November 28

Weekly update: There will be no practice this Friday afternoon or Saturday morning due to the Blizzard meet at the Pool.  FYI:  There will also be no practice Thursday 12/7 and 12/14, Friday 12/8 and 12/15, and Saturday 12/9 and 12/16 due to the Tom Dolan and the Cassel meets so plan your makeup's now.  BLIZZARD MEET WARM-UP TIMES:  Friday 5:30 Saturday and Sunday 11 and overs 7:30 P.M.                                      10 and unders 12:15  11 and over Finals 5:00 P.M. (check with me before leaving for a better time line) Don, t forget to check in all your 200 and above distances before warm-up especially Rachel W.  Don't forget that this is a trials and finals meet for 11 and over's, so if you make it to finals I expect you there.  Parents this is a Mako sponsored meet so if ask to help please help.   Session 2 will start on Monday the 4th, and we will have a few swimmers join our groups, so lets welcome them and make them feel comfortable and remember we all have three months under our belts.  Don't make them feel like    SWIM AND ROCK WRAP UP:  Thanks to all the parents who helped out at the meet over the weekend, and a special thanks for getting the back and forth to the pool.  Kids don't forget to  and say   to your parents because a swim meet is not a day at the for them. Looking at this meet should give all of us an idea of what they really need to work on as we approach the championship season he next few months.  If best times are not showing up, it i up to each individual swimmer to look at how they approach practice and how they train during the workout in order to make our JO cuts and  be at peak performance when we get there.  If you are a bit curious as to the area in which I believe your training can improve the most... .  We had a lot of best times at the meet and the following swimmers made it back to finals. Don T., John K., Maggie S., Katie S., Rachel R., Katie Y., and they all swam very well.  A job  was turned in by Katie S. who swam he 200 fly in he prelims, and came back and swam it again a finals and made her first JO cut.  Several of our teammates went 6 for 6 or 7 for 7 including John K., Christina G., Amy B.,Christie D., Andrew B., Rachel A., Several others added new events to there growing lists including Melissa C. 200 back, Shannon O. 200 breast, James C. 500 free, Rachel A. 500 free, Claire E. 200 back, Ruthann F. 200 IM, Shannon C. 200 IM, Hannah B 100IM, Sarah G. 100 fly 200 breast Miles O. 200 free.  If I forgot anyone Let me know (I'm sure you will) GREAT JOB BY ALL THE SWIMMERS IN THE VILLAGE!!! Villager of the meet was Rachel Rogers.  Rachel swam 7 events and did best times in all of them, and also finaled in the 100 fly, 100 IM, 200 free, and the 100 breast, so for those of you counting that is a total of 11 events swam over he weekend.The scary part is that Rachel and I made it through the whole weekend and we are still talking to each other.   TOPIC OF THE WEEK: SELF TALK (Reprint from COACH MARK)   "What is self talk, and how does it affect your swimming?  USASWIMMING.ORG puts it this way: "Self-talk includes all the purposeful and random thoughts that run through an athlete's mind, it includes all the things said silently and out loud.  Self-talk can be positive, it can tell an athlete what to do, where to focus, and get one motivated ("You can do it").  Unfortunately, self talk can also be negative ("You stink so just give it up"), pessimistic, and critical.  Such internal talk definitely does not help performance and, in most cases, probably hurts performance.  Recognize that negative self talk is going to occur; the key is to not focus on the negatives and instead focus on the positives." Think of it this way: Your brain is an FM radio.  There are millions of signals in the air, but you can choose what to listen to at any given time.  Swimmers who have trouble with negative self-talk have trouble changing the station, when they are listening to the wrong thing.  Those negative stations will always exist, but it is up to you to change the station.   How do you identify negative self-talk?  We can all identify the obvious, "You stink," "You're no good," "Why am I even doing this."  These are all very obvious.  Here are some things that you may not have thought about: 1. Focus on the Past: "I Swam so bad last time I was here.  I always     die in this race. That swimmer always beats me." 2. Focus on your Weakness:  "I'm terrible at fly.  Everyone beats me on my turns.  I'm just not a good kicker." 3.Focus on the Uncontrollable: "Why do I have to swim in lane 8?,    The pool deck is so cold.  They put the fastest swimmer in my    Heat." 4. Demanding Perfection: " I better beat everyone.  I'm supposed to     make my Tom Dolan cut.  I have to swim a best time in this race." The guiding principal of identifying negative self-talk is looking at it with a, "would you say it to a friend" attitude.  If there is a thought in your head that you are telling yourself, that you wouldn't tell your teammate, instead, then maybe you shouldn't be saying it to yourself.   The way to correct this negative self-talk is toit.  It sounds silly and obvious, but that is the first step to making things better and becoming a positive thinker.  Catch yourself making those negative comments in your head, and yourself in the act.  Next, get yourself to the negative into a positive and MEAN IT!  Let's make an example: I swam so bad last time I was here!(negative). Wait! That DOESN'T MATTER (STOPPING YOURSELF).  Every swim is a new opportunity to show how much I've improved, where it happens doesn't mean a thing (Positive statement). Another example "I'm just not a good kicker(negative).  Who cares right now (stopping yourself).  If I do my best and work this race to my strengths, I can definitely win in the end (positive statement)."   Try a few on your own.... You have to practice, if you want to succeed (at anything)."   Let's have a good week at home, school and the pool!!!  Mike