SATURDAY JANUARY 30

 WEEK AHEAD:  All practices this week will be held as normally scheduled.  A quick planning note to keep in the back of your mind.  Due to the CAA CONFERENCE CHAMPS MEET at the pool we will not be having practice starting Tuesday afternoon February 23 thru Saturday February 27.  For all the JO swimmers this SHOULD not be considered part of your taper period, YOU NEED TO BE IN THE WATER.  I (but this is just me ) would plan to come in Monday (AM or PM) and also on Tuesday morning.  Take Wednesday off and than get in a pool on Thursday for 1 hour ( I will post a couple of workouts later).  Take Friday off and then plan on coming to the meet Saturday evening and going through the warm-up/practice.  We are also trying to get some practice time on Sunday for everyone.  MAKE PLANS NOW.

 

 

 

  THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK:  Being that it is football season and the SUPER BOWL is next week although for a lot of us our teams are already on vacation here is something to think about.  In football if you false start   you get a 5 yard penalty, but in swimming if you false start you LOSE!  Now that's tough!

 

 

SWIMMING HISTORY:  Did you know that Breast Stroke was sometimes swum underwater.  USA Swimming notes "Breststrokers stayed underwater as long as possible, and some either passed out or finished races blue in the face  ." 

 

PRACTICE REVIEW:  We have had a couple of weeks of good practices where the emphasis has been in our IM work, and increasing our effort on the walls and our underwater streamline swimming.  In all three of the groups we have worked on a lot of 25's where we are trying to get half way down the pool.  This week the senior prep will increase  or ATTEMPT to increase their walls to the 15 meter mark.  This should make your  walls in the longer races more comfortable and the result should be a stronger finish. But don't forget I can put these things out there for you but it is like leading a "horse   to water I can't MAKE it drink."   In the AGE GROUP 1 group we have spent a  lot of time with the IM and worked a lot of back to breast turns.

 

  SET FROM THE WEEK:  The following set was a good one from Saturday morning. 

Pre Set:  15X50's  2 free/1 fly-fr;  2 free/ 1 bk-fr;  2 free/ 1br-fr; 1 free/1fly/1free/1back/1free/1br. @ 50

Main set:  8 X 150  @ 2:15 Breathe 3 ---5 ----7 by 50 on each one.

TOTAL Yards 1950

 

 WEEKLY TOPIC:  Today's Practice Creating Your Future Results

You may not believe this, but the WAY YOU PRACTICE each day will have a direct results at meets in the future.  Just as it does everyday, your subconscious mind will make notes about your emotions        , effort level, strokes, walls, and your attitude toward the sport.  The mind will process all of this and than use this information towards your races in the future.The mind is your own personal filing cabinet which is drawn upon at each meet.

 

It would be good if we could get into the habit of filling this cabinet with positive thing to hold for your next meet.  The bottom line is that we are looking for some kind of consistency in your races.  What this means is that most meets usually involve more than 1 race and usually several days of competition.  I was asked the other day about a swimmer who was cheating during practice, and while I was aware of it I knew that they were hurting themselves.  Yes they may get 1 or 2 best times  at a meet, but even a blind squirrel   gets lucky every once in a while and finds an  acorn  , but what happens to the rest of them in tour case the other 4 or 5 races in the meet.  To put put ourselves in the best position to be successful at a meet we need to be consistent during ALL of our practice sessions, and with ALL of our sets in that practice.  The problem s start to arise when you skip a 50 or 100, miss a turn, or breathe into the walls, our subconscious is always eavesdropping and will use those things against you in a future race.

 

This means that your subconscious pretty much knows how you are going to perform at a meet to a degree, because you have already programmed it with a blueprint during OUR practice sessions.  "Here are some suggestions for a good blueprint

 

• Put in a solid, consistent and enthusiastic practice session each day, as much as possible --------which your subconscious will record for your future races.
• Visualize regularly the exact result you want to achieve in your races,   as this creates positive programs within your mind for your body to follow.

• Make sure your thoughts, words, and emotions are positive-   -99% of the time, as the body is greatly affected by your emotional state."

 

This means that you are constantly updating your computer  (mind) with information from which to draw from in future meets.    Be warned that the next day you feel like slacking off a little IT will be noted by your subconscious.  This takes us back to that teammate who you may think cheats in practice.  Sure they may get the glory once in a while, but that will be it.  You  will not need to worry about them seriously  in the future because cheats   never make it.

 

What does this mean?  It means that TODAY does affect what will happen tomorrow, and what you do in practice TODAY will make a difference to your meets in a few weeks time, so don't waste the opportunity you have right now, at this very moment.  MAKE    it happen, and this means you have to work in the NOW, which means TODAY'S session.  ARE YOU WITH US OR NOT?  YOUR CHOICE!!

 

HAVE A GOOD WEEK   MIKE