Languages
Subscribe to site feed
September, 2011
Swimming Psyche Outs. How to be in control, confident and composed when faced with psyche outs (and how to use them to your advantage!!). Part One.
“The highest reward for a person’s toil is not what they get for it but what they become by it.” John ruskin
How many times do you hear a football player or baseballer or basketballer say something like “It was tough out there today. The other team really psyched us out”.
Sportspeople talk about the psyche out as something someone else did to them – that someone somehow did something mystical or magical that impacted on their performance.
Lots of people talk about psyching out…………..so what is it?
What is a psyche out? Read more
Republished by Blog Post Promoter
September 30, 2011 | Comments Off
Tags: Mental Skills and Attitudes, Swimming Coaching, Swimming Racing Tips, Swimming Technique, Swimming Training Tips
The Trials of Teenage Swimmers: A Guide for Parents and Coaches.
Every week I receive at least one email from a frustrated parent or coach that goes something like this:
My daughter (or son or swimmer if the email is from a coach) is in her mid teens. She has been swimming for over five years. She was successful as a freestyler when she was younger but she has not done a PB for some time and as result she is now feeling down, un-motivated and frustrated.
She is talking about giving up.
What can I do to motivate her and keep her swimming?
Signed,
Concerned Parent (or Coach).
This article is a summary of what I have learnt about this issue over the past 20 years. I sincerely hope it helps you. Read more
Republished by Blog Post Promoter
September 30, 2011 | Comments Off
Tags: Drop out rates, Swimmers, Swimming, Swimming and Parenting, Swimming Coaching, Teenage swimmer
Creating a Winning Swimming Club Culture – excellence, environment, everything, everyday, everybody.
Every swimming team has a unique culture.
Some teams have a culture of fun, enjoyment, family and friends.
Some teams have a culture of hard work, discipline, dedication and training.
Some teams are based at schools, colleges and universities and their culture is a reflection of the culture of the institution.
The culture of some teams comes from their location, the ethnic background of the people in the team, the climate or the city they live and train in.
Every team is unique and every culture is special.
But for many teams, there comes a time when the coaches, swimmers, families and supporters decide they want to become a winning team. They decide to set some serious competitive goals and work together as a team to achieve them.
And to become a winning team requires the development of a winning culture. Read more
Republished by Blog Post Promoter
September 30, 2011 | 1 Comment
Tags: Competitive Swimming, Swimming Club Culture, Swimming Clubs and Swimming Associations
Mental Toughness for Swimming: Building a Bulletproof Brain.
Can you imagine yourself standing at the end of the pool at your next Swim Meet, hands on your hips, with a huge smile on your face and laughing as all the usual challenges and problems like nervousness, anxiety, pressure, “psyche-outs”, emotions and noise bounce off you like bullets bouncing off Superman’s chest?
Would you like to be mentally stronger – mentally tougher, so that nothing can affect you, nothing can harm you, and nothing can stop you from swimming like superman?
Would you like to be so mentally tough that you go to Swim Meets filled with with courage, calm, confidence and composure (as opposed to feeling weak, wimpy and wishing you could be somewhere else?).
Here’s how: Read more
Republished by Blog Post Promoter
September 30, 2011 | Comments Off
The Top Ten Technique Tips for Every Swimmer
1. Effective propulsive movements in swimming go from SLOW to FAST.
In swimming, effective propulsive movements are SLOW to FAST.
In Fly, you reach long, feel the water, catch then accelerate through the stroke to recovery. Same in back. Same in breast (arms and legs). Same in free.
It starts with an effective feel on entry and a strong catch then…..throughout the stroke it is acceleration that makes all the difference.
2. The relationship between HIPS and HEAD is critical.
There is a critical relationship between the HIPS and the HEAD in swimming. Simply, when the head is up, the hips go down and if the hips are down three important things happen:
- Hips down means you kick down – instead of back;
- Hips down means your body is in an inefficient position;
- Hips down means that your body is not streamlined.
Be aware of this relationship and keep your head and hips in the right positions. Read more
Republished by Blog Post Promoter
September 30, 2011 | Comments Off
Tags: Swim, Swimmers, Swimming, Swimming Coaching, Swimming Competition Tips, Swimming Racing Tips, Swimming Technique, Swimming Training Tips
Super Starts: How to get faster sooner and leave your competitors languishing in the slow lane.
Speed. Speed. Speed. And more speed.
It’s what swimming is all about.
There are no gold medals for the person who can swim the most number of 100s or the slowest 400 or even for the swimmer who has the highest heart rate.
Winning in swimming is about one thing and one thing alone….speed. You swim faster than your competitors…you win. Simple as that.
So if swimming is all about speed, what is speed all about? Read more
September 30, 2011 | Comments Off
Tags: Coaching, Competitive Swimming, Elite swimming, High Performance Swimming, Mental Skills and Attitudes, success, successful, Swim, Swim Meets, Swimmers, Swimming Coaching, Swimming Competition Tips, Swimming Racing Tips, Swimming Technique, winning
