind of neural potential. I don't know how accurate the number 10% is, but I do get the point: we don't use all we've got....

I believe that "10%" statement can carry over to many areas of our lives. We just don't do all we can do to be really good at things. As humans, we tend to procrastinate. We tend to do things that allow us to be comfortable rather than successful. We tend to use only a percentage of our potential when preparing to do anything at all.

And perhaps most importantly, we don't imagine how great we can actually become. We don't see the potential Champion within ourselves. As people and as athletes, we need to use our imaginations better than we do -- to create a mental picture of what it is we want to be, and how we would like to behave. We need to imagine how hard we can actually work, and ignite that desire to DO that work to succeed at the highest levels of whatever it is we are doing.

Unitl we can see ourselves doing great things, and until we can notice the parts of ourselves that need to change in order to unlock the unlimited potential within, we will continue to pace ourselves through life until we are simply too old or too tired to do anything about it.

"To become a Champion, you have to do what Champions do".

Anyone can be a Champion with the proper attitude and outlook. You can start to become a Champion right now, simply by raising your expectations. Expect to be a better athlete tomorrow than you were today. Expect to be a better coach tomorrow than you were today. Expect to be a better professional tomorrow than you were today.

Michael Jordan said, "You have to expect something from yourself before you can do it."

Let's start today.