By Head Coach: Tone Coughlin
Do you ever feel bored at practice, wonder why the coaches ask us to do these workouts, feel like you should get more out of the workout, and want to swim strokes & sets that you are good at? We all want to point the finger and put the blame on someone else, it’s never our fault or we wouldn’t like to admit we are wrong. We’ve all done it, it’s human nature. The truth is, it takes a true athlete to admit he/she made a mistake, that they are responsible for their actions and are willing to own up to them. One of my all time favorite quotes by Thomas Fuller “Bad excuses are worse than none.”
I see a lot of things as black and white, it’s part of my coaching philosophy and what I use to train myself as an athlete. Master Yoda said, “Do or do not, there is no try” which sums up to Nike’s slogan, “Just do it”. There is also a lot more to that meaning, and I challenge you to think about it and use it to your advantage.
Being an athlete is more than coming to practice and doing the workouts, diet, recovery, massage, ice & heat, flexibility, strength training, setting specific & attainable goals, cross-training, and studying all need to be part of your training regimen in order to maximize your potential.
I teach all my swimmers to think all the time when they are swimming. What is your body position, what is your head doing, are your arms in the right place, are you kicking, are you breathing properly, is your timing on or off? These are all example questions that you should be thinking about when you swim, because I know for a fact that NO ONE has perfect technique! We strive for perfection, and don’t settle for what you think you are already good at.
Use your coaches as a tool. Sometimes they are distracted by focusing on a swimmer that isn’t up to par yet, or thinking about the goal of the next set, whatever. It never hurts to ask and they will be more than willing to help you out.
Ask yourself when you don’t feel challenged during a set.
- What is my body position
- Am I breathing properly and at the right time
- Are my hips close to the surface
- Are my turns fast and efficient
- Am I moving as much water as I can towards the direction in which I came from
- Am I breathing into my turns
- Am I doing streamline off the walls 100% of the time
- Am I kicking properly and enough
- Am I dropping my elbows
Remember, your success starts with YOU! The coaches can guide you, but ultimately you have to make it happen!
