The Art of Whispering

Recently, I have come across "The art of Whispering."  I have been reading two different books that share two different perspectives of "whispering."  First, how we coach and instruct, and the second,  how well we listen to the "whispers" in our own lives.

I have referenced the first book several times.  Daniel Croyle's Talent Code talks about the similarities of very successful coaches/teachers from several talent hotbeds around the world.  He talks about not seeing a lot of pep talks, yelling, or in your face instruction, rather, what he noted was a quiet leader, someone who watched more than instructed.  Here is an excerpt from the book:

Instead, the teachers and coaches I met were quiet, even reserved........ They possessed the same sort of gaze:steady, deep, unblinking. they listened far more than they talked. They seemed allergic to giving pep talks or inspiring speeches; they spent most of their time offering small, targeted, highly specific adjustments...........They were talent whisperers.

John Wooden was noted as never using long lectures, but short, to the point, cue's or phrases, as his players moved through practice.  Also noted was how a certain Brazilian soccer player was appalled by our youth soccer programs where all you hear is coaches and parents yelling instructions, "Pass! Get Back! Spread Out! etc...." during games. This contradicted how he learned to become one of the best players in the world.  He noted, that in Brazil, the coaches would let their kids play, only stopping occasionally to make small adjustments or offer hints on how to be more successful.

The second book I am reading is from Bill Hybels, and is called The Power of a Whisper.  The main focus is how well we listen, in particular, to God.  Bill comments on how when we look back on our lives, most of the things that shape who we are, or set us in a certain direction, do not happen from a bolt of lightning, rather by a small whisper.  Bill references his 2nd grade teacher and a poem she gave him one day that set him in a certain direction.  He also references how God uses Samuel (a child) in the Old Testament to deliver a message that would impact an entire nation.  Big things usually start from quiet whispers.

I think everyone can take a little away from this and apply it to how we coach, teach, and parent.  On the other hand, I think we all need to be reminded to take some time to listen to the "whispers" in our lives more often.

Here is the poem from Bill Hybel's Book:

Oh! give me Samuel's ear,

An open ear, O Lord,

Alive and quick to hear

Each whisper of Thy Word;

Like him to answer to Thy call

And to obey Thee first of all.

MY BIG 3

Every swimmer is unique and has their own needs and stroke drills that will help them progress and get faster and there are more stroke drills than we can count for each stroke.  You can get overwhelmed by what you need to work on, or fit into your workout plan.  Before you get picky with individual stroke technique, step back and choose 3 things that you want your team to do well very well.

Here are my big 3.  All 3 can have an immediate impact on your racing or training ability right now.

Starts/turns/streamlines:  Swim coaches are very good at talking about the importance of these at big meets, yet we watch our athletes do sloppy turns/streamlines and turn a blind eye all season.  At the same time, we don't give our teams enough repetitions on the blocks to build good starts.  Turns and streamlines have to be taught and worked on.  Don't assume they will just get it after doing them everyday in practice.  Likewise, starts need to be part of your weekly plan, don't wait until the last 2 weeks, nothing will change in that short amount of time.  These are all skills that need repetition at race pace so the body and mind can recognize the way to we want to move.  Teach Streamlines! Teach Turns! Get them up on the blocks early and often!


Speed/Tempo:  I see a lot of swimmers that can make fast sendoff's very well or swim a long ways on slow intervals, yet struggle when they are asked to swim fast, even when given more rest.  I believe there is just as much value in swimming fast, maybe more, than how far you can swim.  There are all kinds of charts, graphs, and formula's to use.  Find one that works for your team and make sure your swimmers are swimming fast enough in practice.  We are in the business to swim fast, not far. 

Be Athletic:  Swimming Fast, Starts, Turns, and Streamlines are all very athletic movements and similar to the moves we see on ESPN every day like dunking a basketball, hitting home runs, skating on a breakaway.  Swimmers need to understand the connection between their legs and core muscles and how it applies to swimming.  I hear swimmers categorize themselves as not very athletic or not very coordinated all the time.  We have to get this out of their brains as the best swimmers are all very athletic.  I haven't met a swimmer that couldn't benefit from being more athletic.  This is reflected in what we do in dryland, weights, and even how we practice.  Don't be afraid to use some idea's from other sports to get your team more athletic.

Practice your Enthusiasm

With our team, we are always trying to remind ourselves what we are training for.  Our conference meet is 3 1/2 days (7 sessions) and our NCAA meet is 4 days (8 sessions).  The fast swimming is hard to ignore and easy to train for, however, the enthusiasm that is needed and the energy that it takes to create enthusiasm over that time takes effort and practice as well.  In other words, you have to be in shape emotionally as well as physically.  In my experience, when you get to the morning session of the last day of a championship meet, everyone is walking in with very low enthusiasm, and that can block what an athlete can do physically during that session.

This is what we are trying to do over the last 3 sessions of the week this week to try to work on our enthusiasm.


Thursday Evening:  We had a great broken swim/lactate set in which we saw everyone swim very hard, we some some emotion, and we saw some very fast swimming.  I prepped them for this, and any team can embrace a fast set, so we are off to a good start.

Friday morning:  It was a typical morning workout, where the athletes were walking in with very low enthusiasm.  We did a very good stretching routine, some dryland and got a long warmup in.  Then I got them out of the water, and we had a 15 minute swim meet.  It wasn't hard physically, it was just 3 (4 X 25) relay's, and I randomly selected athletes and we got some team cheers going, and some cheering on the deck, and we worked out our enthusiasm.  It was 7:15am and we wanted to get our enthusiasm as high as we could.  I will admit, it was not as it will be for our championship meets, but the team did a pretty good job, and it was a fun morning.

Friday evening:  Dual meet.  I chose this meet to use enthusiasm as a goal with the team because it is one of those meets where not many people are looking.  We are swimming our 3rd or 4th events, we have a long bus ride, it is a non-conf. meet, you get the point.  Our goal is to swim enthusiastically, and to train that part of our fitness.  It is going to be a big challenge, but that is the goal.  It takes energy to create enthusiasm and we are going to use this meet to work on that part of the process.  By Friday night, we will have been forced to get to an emotional high 3 times in a little over 24 hours.  If we can pull it off, we will be better prepared for the end of the season. 

It is easy to be enthusiastic for your rival meets, but success depends on being enthusiastic on a consistent basis, even when no one is looking or when the meet results don't mean much at the time.

Good things often come from Enthusiasm!

Psalm 98: 4-6

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth,
    burst into jubilant song with music;
⁵ make music to the Lord with the harp,
    with the harp and the sound of singing,
⁶ with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn—
    shout for joy before the Lord, the King.

How do you prepare for the week?

How often do we as coaches preach about preparation, and yet our daily routine involves jumping out of bed and right into the first practice of the week and all of a sudden we are half way through Monday or even the week, and we are carrying the same bad habits from the week before.


As much as I love packing things into the workout, last week I found something that worked really well for me and the team.  First thing on Monday morning, instead of rushing everybody to get in the water, we had some quiet time on deck. I read from Psalms, then I asked the team to think about the week ahead, and we took a few minutes of silence to pray and think about the week ahead.  I asked the team to think about the behaviors they needed to focus on this week and what adjustments they can make from last week.  It's hard to explain, but there was a feeling of peace, assurance, and clarity as we started the week together.

I think we are creatures of habit, both good and bad, and we like to keep it on cruise control as much as we can.  Change and adjustments are hard. They make us uncomfortable, and sometimes I think it is easier to maintain the same bad habits (even when we know deep down, they are not working) than commit to moving forward and finding the missing piece of the puzzle.  Sometimes we get caught moving so fast from one thing to another that we fail to give ourselves a chance to reflect on what we need to be doing or what we need to fix.

Take some time to Reset yourself at the beginning of each week.  Remind yourself of your goals and the behaviors associated with those goals.

Here is the Psalm we read this morning:  Great words to hear as we head towards Thanksgiving.

Psalm 103:8-12

New International Version (NIV)

⁸ The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
    slow to anger, abounding in love.
⁹ He will not always accuse,
    nor will he harbor his anger forever;
¹⁰ he does not treat us as our sins deserve
    or repay us according to our iniquities.
¹¹ For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
    so great is his love for those who fear him;
¹² as far as the east is from the west,
    so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

Team Workout

Yesterday, we had a great team effort in practice, and I was really pleased with the speed at which we were swimming.  I think doing a workout where everyone can rally around each other and stay on the same sendoff's is beneficial as many times we are broken up into different training groups.  Here was our workout, it was great.  I have to thank Paul Yetter for his cruise charts.  They have been helpful for me and my team and has made it easier for us to make sure we are swimming fast enough in practice.  You can get that chart here:

http://createperformance.blogspot.com/2012/08/during-fall-of-2012-i-plan-to-use-this.html

I have also copied the chart below.  My strokes did the cruise 100-150-200's stroke and did pretty well.  The only group that was a little slower than the chart was our BR group, so I will adust that next time.  This was are largest amount of cruise speed swimming all season so far.  We started around 300 yards at these speeds and have built up to today's volume over about 6 weeks.  I gave them sendoff's so that it was about equal work:rest ratio. 


15 minutes stretching (dynamic)
15 minutes dryland (med balls, yoga, or boxing depending on your group)

300 EZ (open turns) - practice good streamlines to start every workout
200 buddy kick
3 X 100 @ 1:30 descend 1-3 down to best 100 time + :15

8 rounds of:
1 X 50 Kick AO @ :45 (our best kickers were under :35, most were under :40)
1 X 100 FR @ 1:30 (stretch)

6 X 100 @ 1:45 (see chart)
1 X 100 EZ

6 Rounds of:
1 X 75 Kick AO @ 1:15 (our best kickers were under 55, most were around 60
1 X 100 @ 1:30 (stretch)

4 X 150 @ 3:00 (see chart)
 1 X 100 EZ

4 Rounds of:
1 X 100 Kick AO @ 1:30 (our best kickers were under 1:15, most were between 1:20-25)
1 X 100 Swim @ 1:45 (stretch)

2 X 200 @ 4:00 (see chart)

Warmdown

 

200 PR           100 Pace              125 Pace              150 Pace              200 Pace              300 Pace

1:35-1:39        51.5-53.5              1:06.0-1:08.0      1:21.0-123.5        1:48.5-1:151.5    2:49.0-2:53.0

1:40-1:44        54.0-56.0              1:09.0-1:11.0      1:24.0-1:26.5        1:53.5-1:56.5      2:55.0-2:59.0

1:45-1:49        56.5-58.5              1:12.0-1:14.0      127.0-1:29.5         1:58.5-2:01.5      3:01.5-3:05.5

1:50-1:54        59.0-1:01.0           1:15.0-1:17.0      1:31.5-1:34.0         2:03.5-2:06.5      3:10.0-3:14.0

1:55-1:59       1:01.5-1:03.5         1:18.5-1:20.5      1:35.5-1:38.0          2:08.5-2:11.5      3:19.5-3:23.5

2:00-2:04       1:04.0-1:06.0         1:21.5-1:23.5      1:39.0-1:41.5         2:13.5-2:16.5      3:25.0-3:29.0

2:05-2:09       1:06.5-1:08.5          1:24.5-1:26.5      1:42.5-1:45.0        2:18.5-2:21.5      3:32.5-3:36.5

2:10-2:14       1:09.0-1:11.0          1:27.5-1:29.5      1:46.0-1:48.5        2:23.5-2:26.5      3:38.0-3:43.0

2:15-2:19            1:11.5-1:13.5              1:30.5-1:32.5           1:49.5-1:52.0             2:28.5-2:31.5           3:45.5-3:52.5