RACE! WIN! Thank you to coach, Michael Brooks, and coach, David Salo, for all the great - PowerPoint Presentation

1. RACE! WIN! Thank you to coach, Michael Brooks, and coach, David Salo, for all the great advice in their books.Compiled by Stacey Reinke for the Eau Claire YMCA Marlins

2. Benjamin Franklin once said, “By failing to prepare, we prepare to fail,”so Marlins, let’s prepare!

3. Racing and Attitude “Daily training builds the engine, but a swimmer’s competitive personality determines how much of that engine’s power he or she will have access to when racing” (Brooks 181).  

4. “Everyone has seen swimmers who [are disciplined and] train well [in practice] but melt under pressure at meets, and…  everyone has seen swimmers who do not train well but who love to race” (Brooks 181). Despite minimal preparation, some swimmers’ competitive nature leads them to success.In a perfect world, we would see both the dedicated daily preparation as well as the true competitive spirit in every racer in every race.

5. To race fast, we need two things:ConfidenceCompetitivenessDo you have both?

6. CONFIDENCE“Confidence comes from being prepared” (Brooks 182). We train and train and train and KNOW we are ready physically. Swimmers who work hard and smart in daily training, who are used to setting goals” (Brooks 182) and who strive to meet the goals, and who improve every day will be more confident and will therefore be more prepared to WIN!

7. To be confident, we also need to eliminate distractions during training sessions and meets. Amanda Beard has interesting perspective on this.

8. Amanda Beard, Olympian and gold medalist

9. COMPETITIVENESSRacers “must learn to take pleasure in the contest” (Brooks 181).Swimmers who are not born competitors must learn to love to race just like swimmers who do not naturally have a feel for the water have to dig deep to find it. Racing is an art the same as perfect technique is an art.Race all the time! In order to learn to love to race and eliminate “mental hang-ups about the pressure of racing” (Brooks 182) in meets, swimmers must set goals and race all the time. Welcome every opportunity to race every day in practice. View “every single repeat as [a race-] a race against their teammates, the clock, and themselves” (Brooks 182). Strive to win. Every interval, every day is an opportunity to practice racing. Swimmers can become veteran racers who are better able to put racing into perspective. 

10. Brooks’s PERSPECTIVE…“Winning is fun but not guaranteed, and losing isn’t disastrous but rather a challenge to do better next time” (Brooks 182).

11. Michael Brooks’sNine Rules of Racing

12. WIN THE CLOSE RACES! -Practice winning touch-outs in every interval every day. Winning touch-outs is easily when swimmers have practiced winning touch out every day. -If you end each interval in practice by gliding into the wall or even stopping before the wall, you will likely never finish hard in a race. You will likely get beat at the wall every time.Hey, Marlins! Yes you! Watch this finish by Jason Lezak! Watch the whole coverage. Watch it twice! Get inspired!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxy920Nd7yY

13. Watch this amazing competitor, Maya Dirado. I do not think Hosszu expected THAT solid finish!http://www.nbcolympics.com/news/watch-top-swimming-moments-2016-rio-olympic-gamesThe old guy, Anthony Ervin, knows from experience that you HAVE to win the close races!http://www.nbcolympics.com/news/watch-top-swimming-moments-2016-rio-olympic-gamesOr…if you ever thought swimming hard to the finish might not make a difference, watch this one! Just a little more UMPH and who knows….http://www.nbcolympics.com/news/watch-top-swimming-moments-2016-rio-olympic-gamesAnd this one…http://www.nbcolympics.com/news/watch-top-swimming-moments-2016-rio-olympic-games

14. ALWAYS SWIM FAST IN THE MORNING. “Local heroes can swim slow in the prelims of a local or regional invitational and still make it back for finals, so they often put out minimal effort and do only what is required. Accordingly, they often establish physical and mental habits that serve them well enough locally but backfire when they progress to the next step” (Brooks 182). Unfortunately, these big fish from little ponds end up in trouble at more competitive meets when they have to swim hard to make finals and do not know how to do that.

15. Think about this…what will it take to make it back to finals in your goal meet? In your State Meet? In your National Championship? At the next Olympic Trials?Swim every pre-lim like you will have to swim that same pre-lim race in the big meets.It stinks to qualify for a big meet, spend tons of time and money to get there, only to be in the stands at finals.

16. ALWAYS SWIM FASTER AT NIGHT. “Swimmers must show that they earned their places in the final by stepping up again” (Brooks 183).

17. CHERISH RELAYS AND SWIM EVEN FASTER.-It is an honor to swim on a relay. You owe it to your relay and whole team to do your best.-Relays are races. They are not just for fun. -They count in the final score, and in fact, they count double points.

18. IMPROVE AS THE MEET PROGRESSES. “Swimmers must find a way to swim fast no matter the circumstances” (Brooks 184). -We should never hear, “But I just swam…” “I’m tired.” “I’m sore.” I say, “So what?” -Everyone gets tired, but true champions somehow find a way to ignore that and swim fast anyway.-How do they do this? They decide to.

19. Scenario #1:Kaite Caucutt, Anne Jopke, and Gina Javurek, all Old Abe record holders, often, in high school meets, swam tough line ups. Their line up often went like this…race the 100 fly (rest the 100 free) race the 500 free, get out and immediately lead off the 4 x 50, (rest 100 back and breast), lead or anchor the 4 x 100. Katie Green often swam a leg of the medley, swam the 200 IM, the 100 fly and the 200 free relay. Very little rest and all tough races. The expectation was that they would DECIDE to WIN each of those four races…even at the end…even if they just got out of the water…even if they had not yet caught their breath. They were not permitted to go slow or make excuses about being tired. Honestly, they would not have considered doing so. They always won the close races because they ignored the fatigue, dug deep, and beat their competitors who assumed they would eventually grow weary and fail. We repeatedly won the 400 free relay at the end, because the racers prepared to and decided to win. The expectation to win, even at the end, was a given.

20. Scenario #2:In 2010, I was amazed by the results at the WIAA State Championship Meet. Aja Van Hout, Madison East student-athlete, easily won the 200 yard freestyle. She went 1:48.09! She won by nearly a second and a half. That is a big win at that venue. What really stunned the crowd, however, was when she got right back up on the blocks and blew away the field in the very next race, the 200 IM with a time of 2:01.79. She won by a full four seconds. There was no negative thought in her mind. There was no,”I can’t do it.” There was no, “I am so tired.” There was no question why her coaches entered her in those two events. She refocused and got the job done. No excuses. THAT is a champion! And then she was a >>>

21. GET TOUGHER FOR TOUGHER CONDITIONS.No coach nor swimmer should make excuses for poor practicing or racing. “I would have gone fast, but it was rainy at the Fairfax meet.” or “I couldn’t go fast because it is so windy!” “The lane line was___________.” “The blocks are too ________________.” “The lead swimmer came in slow, so I could not ________________________.” Just do it!My old swimmer from Boulder, Robyn, was born with only one arm. I never once heard her say, “This would be easier with two arms.” or “It’s not fair that I have only one arm.” The first time she scored a point, the first time she was not last in a race, was one of the highlights of my coaching career.

22. EXPECT TO SWIM FAST.“The decision to excel is made before swimmers get on the blocks” (Brooks 185).

23. RACE HARD AND FINISH THE JOB.This begins with practicing hard. Every finish in practice should be hard and technically perfect in order to get the job done in a race. If you consistently glide into the wall, stop early and walk in, swim on top of each other, you will not finish perfectly in a race either.

24. Vince Lombardi, former head coach of the Green Bay Packers, one said,“Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect.”

25. Dave Salo, coach of many champions, explained that “…how we get our athletes to rise to the level of 100% capacity is a challenge that we all face” (Salo, “Swim Like the Cheetah Runs” 8).Well, those of you who attend Wednesday sprint practices have heard the speech about “hunting.” Here is what Salo says…

26. “There is a consequence to poor performance in the cheetah’s world; if it does not go out every day and run as fast as it can, it does not eat, it does not feed its family…It is going full-bore, all-out every time it goes out and meets the day…It is always training, basically every day, at 100% capacity.The problem that we have in our sport, I think, is that we do not do that. We think we do; the kids tell us they are working as hard as they can. I am not sure that is true. I am trying to get my athletes go 100%, like the cheetah runs.But because in our sport we do not have a [life or death] consequence to poor performance—despite the fact that we are encouraging them to go full-speed, all-out, every stroke, all the details associated with being fast—we get probably 60%-70% of capacity” (Salo, “Swim Like the Cheetah Runs” 8) .

27. After pondering what inspired the cheetah, Salo wondered about the most “vicious” athletes, the ones who go all out every day, the extreme athletes. Salo discusses the fact that in order to be the best, in order to win, many athletes practice a lot but also risk a lot; some make the ultimate sacrifice to win fame or personal glory. For example, world class surfers risk drowning or being crushed on the rocks. Professional rock climbers risk falling to their deaths. Extreme skiers fall off ledges, get lost in avalanches, crash into trees, and so on. Going all-out means taking risk, but, on the upside, going all out can also mean ensuring success. Without risking a fall, a climber will never summit the peak. Without risking drowning, a surfer will never conquer and ride that “sick wave”. Without pointing those skis downhill, a skier will never make fresh tracks out of bounds. Without risk and daily practice, a cheetah does not eat. But swimming involves very little risk even when going all out.  If you need a little help figuring this out, watch and cringe on the next slide.

28. https://youtu.be/ayv41ZmNWtk

29. Afterall, John A. Shedd once explained, “A ship in harbor is safe,but that is not what ships are built for.” So Marlins…take a risk.Make a change.

30. LEARN FROM EXPERIENCE.….Your own and that of others.This applies to coaches as well as athletes. Watch the fastest heats if you are not in them. Watch footage of your own swims when possible. Maybe you can learn something about technique or strategy you had not considered.

31. Brooks’s list of Racing TacticsBe aggressive. Never give up. Give yourself a chance to do something special.Make a move in the third quarter. When others are tired, you should just get going. THAT is why we swim more yards in practice than we race in a meet. You are more than prepared to go the distance.Use the walls as a place to gain the advantage. The walls are not resting places.Manage breathing patterns. In sprints, breathing less frequently improves body position, technique, and speed. (See next slide.)Fight fatigue with focus. Fatigue compounds stroke problems and aggravates poor body position. Think about every technique pointer and each drill you have ever done. Why do we do those? So correct technique is second nature.

32. Speaking of BREATH CONTROL…“But we are trying to… convince [swimmers] that [they] do not need to breathe as often; that we can be more effective in the extraction of oxygen out of the blood cells by doing this kind of [breath control] work. We are trying to introduce…more breath-control work in our program that at least teaches to thatsubtlety of their race. That maybe you do not need that breath into the wall, likewe keep telling them; and maybe you do not need that first breath off the wall when you take that first stroke. I am trying to introduce to them some kind of discomfort that I think will enhancetheir performance to the extent that the breath control, I think, could be valuable for that performance” (Salo, “Swim Like the Cheetah Runs” 9).

33. Works CitedBrooks, Michael. Developing Swimmers. Champaign: Human Kinetics, 2011. print.Salo, David C. SprintSalo: A cerebral approach to training for peak swimming performance. Pittsburgh: Sports Support Syndicate, 1993. print. Salo, David C. “Swim Like the Cheetah Runs.” American Swimming. American Swimming Coaches Council for Sport Development. Vol 4. 2015. web.

34. Racing Dive ProgressionPlace your feet.  Toes should be over the edge, feet one hand length apart IN BOTH DIRECTIONS.  Bend at hips. Keep hips high. No butts sticking out behind your feet! Relax head and view the cross on your lane, out over the water. Relax arms down to front of block, keeping legs and hips in same place. Turn elbows to point behind you, so that when you pull on the block with arms momentum is forward.Lean out over pool to get momentum going forward…but not too far.Keep your back flat.At the “go” be sure to push with your hips to get the most forward momentum possible.Use the weight of your head and torso to throw yourself as far forward as possible, not downward.Enter water in streamline position. ONCE YOU ARE IN THE AIR, YOU MUST EXTEND HIPS OUT SO YOU ARE FLAT OR SLIGHTLY ARCHED! IMPORTANT! **You are not allowed to pike as typically that increases risk of a deep, dangerous dive.**Watch Nathan Adrian:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQ3_Uq0AJoMWatch Florent Manaudou Kazan:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CagHEzFavas

35. Team Marlins“pulling” forTeam BobberHey kids, thanks for your support!SRWe hope you are doing better every day!