Yes I know Monday is a holiday, and I hope you enjoy your day off from school, BUT YES we do have practice and that includes the Monday morning group. We will have normal practices for the rest of the week, and that includes Saturday morning. Someone will be there as I will be in Maryland for the January open meet.
UPCOMING MEETS: JANUARY OPEN WARM UP TIMES 11 and 12 year olds 6:30- 7:20-----9 and 10 year olds 10:30-11:10---------13 AND OVER 1:20---2:00. Please note that some of these events have a cut off time for positive check in. If you need to be checked in you need to let me know by Thursday morning and I will take care of it. I will not check in anyone unless I hear from you.
WEEK REVIEW: Looking back over the workout plans from last week I was very pleased with the attendance and the effort put in by all three groups. If you haven't notice we have entered 
what I call Phase 2 of our season for each group, and you have to decide if you are with us or not. What does that mean? We spent phase 1 working on strokes and now we are going to be training more while we try to hold our strokes together for OUR CHAMPIONSHIP RUN. AGE GROUP 1 we are training a little more with some harder sets in our practices, and spent a lot of time on our Fly and Breast technique, and we will continue this for the next week or so. Junior Group has spent more time on swimming longer distances at a strong A3 to A4 pace while working on distance per stroke and holding the stroke together as you fatigue. Senior Prep group has picked up with the sprinting on our short days and on our long days we are also working on longer swims while we focus on our Distance Per Stroke. We have put in a lot of 
diving into all three groups, and yes some are not off the blocks, but when you dive off the side you should be focusing on your streamline, body position and your breakout. Every time you enter from a dive it is an opportunity to get better. If you tell yourself I will work on that tomorrow all you have gained is a whole lot of nothing from yesterday.. YOUR CHOICE!
what I call Phase 2 of our season for each group, and you have to decide if you are with us or not. What does that mean? We spent phase 1 working on strokes and now we are going to be training more while we try to hold our strokes together for OUR CHAMPIONSHIP RUN. AGE GROUP 1 we are training a little more with some harder sets in our practices, and spent a lot of time on our Fly and Breast technique, and we will continue this for the next week or so. Junior Group has spent more time on swimming longer distances at a strong A3 to A4 pace while working on distance per stroke and holding the stroke together as you fatigue. Senior Prep group has picked up with the sprinting on our short days and on our long days we are also working on longer swims while we focus on our Distance Per Stroke. We have put in a lot of diving into all three groups, and yes some are not off the blocks, but when you dive off the side you should be focusing on your streamline, body position and your breakout. Every time you enter from a dive it is an opportunity to get better. If you tell yourself I will work on that tomorrow all you have gained is a whole lot of nothing from yesterday.. YOUR CHOICE!WEEKLY TOPIC: Have you ever talk to yourself before a meet or a particular race? No your not crazy, but is what you say NEGATIVE or POSITIVE? Negative self talk could start with something as small as " I am tired" or " My legs hurt".Have you ever walked into a pool and after warm up said to yourself the walls are bad or the blocks are terrible. All of these things put you into a negative state before you even step onto the blocks for that first race. Positive self talk could be something as simple as "I am unstoppable today", or " I had a great warm up today and will have some great swims". Thinking like this as you go through the meet could bring you results that you had never dreamed of before. Self Talk can take place anywhere and any time. Examples are during practice performance, practice technique, meet performance, and meet technique.
Practice Performance Self Talk: As athletes we all want to perform well in a race or during a game but do we put ourselves in a good position to be successful for "The Event", as we go through our day to day practices. This is where it all begins! Do we get in on time ?Do we do the entire warm up so are bodies are prepared? Do we push through those 5 100's free at an A5 level or do we back off? Repeating words to yourself will help move you from the negative to the positive. Things like I must get in on time so that I can get the whole warm up done, so that I am ready to swim fast, or keep pushing through this repeat, and Hard work is going to help me reach my goals. Practice Technique Self Talk: If we are doing a set a 10 X 100's 
that allows you to work on your turns and walls 30 times. If we do it 3 times a week that's 90 opportunities that you have to improve that area of your race. I think you all see where we are going with this, if not we have more problems than I'm aware of. Words such as breathe on second stroke off the wall, strong pull outs, 
strong underwater, finish hard 
, 1 UP-2 DOWN, Core roll will help you tune into what your body is doing during a particular set. Meet Performance Self Talk: Do you enter the building with thoughts of I'm tired, It's early, I wish I was in bed, if these our your thoughts than go back through that 
because you have already put yourself in a bad mental state to succeed. Try to come in with thoughts of how good you feel, knowing how hard you have worked and that you are ready to have a great meet. I feel strong and I am un beatable in my heat! Meet Technique Self Talk: Don't let the swimmers around you dictate your race, stay within yourself and control what is happening in your lane, with words such as strong wall, "Middle 50" or "Middle 100", or "Strong Back Half", strong kick, finish hard, go now. As an athlete you need to practice this everyday at practice to make it work. Will you always be successful, the answer is no ( we will discuss that next week) but you WILL be in a better position to be successful and that is what WE are striving for.
that allows you to work on your turns and walls 30 times. If we do it 3 times a week that's 90 opportunities that you have to improve that area of your race. I think you all see where we are going with this, if not we have more problems than I'm aware of. Words such as breathe on second stroke off the wall, strong pull outs, strong underwater, finish hard , 1 UP-2 DOWN, Core roll will help you tune into what your body is doing during a particular set. Meet Performance Self Talk: Do you enter the building with thoughts of I'm tired, It's early, I wish I was in bed, if these our your thoughts than go back through that because you have already put yourself in a bad mental state to succeed. Try to come in with thoughts of how good you feel, knowing how hard you have worked and that you are ready to have a great meet. I feel strong and I am un beatable in my heat! Meet Technique Self Talk: Don't let the swimmers around you dictate your race, stay within yourself and control what is happening in your lane, with words such as strong wall, "Middle 50" or "Middle 100", or "Strong Back Half", strong kick, finish hard, go now. As an athlete you need to practice this everyday at practice to make it work. Will you always be successful, the answer is no ( we will discuss that next week) but you WILL be in a better position to be successful and that is what WE are striving for.HAVE A GREAT WEEK 
MIKE
MIKE
