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February 17, 2008 |
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Notes
of importance:
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1.
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Welcome
to the intense portion of the season! Meet deadlines are imminent
all over the calendar, so please be aware of yours. Junior
Olympic and District meet packets and entry deadlines were recently
posted, so please be sure to check the Meets
& Results page. On a related note: District swimmers,
your taper starts this week! Giddy up!
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2.
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Speaking
of meets, if you made a state cut at a high school meet that you did
not repeat during the USA Swimming season, we need proof of times as
soon as possible. Please contact your high school coach or let us
know immediately if we need to make that contact for you. Boys:
we can't wait to see you again! Make sure your USA Swimming
registration is current so you can compete with us at State Meet.
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3.
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There
is an awful lot of sickness going around right now. Fight back,
stay healthy! For some helpful hints on how to stay healthy,
review the Coaches'
Corner from December 14 here.
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Forget "cellar door," Taper Time is the
most beautiful phrase in the English language.
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It's what you wait for all season,
that time when you start feeling like you had too much sugar all of the
time. You're bouncing off the walls, driving your parents crazy,
scaring all of your friends: oh yes my friends, taper time is fast
approaching. To arm you with the knowledge to make yours the best
experience possible, please think about some of the following taper
principles. |
It's all in your head, individually and
collectively. Let's talk football (because a certain
coach never misses an opportunity to do so). If you did not watch
this year's Super Bowl, chances are you've at least heard about
it. The perfect 18 - 0 New England Patriots were upset by the New
York Giants. The Giants started their season as an 0-2 team,
under heavy criticism from the media and their own fans. Their
quarterback, Eli Manning, was living in the shadow of not only his
superstar brother but his legendary father as well. Though the
odds appeared stacked against them, the Giants ended up Super Bowl
champions. How? What happened in the past has no effect
on the next game. The comparisons, the rough starts, even the
in-season loss to their Bowl opponent, all of these were simply
precursors to the moment at hand, not determining factors. They
walked into the Super Bowl believing they
could win, not focusing on prior losses or circumstance. Focus
forward, enjoy
taper!
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Look for easy speed. It's
hard to be accurate when you're tired! When your body is
overtaxed,
you go into survival mode. Your body essentially finds that
autopilot function, the motions that don't require extra effort for
thought and analysis. How does this translate? Most of the
time, you end up settling back into familiar, bad habits. As you
become more rested however, longer, more efficient strokes should
become easier to maintain. Your walls -- as always -- control the
speed of your straight-away swimming and should be worked
constantly. Never forget: you are fastest in the first five
meters of any length than you are at any other point in the race; the
faster you are off of your walls, the faster you will race. As we
roll through the taper period, you'll notice that sets will be designed
with enough rest to focus on the key structural elements of your turns
(i.e., speed carried into the wall, toes-to-butt spins, good lineups
with streamlined hands, posture and tallness in the transition,
powerful breakouts) so take advantage! Speaking of opportunity,
there will be a lot of race-specific work happening, but there will
also be a continuation of non-event work. Think about the
elements of what you are learning in your off-stroke work and how some
of those principles are applicable to your stronger events. Every
move you make has applicable function, so continue to think
critically. The minor adjustments made in
the
next few weeks can have a major impact on your upcoming races.
Minor adjustments already made will do the same.
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Sometimes you have to slow down in order
to ultimately go fast. The law of diminishing returns
states that in a production system with fixed and variable inputs (say
body size and number of strokes), beyond some point, each additional
unit of variable input yields less and less additional output.
Um... what? Sometimes it holds true that the more effort you put
in, the less positive result you actually see. This is why we try
to stress the concept of efficiency. If you're feeling a little
less than efficient however, don't panic! We're not worried if
you are feeling sluggish, but we are worried if you start to doubt
yourself. At the beginning of taper you are still in the throes
of a hard lactate phase. When your body has not yet adapted to
that lactate, you are bound to have some pretty ugly swims. In
fact, those of you with years of experience
under your belts will
recall that your best championship meets came on the heels of some
sludgy-feeling swimming. If we don't pay the price for anaerobic
endurance now, we won't have it when we need it later. Keep
your spirits high and always be ready to race, no matter how your limbs
are feeling. Smiles and laughter are the best ways to stay in the
zone of mind over matter, and you are so adept at that.
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Your body has very specific needs during
taper time. Don't like change?
Obsessive-compulsive? Superstitious? Excellent!
Ritual is very powerful tool in the world of sports. Adopting
pattern fosters security and familiarity, two factors that diminish
stress. If you are less stressed, you have more energy to devote
to performance. Additionally, the concept of ritual sets rhythms
and we all know that rhythm is at the heart of what we do. Maybe
you need to cut out some superfluous elements of your life in order to
streamline your patterns, and that may take a little sacrifice.
Study habits, interaction with teammates, sleep patterns... all of
these things are little affectations that either enhance or corrode
your everyday life (and, therefore, your practice habits).
Self discipline is an important step on the path to self-actualization,
and those who are self-actualized have much better results when
controlling their own outcomes. Proving to yourself that nothing
can beat you -- not even your own demons -- is tremendously empowering,
and perhaps the most important accomplishment you could ever achieve.
Remember that practices will become more diversified as
we try to meet individual needs. Some will be doing paltry
yardage while others will still be trucking hard. As much as
each taper will be suited to the individual swimmer, there are still
several principles that everyone needs to practice:
1]
get enough sleep
2] communicate with coaches,
teachers, family and friends. If you have doubts and fears,
you're not alone.
3] eat properly keeping in mind
refined sugars are not good but complex carbs help recovery. Eat
tons of fruits and vegetables.
4] take a proper approach to
workouts to maximize your potential
5] handle stress as quickly as
possible, don't put it off
There is nothing new
here. The principles remain the same. Keep the following
idea in mind:
VISION
- EFFORT = FANTASY
EFFORT - VISION = DRUDGERY
VISION + EFFORT = THE HOPE OF
THE WORLD
The time is approaching to let
our true selves deliver the promise we have prepared for. Find
yourself -- your authentic being -- then let it flow out with no
impediments. One of the greatest authors of maxims in history,
Publilius Syrus, said "audacity
augments courage; hesitation, fear." Be bold in your preparation
and you will be bold in your performance. Leave no room for
doubt, not even your own.
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For
Your Consideration
from
Kristin |
A
few of you have expressed to me some concerns about your own practice
attendance recently. With deeply apologetic tones, you've offered
a litany of reasons why we have not seen your smiling faces as often as
we should. Obviously some of you have been fabulous in
attendance, but I think this is relevant to everyone, as I am sure
there will be days when you have inner arguments with yourself on
whether making it to workout is really paramount. For your
consideration this week, I offer you the modified text of an email I
sent in reply to one of you on the issue of attendance.
Dear
Swimmer -
Any of the kids that have had me as a
coach for any length of time will
tell you that one of my most commonly uttered phrases is, "I am not
interested in your excuses." I don't say it to be mean, I just
say it because really, it doesn't matter to me why you haven't been
there, only that you haven't. If, in your own soul, the reasons
that you have been absent from practice have been more nurturing and
constructive to you as a human being overall than the benefits you
would have garnered by being at practice, that is what really
matters. If there is guilt from lack attendance, my guess is that
the alternatives you have given yourself have not rated higher on the
positivity scale than working toward your goals. Yes, of course I
am disappointed that you haven't been there. I enjoy seeing you
every day and I like you enough to not want you to experience
regret. You, however, have to be the one to ultimately want it
and there can be no substitutions for the steps it takes to reach
achievement. I hope to see you soon.
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| We
are all made of stars, |
Damon,
Kristin and Mr. Edwards
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