In 2013, I was lucky enough to be invited to speak at the Australian Swimming Coaches and Teachers Association annual convention on the beautiful Gold Coast, Australia.

This was the tenth time I have been invited to present some ideas at the convention and it is something I always look forward to and enjoy.

For those of you who missed it, here are my notes – a FREE 33 page booklet on coaching for you to download and enjoy.

Wayne

© 2013, Wayne Goldsmith. All rights reserved.

Club championships programs are not easy to put together – after all, you are usually racing the same people you see day after day after day after day after day……. (you get the idea).

Many clubs lament that their Club Championships are not well supported and are generally disappointing in terms of attendance and commitment from swimmers and families. Well guess what??? It’s your – (as in the organisers of the event) – fault!

If people don’t want to buy the “product” you are selling, sell something else! If people do not attend your Club Champs – don’t blame the people – don’t blame other sports – don’t blame the economic crisis – change what you are selling!

If you want a really great Club Championship program, the trick is to combine the four Ps:

• Performance – Club championships are- after all-about racing.
• Parents – Get them involved and get them wet! This is the one chance all year to have some family fun.
• Practice – Club Championships are not the end of the story….for many swimmers Club Championships are the beginning of the competitive season and it’s a great opportunity for practicing skills, strokes, technique, dives, starts, turns, finishes, warm ups, cool downs, stretches, race day diet, mental skills and other racing skills.
• Party – have a really fun day with the families, friends and other fantastic people who make swimming the wonderful sport it is!

And, here are four really dumb things to avoid unless you want to have a really rotten Club Championship program – the four Cs:

• Coaches – as in leaving them out of the planning of Club Championships. Big mistake. Coaches must be an integral part of the Championship program committee so that the program reflects what they are trying to achieve with their overall planning and periodisation strategy;
• Change – as in “don’t change”. Some Club Championship committees just keep rolling over the same program year after year then wonder why people stop coming! Make it different, interesting, innovative and enjoyable by throwing in some new ideas every year;
• Catering – as in offer junk food. Big challenge for all Clubs is to raise money for things like equipment, coaching fees, competitive travel etc. But try not to do it by taking the easy options like providing junk food at Club Championships which might be great for profits but sends the wrong messages to swimmers and parents;
• Competition – as in don’t make it one! The greatest challenge in creating a great Club Championship program is balancing fun with fast racing. It is important that Club Championships are really enjoyable but make sure they also provide the right environment for real competition and challenge swimmers to produce their best. Don’t award frivolous prizes just for attending the Club Championships – it devalues the hard work and effort of swimmers who really want to achieve something.

Here are the first 15 of 50 ideas to help you create a Positively, Powerfully, Perfect program:

1. Radical relays – boys vs. girls, older swimmers vs. younger swimmers, dads vs. mums, coaches vs. swimmers………..millions of relay ideas.
2. Make sure your CLUB championship program mirrors the program of the next level meet, e.g. If the next level meet is your State Championships, try to make your Club Championship program the same  – i.e. same events, in the same order – so that your Club Championships are preparing your team to be successful at the next level.
3. Have parents’ races!
4. Have parents and kids relays!
5. 50s of each event.
6. 100s of each event.
7. 200s of each event.
8. Fin races. i.e. race fly, back and free with fins on.
9. What about throwing in some Kicking races?
10. Invite qualified, experienced State or National level race starters, judges and officials to make sure the quality and standard of your meet is the best it can be. And ask them for a written report so you can fine tune skills and techniques before your swimmers race at high level meets.
11. Change your Club Championships program and format EVERY year. Nothing turns off swimmers and families more than having to sit through the same races, in the same order for the same prizes year after year.
12. Make everyone welcome. Parents and families who are new to the Club and who are attending their first ever Club Championships should be made to feel like old friends and part of the swimming club “family”.
13. More is less………don’t be tempted to make the day longer just because you can! Families are busier now than ever and if you want them to keep coming back, make Club Championships enjoyable and short! Leave them wanting more.
14. Make awards relevant for age groups. Another big mistake Clubs make is to award the same medals, ribbons and certificates to 6 years olds as they do to 16 year olds. This is a guaranteed way to push your teenage swimmers towards other sports! How about DVDs as prizes? Or gift vouchers for cool clothing stores? Or Nintendo Games? Or gift vouchers for the I-Store (if you don’t know what this is, you are in real trouble). Or gym memberships? Or training equipment?
15. Combined events scores, e.g. add together each swimmer’s times for their 50s in each stroke and compare it to their 200 IM time. Whoever gets the 200 IM time closest to the 4 x 50s wins a prize, e.g. 50 fly time plus 50 back time plus 50 breast time plus 50 free time added together compared to 200 IM time.

See Part Two and Part three of this Post.

Wayne Goldsmith and Helen Morris

© 2013, Wayne Goldsmith. All rights reserved.

Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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.

Issue Number 1: Not every swimmer can be an Olympic Champion.

The first thing to accept is that not every child can be or should be an Olympic champion. Some kids are great at mathematics. Some are outstanding writers. Some are brilliant musicians. And some are amazing swimmers. Accept your child for the incredible human being they are regardless of whether it takes them 50 seconds or 150 seconds to swim 100 freestyle.

Solution: Encourage your child to find their passion – to find the thing they love to do. If they love what they do, they will persist with it and persevere during the tough times. If that passion happens to be swimming – great: chances are they will become very very good at swimming. If that passion happens to be music or dance or study or hockey, then give them the same love, support and encouragement.

Issue Number 2: Your child is not a swimmer. They are a person who swims. There is a huge difference.

It is dangerous to define anyone by what they do. The reason for this is simple. If they can no longer do the thing they are defined by, their self image, self confidence and feelings of self-worth can suffer incredible damage. Many teenagers who were very good as young swimmers and who then find they are no longer excelling in the pool in their teens often find themselves grappling with difficult emotional and self-image issues. In the worst cases, this can lead to more significant psychological problems.

Solution: Be reluctant to think of your child as a “swimmer”. Don’t introduce them as “John the swimmer” or “Susie the butterflyer”. Swimming is just one aspect of their life and it is important to keep everything in perspective and ensure that their life is always in balance.

Issue Number 3: Your child is not a freestyler or backstroker or any other stroker if they are under 15 years of age.

Another huge mistake parents and coaches make is to categorise young swimmers as a one stroker too early. There is no such thing as a world class 10 year old backstroker.There is no such thing as a champion 11 year old butterflyer. There are just kids who happen to swim one stroke a little better than they swim the other strokes.

Solution: Forget medals, trophies and accolades. Swimming is something you would like to think your kids will do for the entire lives. It’s a great way to stay fit, healthy and even one day it may save their life (or the life of someone they love). Encourage them to develop great technique and outstanding skills in all strokes then see what happens as they grow, develop and mature.

Issue Number 4: Sometimes you have to accept the fact that it is over.

This can be a tough thing to deal with but sometimes you just have to accept it is over and swimming is something your child did when they were younger.

This can be tough for swimmers, coaches and parents to accept, particularly knowing how many long, hard training sessions, early mornings, weekend swim meets, time and money have been invested to get this far.

Remember that the coach and you as a parent want nothing more than to see your child grow as an individual and become all they can be. Also remember that if your child can walk away from swimming without an Olympic Gold medal but with a great sense of discipline, self-confidence, a life-long affinity for water, a habit for fitness and a healthy life style, then the journey has been very much worth it.

Solution: Make sure that the decision to retire is the right one and it has been made for all the right reasons. “I don’t like the coach” is not a good reason to retire. Nor is “I don’t like Steve the naughty boy in my lane”. Retirement should be the end result of a thoughtful, un-emotional, logical, methodical process which challenges the swimmer to be honest with themselves and others about the real reasons behind it.

Issue Number 5: Sometimes focusing on the problem only makes the solution harder to find.

This is a very common problem. For example,  ”Julie” was a great backstroker when she was young. For some reason – (and there are millions of reasons why kids stop improving) – her backstroke times stopped improving. So, the coach added more backstroke to her program. And still no improvement. So he added more backstroke to her program. Still nothing. So she moved to another coach who gave her nothing but backstroke and still her times did not improve. Finally after three years with no improvement in backstroke, she gave up, heartbroken and disillusioned. This performance plateau is very common and every swimmer experiences it at some time.

Solution: If the swimmer has been classified as a “backstroker” for some time and is getting frustrated about not improving in backstroke then don’t-do-backstroke! Encourage them to focus on IM or butterfly and to forget all about backstroke for six months. This “de-pressuring” the situation often is the catalyst to not only great improvement in the other strokes but when they return to their main stroke quite often it has also improved.

Issue Number 6: You might be part of the problem.

Every time I have suggested to a parent that they might be part of the problem I have either been abused, ignored or dismissed as not understanding the situation, told “but Wayne, you don’t know our daughter” and many other things but the facts are sometimes the parents are the source of the problem.

Solution: Stop being part of the problem! An eight year old is different to a three year old. A teenager is different to a nine year old. As your kids change, so too does your relationship with them.

When they are young swimmers your role is to love, guide, help, support, encourage, protect and care for them. In many ways, you are helping to drive their involvement in swimming. However, when they are teenagers, your role as a parent (or coach) changes so that you play a support role and they must take responsibility for and ownership of their own training, preparation and competition. Want to really help your teenage swimmer? Step back, do less and give them the opportunity to drive their own swimming careers.

Issue Number 7: You can’t be objective about your own child.

This is something else which is difficult to convince parents to accept – but you can’t be objective about your own child. You can’t love something so much, care about something so deeply, be attached to something so closely and at the same time be objective when making judgements about the things they do.

There may be one hundred children in the pool all swimming up and down but you only see one of them. In this environment it is difficult to know what is real and what is perception. In the past twenty years I can count the number of parents I have met who have successfully coached their own children to international success on one hand.

Solution: Form a “performance partnership” between you, your child and your child’s coach. In this partnership, each partner has an important job to do. Your child’s job is to prepare and perform to the best of their ability. Their coach’s job is to work with the swimmer and ensure they realise their potential. Your job is to provide a supportive, loving, values based environment which gives your child the opportunity to be all they can be.

Issue Number 8: The Problem is not always a swimming problem.

This is particularly true when you are working with teenage swimmers. Think about what they are going through. Gender issues, growth and development issues, social development issues, sexual issues, studying hard, making the transition to adult-hood, thinking about their careers, learning to drive, building relationships…and trying to swim fast. Quite often a problem with swimming performance is reflection of a problem (or problems) in other areas of their lives.

Solution: Make sure you know your kids and are in touch in some way with every aspect of their lives. Keep in touch with everything they are doing, what they feel, who their friends are, what they are passionate about, what subjects they enjoy most at school etc. It is only when you know your kids that you can know what the real problem may be.

Issue Number 9: Changing Coaches will only help if the Coach was the problem.

Every week I get an email asking me to intervene in a young swimmer’s career and to give advice about how they can improve. And every week I give the same answer…”go and talk to your coach”.

A lot of parents and swimmers will change coaches hoping to find a breakthrough in swimming performance. In some cases, there is no doubt changing coaches can have a positive effect but, changing coaches will only help if it was the coach who was the problem in the first place. If the problem is time management, attitude, a lack of life balance, over-parenting, the lack of a strong work ethic or some other problem, then changing coaches will not help. Swimmers with “baggage” will take that baggage anywhere they go.

Solution: Create and sustain a great relationship with the coach. You should feel comfortable meeting with the coach and discussing your child’s swimming. And be honest about your child’s character, habits, attitudes and values. Changing coaches is sometimes the chosen solution when kids just don’t want to work hard and are looking for an easier option. There can be many reasons for changing coaches – make sure that if you make this decision that it is for the right reasons.

Issue Number 10: What you are experiencing is perfectly normal and natural.

Many of the emails and calls I receive from worried and concerned parents of teenage swimmers are quite emotional, moving and full of frustration and pain. And it is perfectly normal and understandable. In most cases the parents want nothing more than some help, some ideas and some guidance to help them and their child deal with a challenging situation.

There is no magic, miracle solution to dealing with the trials and tribulations of the teenage swimmer. There are no supplements, no creams, no special equipment, no vitamins, no swim-wear, no gimmicks, no gizmos – there is nothing you can do or nothing you can buy which will – by itself solve the problem. It takes patient, perseverance parenting and the commitment to never stop trying to be the best mum or dad you can be.

Solution: Keep loving them.

Summary:

1. If you are the parent or coach of a teenage swimmer who is going through a tough time and not improving, please be assured you are not alone. I have spoken with hundreds of swimming families around the world over the past twenty years and what you are going through is very very common and very very normal;
2. The key message is that it is unwise to closely connect your child’s personality with their performance - that is, it is dangerous to define a person by what they do. Your child is not a swimmer. They are a remarkable human being who chooses to swim as one of the things they enjoy doing;
3. And accept that what happens is sometimes just what happens. We all want the best for our children. We all want them to be happy, successful, healthy and to enjoy every moment of their lives. If they win the Olympic Gold medal great. If they don’t - hey – we will love them just as much and be with them every minute of the wonderful journey that life is.

Wayne Goldsmith – sincere thanks to Debbie, Graeme, Mark and Greg for their input putting this together – that makes it over 100 years of coaching experience behind this article.

© 2013, Wayne Goldsmith. All rights reserved.

Republished by Blog Post Promoter

1. Set your self a daily goal to improve by one tenth of one inch. Anyone can improve one tenth of an inch each day. Over a week that’s almost an inch. That’s about 4 inches a month. That’s about 3 feet a year…..and 12 feet every Olympic cycle.
2. If you are in a pace line (i.e. a line of swimmers) chase the feet of the person in front of you.
3. If you are leading the pace line, imagine the person behind you is a shark or crocodile and you need to make sure you stay ahead of them!
4. Promise yourself a small gift or reward for improving your skills and drills – reward excellence in technique – technique is the key to swimming success.
5. Encourage other swimmers – the better your team mates perform – the more it will lift you and your performance – “a rising tide lifts all the boats”.
6. Keep a training diary and write in it three things you improved each day.
7. Keep a PB record sheet on your wall. Watch how you improve over time.
8. Remember you are special. How many people are prepared to get out of bed at 5 am, train hard and balance school, swimming and life the way you do?
9. Link your seasonsby making your short course PBs this season your long course PBs next season.
10. Make it your aim to have your 100 yard kick time no more than 10 seconds slower than your 100 yard PB swim time.
11. Reward PBs with things that will help you do more PBs. For example, if you do a PB, reward yourself with a copy of the latest swimming magazine.
12. Understand what motivates you – not anyone else – what motivates you! If you are motivated by winning, then do everything in your power to prepare to win. If you are motivated by learning new skills and challenging yourself, do it. The key to motivation is knowing what it is that motivates you.
13. Make a PARTNER PROMISE. Find someone in the team who wants to swim fast and make a commitment to them. For example, make a commitment that you will help each other achieve your goals. Each session say something positive to each other, encourage each other, meet at the pool early and do some extra work together, support each other through the tough times. Sometimes knowing you have made a commitment to help someone else is a great motivator for you.
14. Play imagination games in training like imagining the final lap of every set is the final lap of the 2012 Olympic final and all you need to do is work hard for a few more strokes and you will win the gold medal and break the world record. These imagination games are great fun and very motivating.
15. Make up some unusual, fun and weird goals that mean something only to you. Like how many times can you say “sausages” on a single breath or what’s the weirdest stroke you can come up with. Having fun is the best motivation of all.
16. Find a fast beat song that you enjoy and play it before you get in the water. “Feel the rhythm” and the beat when you are swimming and feel it lift you when you get tired.
17. Do your favourite stretches that make you feel good – as you start to stretch, you will find you begin to relax into the right mind set for fast swimming.
18. Imagine you are finishing a race when you pass someone in the next lane. Thinking about it will ignite the competitive fires!
19. Think about how heavy you thought the weight was when you first started doing gym.  How much heavier are you lifting now?
20. How many push ups / sit ups / chin ups do you do now? How many did you used to do? Be proud of all your success. Enjoy the journey.
21. Think of the other swimmers that you have beaten recently that used to beat you. Give yourself permission to be proud of your resilience, your toughness, your perseverance and your character.
22. Imagine how good you will feel when you go home, have dinner and curl up in bed tonight? – Now work hard so that comes quickly!
23. Challenge yourself to turn (or start or finish) better than ever. Before you know it you will feel better and motivated to train hard.
24. Think of each lap as an opportunity: an opportunity to improve in an area of your swimming, which will bypass you if you don’t take it.  Remember, someone somewhere IS taking that opportunity.
25. Ask a top swimmer (or successful athlete in any sport) what they do to stay motivated. Learn from them. Copy them.
26. Work hard – sometimes not thinking about it – and just doing it – is all the motivation you need.
27. Do the old NEVER ENDING STORY routine. Make up a funny story and tell someone in your lane a small piece of it between repeats. See how long you can make the story. It really motivates you to get to the end of the pool fast (and start telling the “never ending” story).
28. Get some support!!! Talk to some friends about motivation and every day support each other, encourage each other – motivate each other.
29. Put some photos of Michael Phelps, Natalie Coughlin and other swimming greats up on your wall. Imagine about what they would be doing, what they would be thinking and how they would be training each day.
30. Finish off one task every day. Nothing motivates you like finishing something! Might be something as simple as homework. Or a chore at home. Just finish something.
31. Shave down in training – no reason – it just feels great.
32. Stay positive. Everyone has tough days – the difference is in how you allow the tough days make you feel. Tough times fade…..tough people never do.
33. Say one positive, encouraging thing to every person in the team: coaches, swimmers, parents, pool attendants – everyone. You will be surprised how motivating others will motivate you.
34. Believe anything is possible – never, ever stop believing that.
35. Buy yourself a new, fast swimming costume.
36. Switch your brain on to something else. Focus on improving in another area of your life – school, music, another sport……..success breeds success.
37. Remember the three best things that ever happened to you. Just the thought of these amazing things will change the way you look at life.
38. Put up motivation quotes all over the place. Some good places are next to your alarm clock, on your swim bag, on the top of the bathroom mirror and in your training diary.
39. Get to training early and motivate some of the younger swimmers in your club. They look up to you and admire you the same way you look up to and admire older and more successful swimmers. Being a role model for others will trigger some really great, positive motivation messages in your brain.
40. Be the first. For example, get to the pool first on January 1^st and be the first in the team to swim a lap, a mile, two miles, five miles and so on. Striving to be the first is a great driving force and very motivating.
41. Try a new sports drink. Or sports bar. Or a new all natural diet. Motivate your “inside”.
42. Do something everyday that is “impossible”. Try kicking 50 metres underwater at maximum speed. Or sprinting 60 metres on a single breathe. Or aiming to do a PR from a wall push off (i.e. no dive). Keep trying one impossible thing each day and sooner or later the impossible becomes reality.
43. Form a triathlon team with two friends at school who cycle and run and enter in a local triathlon.
44. Lead the team cheers at your next meet. Even better, get some of your team together and write some new team cheers….and lead them at the next meet.
45. Allow yourself to be proud of you. Look in the mirror and take time to realise what an amazing person you are.
46. Do something away from the pool to help your swimming. Take an aerobics class to improve your fitness. Do a martial arts course to build strength, balance and confidence. Take up dancing to improve rhythm and co-ordination.
47. Play a counting game. Swimmers are great at these. Count tiles, laps, turns, breaths, strokes…………….you know the drill.
48. Have repeat or two in each set which is PERFECT. If you are swimming 10 x 50 always make the second, fifth, eighth and tenth ones perfect.
49. Challenge someone much faster than you to a race at the end of training. Nothing motivates like a real challenge.
50. Smile. It is impossible to smile and not feel better.

Wayne and Helen

© 2013, Wayne Goldsmith. All rights reserved.

Republished by Blog Post Promoter

“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?

Pressure – Pressure – Pressure – Pressure.

A psyche out is the words, actions and behaviors of another person trying to increase pressure on you and as a result try to negatively influence your performance.

Pressure is a misunderstood concept in sport.

• Pressure is not the race;
• It is not the crowd;
• It is not the gold medal;
• It is not the opposition.

It is something you put on yourself – it is something you create: it is something you generate.

The psyche out has one goal – to convince you to put more pressure on yourself.

Even the best swimmers will perform poorly if they lack confidence and can not deal with the pressure of competition.

Think about swimming in your home pool on a warm summer morning with your friends. It feels great. It feels relaxed. It feels comfortable.

Now imagine 50,000 people sitting in the stands around the pool watching you swim.

How do you feel? Nervous? Tense? Uncomfortable? Under pressure?

Why?

The pool hasn’t got any longer. The water hasn’t changed. The only thing that has changed is you – and your perception that swimming in front of 50,000 people is different (and more pressure) than swimming in front of a few moms and dads.

Pressure is something you generate in response to your perception of the situation.

Why do some people try to psyche out others?

Nothing impacts on performance like pressure! The main reason people try psyche out others is to artificially create pressure by increasing doubts, fears and insecurities in their opposition and try to erode their confidence.

Remember this…………Pressure places people in positions for poor performance.

Why are psyche outs such an effective strategy?

Your attitude and your confidence determine your destiny. Anything that impacts on your attitude and destroys your confidence is potentially damaging to your performance.

The psyche out is a tool some people use to attack attitude and kill confidence to get you to increase pressure on yourself.

What kinds of psyche outs are there?

Psyche outs come in two basic forms – the Dirty Downers and the Positive Power Plays.

• Dirty Downers (DD) are those psyche outs which focus on bringing people down through criticism, sarcasm and down right meanness.
• Positive Power Plays (PPP) are psyche outs which give you strength and confidence without putting anyone else down.

Dirty Downers: Where do they happen?

Dirty Downers can happen any where – the locker room, at the end of the pool during warm up, in the ready room, in the marshalling area, behind the blocks…….you name it, the Dirty Downer can hit you anytime…anywhere.

Who does them?

Thankfully not many swimmers are Dirty Downer Do-ers!

Dirty downer do-ers are often swimmers who lack confidence in themselves and decide their best tactic (and their best chance of winning) lies not in developing their own confidence and self belief but in destroying the confidence of others.

Make yourself psyche out proof.

Here’s the secret……………………..psyche outs only work if you let them!

It’s not the psyche outs that are the problem –it’s how you respond to them.

Dirty downer do-ers can find fault in your appearance, your clothing, your hairstyle, your club, your friends, your family, your coach, your training program, your swim gear, your body odor, your dog………but the important thing is to learn to control how you respond to the comments and criticisms.

A Dirty Downer Do-er is trying to get you to lose confidence and get you to create pressure on yourself by making you feel inadequate in comparison to them.

Forget comparing yourself to other people – compare yourself with how close you are to your own full potential.

Some of the best (and worst) psyche outs:

A few leading swimmers were asked to talk about the best and worst psyche outs they have ever heard. Here are some real beauts!

“Is that swim suit really small or have you just put on weight lately”

“Are you still swimming? I heard you gave up a long time ago”

“You look really tired – are you ok?”

“Those goggles are really old. I can’t believe you still wear them”

Regardless of the psyche out – remember the secret – the psyche out only works if you respond to the pressure it is trying to create!

What they say and what they mean………………………….

Often the Dirty Downer Do-er will give hints about how they really think and feel in their psyche outs.

If they are feeling a bit flat, tired and fatigued, they might try to hit you with a “hey you look tired and worn out” comment.

Listen to what they say but also listen to what they mean:

For example:

They say: “I have been doing 10 sessions a week and I am in the best shape of my career” .

They mean: “I am not really sure how i am going to go today”

They say “We’re swimming through the meet. We’re not even tapering for this meet”

They mean: “I need an excuse in case I don’t swim well today”

They say:“We’ve just done a hell week”

They mean: “I am really tired”

They say: “We’re doing 50 miles a week”

They mean: “I am really tired”

They say: “I’ve just done a huge PB in the gym”

They mean: “I need to make you think i am stronger than i really am”

So………what do you do when a Dirty Downer Do-er strikes??????????????

Read Part Two ………Ten things you can do to respond to a psyche out-er!

Wayne Goldsmith

© 2013, Wayne Goldsmith. All rights reserved.

Republished by Blog Post Promoter

I just had the great honor and privilege of presenting at the Australian Swimming Coaches and Teachers Association Convention on the Gold Coast, Australia.

For those of you who missed it, here it is for you to check-out.

The presentation brings together three of my key swimming coaching concepts:

• Developing an integrated approach to coaching swimmers;
• Engaging with swimmers is critical;
• Simplify training for younger swimmers.

Let me know what you think.

Wayne Goldsmith

© 2013, Wayne Goldsmith. All rights reserved.

Republished by Blog Post Promoter

The dictionary says:

myth (noun)

1. a traditional story of unknown authorship, ostensibly with a historical basis, but serving usually to explain some phenomenon of nature, the origin of man, or the customs, institutions, religious rites, etc. of a people: myths usually involve the exploits of gods and heroes
2. such stories collectively; mythology
3. any fictitious story, or unscientific account, theory, belief, etc.
4. any imaginary person or thing spoken of as though existing

There’s the Yeti.

There’s the Sasquatch.

There’s the shopping cart with four good wheels.

There’s the low fat, great tasting chocolate cake.

And there’s these….the ten myths of swimming.

MYTH 1: It’s faster under water.

It’s only faster under water if you are faster under the water. Just being under water does not mean you will move faster.

For example, if you swim freestyle at two yards per second pace, but only maintain a speed of 1.6 yards per second under the water – get to the surface!

MYTH 2: More training makes you a better swimmer

We’ve all heard about the magic numbers that supposedly guarantee swimming success, e.g. 50 miles a week, 60 miles a week, ten sessions a week, 20 hours of training a week, 3000 miles a year etc  etc.

There is no evidence to say that 60 miles is better than 48 or 56 or 79. There is no solid research to support the idea 10 sessions is any better than 8, 15 or 127.

More training by itself does not guarantee success. There is no short cut or easy road to swimming success. It takes a lot of hard work, commitment, dedication and discipline. But, just adding more sessions and more miles is not the only answer.

Swimming fast is about PHYSICAL fitness and physical factors like strength, speed, endurance and power. It is also about MENTAL preparation, technical skill and tactical knowledge / execution. It is a balance between PHYSICAL / MENTAL / TECHNICAL / TACTICAL elements.

So hard training is important but it is not the only thing.

MYTH 3: Vitamins and minerals and supplements will make you a great swimmer

The word supplement means “something added, especially to make up for a lack or deficiency”.

The research around how effective supplements are at improving swimming performance is not conclusive. However these things are 100% conclusive for all swimmers:

• Consistent training
• Positive attitude
• Staying strong during tough times
• Honesty
• Great technique.

Buy a few bottles of these things and you can’t lose!

MYTH 4: If you start out swimming one stroke well, you will always swim that stroke well

We’ve all seen the “child champs” – the nine year old superstar backstroker who seems destined for Olympic glory.  However, rarely, if ever do “child champs” make the Olympic team and win Olympic gold medals in the same stroke they first showed talent in. Often, kids will be a good breaststroker at 8, then a good freestyler at 11, then a top notch backstroker at 13 before ending up an outstanding flyer as a senior swimmer.

As kids develop and grow, changes in their limb lengths, their proportionality (i.e. the relationship of their limb length to overall body size), their muscle mass, height and weight, flexibility and strength will all impact on their ability to swim specific strokes.

Advice – become proficient in all strokes, in sprints and in distance events, medley and at dives, starts, turns and finishes. Then, no matter what happens to your body, you are ready for it!

MYTH 5: Weight training makes you a better swimmer

Weight training, strength training, Pilates, Yoga, Spin classes, Dance classes etc etc can all help improve your swimming performance when used in balance with pool training and when integrated into an overall swimming performance program.

Just throwing around a few weights and getting stronger does not guarantee swimming success.

Question: Why would you take up a weight training program?

Answer: To improve your swimming performance.

So the key issue is to ensure that the weight program enhances and supports what you do in the water.

MYTH 6: Body fat makes you swim faster because fat is buoyant OR being super thin will make you a great swimmer.

Sports scientists used to talk about % body fat or skinfolds and about optimal body fat levels for swimmers.

These days the critical concept is YOIPS – Your Optimal Individual Performance State.

There is no magical skin fold number or mystical body fat level that ALL SWIMMERS must attain to be successful.

The YOIPS concept is that each individual swimmer has an optimal body composition for their peak performance which is unique. For some swimmers that may mean being a lean, mean swimming machine. For others, an extra pound or two may help maintain their general health and well being and allow them to train consistently and shedding any excess weight will lead them to illness and being sick.

The bottom line is – find out what works best for you and stick to it!

MYTH 7: Lane 4 is the fastest lane and the only one you can win from

World records have been set in all lanes.

World championships have been won from all lanes.

Olympic gold medals have been won from all lanes.

NCAA, National, State and Club championships have been won from all lanes.

Enough said.

MYTH 8: A successful coach makes a great swimmer

One of the big mistakes a lot of swimmers (and parents) make is to change coaches too often for the wrong reasons. A good reason to change coaches might be that you have moved states or gone to College and you need a local coach to help you with your swimming program.

A poor reason to switch is because another coach seems to have produced a stand out young age group champion and you believe that simply by moving to their program, you will experience similar success.

Coaches are important in the scheme of things. Their training, knowledge and experience are invaluable to help all swimmers improve their physical, mental, technical and tactical skills.

However, a swimmer with a great attitude, who works hard consistently and who seeks to maximise the impact of every training session will succeed regardless of the coaching, facilities or club environment – they make their own luck and drive their own success.

A swimmer with a poor attitude, poor work ethic and negative approach will not succeed even if they go and train with Michael Phelps’ outstanding coaching team!

Coaches and swimmers (and parents) form a performance partnership – together they can achieve anything.

MYTH 9: It will be all right on race day

Many swimmers have TWO BRAIN disease. It is a terrible affliction.

One brain is the one they use for training. It allows the swimmer to perform sloppy dives, slow turns and to always finish a few yards short of the end of the pool.

The other brain, the one they use for racing, only comes out at Meets and makes sure all the dives, starts, turns and finishes are perfect.

The problem is that over time the TRAINING BRAIN starts to take over the MEET BRAIN and that’s when things start to go wrong.

Train the way you want to race.

If you execute sloppy dives every day in training – you get sloppy dives at meets.

If you do slow turns every day in workouts – you get killed in the turns when you race.

If you stop a few yards short every repeat at training – you will lose most tight finishes in competition.

Train the way you want to race.

MYTH 10: The more money you spend on swim suits and equipment, the faster you will swim

You need high quality equipment to compete at the highest level but no amount of money will make up for missed training, poor skills, sloppy technique, a poor diet, a lack of quality sleep or a lack of self confidence.

Improve yourself first – physically, mentally, technically, tactically………then go and buy a fast suit.

If you are driving a beat up old car, with a broken down engine, bald tyres, a faulty gear box and low grade fuel, giving it a $5000 paint job doesn’t make it go any faster. Sure, it looks a lot better but it will not win any races.

There is a common theme about all these myths – that is that people are always looking for a system or a secret or something they can buy or do to guarantee success.

There ain’t no such thing!

There is however, something that can make a real difference.

Something that can make every session outstanding and every day something special.

Something that can take every opportunity and turn it into a performance advantage.

You!

Wayne Goldsmith and Helen Morris

© 2013, Wayne Goldsmith. All rights reserved.

Republished by Blog Post Promoter

A.T. – what does it stand for?

Anaerobic Threshold? Yep – for senior athletes, elite swimmers, swimmers 13 years of age and older – absolutely.

For swimmers 12 and under what does A.T. stand for? A Total waste of time.

We’ve all heard the old swimming cliches about kids and training:

“You’ve got to get the miles into the kids.”

“Kids recover fast so you can push them harder more often.”

“Training kids is all about volume – you have do a lot of work.”

The volume of training appropriate for kids 12 years and under is not for debate here (and let’s be honest, no one really knows the answer to that one anyway) – it’s all about intensity – and by and large, we are pushing young swimmers too hard too often: we are pushing them at or around A.T. for no logical or rational reason.

Whilst the evidence for including some quantity of A.T. work in the training programs of senior swimmers is hard to question, the role of A.T. in the training and development of young swimmers is uncertain at the very least.

Here’s the case for pushing kids 12 and under at A.T. pace for extended periods during swimming training:

1. It looks like they are training hard so everyone feels good about the workout;
2. It keeps the noisy and disruptive kids quiet.
3. Their parents like it because the kids are too tired to argue with them, and they sleep!

Now here’s the case against pushing kids 12 and under at A.T. pace for extended periods during swimming training:

1. They don’t produce a lot of lactate but what they do produce (i.e. by swimming at or above A.T.) they don’t deal with very well;
2. They don’t race over distances requiring high level A.T. adaptation abilities, i.e. most 12 and under swimmers race 50s and 100s;
3. Most of the events they race over are approximately 50% dives, turns, underwater swimming and finishes - i.e. skills based – with only around 50% of race distance being free swimming;
4. Pushing them hard at A.T. for long periods leaves them fatigued and impacts on their ability to swim at max or near speeds in training during speed development training;
5. A.T. is the proverbial metabolic “no man’s land” for swimmers aged 12 and under. It has the effect of young swimmers doing their slow work too fast and their fast work too slow – developing neither endurance or speed and largely wasting their all too valuable water time.

So why do so many coaches spend so much time bashing and belting young swimmers up and down the pool in the A.T. “no man’s land”?

Because it is easy to do!

The easiest way to coach a large team of young swimmers is to push them as hard as possible as often as possible. It keeps them under control. It keeps them working hard. It makes parents think they are getting fitter and stronger. And…just occasionally, a few swimmers get a good result from the too hard / too often approach if they manage to get a lot of rest during their taper and have some underlying sprinting abilities.

This is of course the old “broken-egg” coaching approach. Throw enough eggs against a wall and maybe, just maybe one or two out of a thousand will survive the impact.

Instead of the other 998 eggs lying broken on the ground…. think!! - is this really good coaching????? And we wonder why so many kids drop out of the sport at 13, 14 and 15 years of age…. they just got sick of being made into omelettes!

So weigh it up in your own mind.

Old way – push the kids as hard as possible at or above A.T. in every workout for a few months, taper them for a few days and hope it all comes together on race day or……

New way – adopt a common sense, practical, sensible approach that helps develop the swimmers’ physical, mental, technical and tactical abilities in a way which is relevant and appropriate to their competition goals.

Hmmmmmm – difficult choice!

Summary and Practical Coaching Tips:

1. When coaching swimmers 12 years of age and under, stick to the simplicity and practicality of the P.A.C.E. model;
2. If in doubt, either work very slow (60-70% speed, very aerobically, great technique) or very very fast (100% speed, short distances, great technique, lots of recovery) – and always work in an integrated way – i.e. managing training speed plus mental factors plus technique plus skills;
3. Break your old habits! The old “let’s push the kids every workout so their faces are red, their shoulders sore and they are out of breath” days are over! Effective training is about balance, adopting an integrated approach and including physical, mental, technical, tactical development activities in every session.

Wayne Goldsmith

© 2013, Wayne Goldsmith. All rights reserved.

Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Do you want to learn how to swim better?

Are you a swimmer or a triathlete or a Masters swimmer and wish you could learn how to swim a little faster and with a lot less effort?

And are you sick of reading articles about “ten things you can do right now to improve your swimming” which then ask you for money??

Well, here they are – “ten things you can do right now to improve your swimming” -  for free!

Breathe!

Of all the things you can do to improve your swimming, the simplest thing – breathing – is by far the most important and the most effective.

There are three Golden Rules when it comes to breathing and swimming:

• Never hold your breath when you swim – it creates tension and tightness – the enemies of effective swimming.
• Never have your face in the water without air in your lungs – it creates fear and panic (and thereby tension and tightness).
• Change your rate of exhaling based on the number of strokes you take. So if you breathe every two strokes, you need to exhale powerfully through your nose and mouth and time it so that just as your last bubble of breath leaves your lips your head turns to inhale. If you breathe every three, four, five or more strokes, slow down your rate of exhaling so that… just as your last bubble of breath leaves your lips your head turns to inhale.

Stretch your ankles, hips and shoulders;

Stretching is so important in swimming. It might decrease your injury risk. It might help you overcome any current injuries. But one thing stretching will do is to help you get into the right position in the water without excess energy or effort.

The Entry – Exit myth;

One of the most common myths in swimming is that you develop longer strokes by ensuring your hand entry is as far as possible out in front of your body and that your exit – where your hand exits the water, (in fly, back and free) should be way down past your hips. Like most myths, this is completely wrong!

Distance per stroke is not the distance from hand entry to hand exit: it is how effectively between entry and exit that you actually apply force to the water. In fact, the best way to increase your distance per stroke is to learn how to “feel” the water more effectively and in doing so learn to better apply propulsive force – power and pressure – to the water while you are swimming.

Relax more: don’t try harder;

This is another vitally important swimming tip. You can’t swim faster but trying harder. When you were a little kid, your parents yelled “C’mon grit your teeth, clench your fists and try harder”. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. The faster you want to swim, the more relaxed you have to be. Tension is the enemy of speed. When you need to go faster, take a deep breath, relax more and just move your arms and legs a little faster. One more time…the faster you want to swim, the more relaxed you have to be.

Head and Hips: The Perfect Pair.

The relationship between your head and your hips is critical in swimming. If your head is up, your hips will drop down lower in the water making for a poor swimming body position. Swim the way you walk! That is, with your head and hips in the same line as if you were standing or walking normally. Look at the bottom of the pool, keep your hips (backside) level with the surface of the water and from there anything is possible.

Keep your hands “soft” and feel the water;

I’ve seen a lot of drills over the years supposed to improve “feel” of the water. The good old “fist clenched” drill, thousands of sculling drills and countless variations of workouts with paddles all designed to help swimmers develop better feel of the water. And you know what…none of them work any better than just remembering this……”soft-hands“. Keeping your hands “soft” allows you to feel the water and once you can feel the water, you can learn how, when and where to apply force and power to it…and bang!!!!! your swimming improves.

Kick a little faster;

The reason most people don’t get much from their kick is that they try to kick too “big”. Move your feet fast, keep your kicks relatively small – i.e. no deeper or wider than your own hips and don’t allow your heels or toes to come out of the water. And relax…someone once said, “the faster you want to swim, the more relaxed you have to be”. You can’t kick faster by kicking harder - just relax, take a deep breath and move your feet faster.

Keep your head movements small;

Your head is there for thinking – not swimming. That’s what your arms and legs are for. Your arms and legs are designed for movement – move them. But keep your head still or if you have to move it, keep your head movements very small. Because your body will follow your head in the water (i.e. just like it does when you are walking), the more pronounced your head movements are, the more inefficient your body movements will be.

Start your pull slow, then accelerate your hands – and if in doubt…pull straight;

After 50 years of research into swimming motion, swimming mechanics, swimming propulsion and swimming dynamics, even the researchers are not sure how people move through the water. However, two things seem to - excuse the pun – hold water. Firstly, when you start to pull, (with your hands “soft”) start slowly. Give yourself time and the opportunity to feel the water and how, when and where to apply force and power. Then gradually accelerate your hands throughout the stroke. Secondly, forget about complicated pull patterns and “S” shapes etc. just pull backwards in a straight line in fly, back and free (breast is a little different).

Don’t think! Just swim.

And the final tip…..don’t think…just swim. There is a lot of stuff written about swimming – about “hand entry angles” and “rotational axis” etc. etc. It ain’t rocket science. Get in there and swim. Focus on your breathing. Stay relaxed. Keep your hands soft. Kick your feet fast. Keep your head and hips in the one line……and believe or not, you will probably swim very, very well. The rest is just the icing on the cake.

There they are – the Ten Things You Can Do Right Now to Improve your Swimming. Well, what are you waiting for?????

Wayne Goldsmith

© 2013, Wayne Goldsmith. All rights reserved.

Republished by Blog Post Promoter

Coaches – ever wanted to know how you rate as a coach?

Swimmers – ever wanted to know how your coach rates as a coach?

Swimming Parents – ever wanted to know how your kid’s coach rates as a coach?

Then look no further than….the Swimming Coach Score Card.

This score card is a little different. Instead of being awarded points, you lose points for poor coaching standards and mediocre coaching behaviours.

Are you ready?

OK – your starting score is 100 CCs – that is 100 coaching credits.

1. Take off 5 CCs if you have been late to training in the past month;
2. Take off 10 CCs if you coach from one end of the pool all the time and another 5 CCs if you ever sit down during workouts;
3. Take off 5 CCS if you have not given each swimmer in your team one on one quality coaching in the past week;
4. Take off 20 CCs if you have used a mobile phone during workouts while on deck in the past year (except in emergencies);
5. Take off 5 CCs if you allow swimmers to breathe inside the flags in free and fly;
6. Take off 5 CCs if you allow swimmers to finish poorly on the wall at the end of fly and breast;
7. Take off 10 CCs if you talk to parents, swim club committee, non swimming swimmers and pool staff during workouts;
8. Take off 20 CCs if you don’t take time to write down the work the swimmers actually completed during the session, i.e. as opposed to what was scheduled to be done;
9. Take off 10 CCs if you made up the workout on deck as the swimmers walked in to the pool;
10. Take off 5 CCs if you didn’t give each swimmer in your team at least five quality instructions and / or pieces of feedback during your most recent session;
11. Take off 100 CCs if you still throw kickboards, fins or pull buoys at swimmers to get their attention;
12. Take off 20 CCs if you don’t give each swimmer one on one feedback after each race they swim at Meets;
13. Take off 10 CCs if you don’t wear team gear to training and / or competitions;
14. Take off 5 CCs if you don’t attend Club Nights;
15. Take off 15 CCs if you don’t know the first name of each of your swimmers within 2 sessions of them starting training with you;
16. Take off 50 CCs if you don’t have an individualised plan for each swimmer in your team for the next two seasons;
17. Take off 10 CCs if you have never scheduled time to meet with the parents of each of the swimmers in your team (i.e. away from the pool deck and outside of training times);
18. Take off 30 CCs if you have not completed at least 50 hours of professional development, learning and personal improvement in the past year;
19. Take off 5 CCs if you don’t ask swimmers “how did that feel” (and really listen to their views) after they try new skills;
20. Take off 30 CCs if you don’t have an outstanding dryland program which engages the total commitment of every swimmer in your team;
21. Take off 10 CCs if you don’t include mental skills development activities in every session;
22. Take off 5 CCs if you didn’t smile at least ten times during the team’s last workout;
23. Take off 50 CCs if you smoke and or / drink alcohol in front of the swim team (i.e. junior swimmers);
24. Take off 20 CCs if you don’t regularly practice “performance under pressure” – i.e. making training more challenging and more demanding than any competition could be;
25. Take off 20 CCs if you don’t encourage and embrace recovery during and after every workout.

So, how did you do?

Swimming Coaches Scorecard key:

90-100 CCs: Wow – Amazing. Please stop reading this blog and my articles. Start writing your own – I want to learn from you O Coaching Master.

80-89 CCs: Outstanding work. Do they call you SUPER COACH? If not, they should!

70-79 CCs: Great stuff. Some things to work on but generally you coach like a basketball – plenty of bounce and well rounded.

60-69 CCs: Not bad. Keep working on the little things….the funny thing is that when it comes to poor coaching and the little things…there are no little things.

50-59 CCs: Danger – danger – warning – warning. You need to improve and fast.

40-49 CCs: How did you find this site? Were you looking for help to save your job? Or were you looking for Coaches Anonymous?

30-39 CCs: Have you thought about taking up football coaching? It’s still challenging coaching but at least there is no danger of people drowning.

20-29 CCs: Have you thought about another career? Something not too brain taxing where your unique skills will be appreciated - maybe an Economist at Wall Street? A Government Advisor on the Environment?

10-19 CCs: I think I need to type slower so you can read this….S.T.O.P. C.O.A.C.H.I.N.G!!!!

1-9 CCs: The only job for you I can think of for you is something that requires no skill, no brain power and no effort…Congratulations Congressman!

Zero (or less) CCs: Please return your coaching card to your national swimming authority. Do not go anywhere near water…ever. Stop bathing. Stop shaving. Ask for help when drinking a glass of water. The further you keep away from water the better for all of us.

Wayne Goldsmith

© 2013, Wayne Goldsmith. All rights reserved.

Republished by Blog Post Promoter