Control Freaks

We like to be in control. 

We want the sun to come up as expected, we want our car to start, we want our hard work to show up on the score board or in the pocket book, we want the wind to be at our back, we want our shore lines to remain the same, and we want our weather to do what it is supposed to. 

We desperately want to be in control, yet we see the better team lose, we see the hardest worker lose out to someone who just does enough, the wind changes direction, we see Hurricane Katrina and Sandy change our shorelines.

This past week we had 5 athletes swim faster than they ever swam, get NCAA qualifying times, and not get to go to the NCAA meet because the cut lines keep getting faster.  I think every coach has those athletes that do everything right yet don't get the results they deserve.  How can we stay in control when things seem so out of our control?


1.  Some of the things we appreciate the most are out of our control:  I don't get the chance to surf a lot, but I could surf all day long.  I love being in the big waves and feeling the power of the ocean, the feeling of being insignificant and being at the mercy of the waves.  I love visiting our national parks, and believe it or not, the things we find most beautiful did not come from a controlled event, rather a series of unpredictable events.  Finally, I love watching my athletes get through hurdles that come up out of no where.  My teams that have made the most progress any given year are the ones that have more hurdles to get over, or feel like they have a headwind more than a tailwind throughout the season.  These teams learn more.

2.  We learn more, are more creative, and motivated when we are forced to adapt:  Think back to the most memorable events in your life, the time you learned the most, a time that shaped who you are, when you did something you thought you couldn't do.  Those days were not written down in advance on a calendar like a doctors appointment, they just happened, usually when we were not ready for it.  Many of the best songs, paintings, and performances were inspired by events or sequences out of our control.

3.  It is all part of God's Creation:  The next time you have to deal with an unexpected head wind, it rains on your vacation, or something doesn't go as planned, learn to see the beauty in it.  Because it is not all about you.  Your headwind is someones tailwind, the rain on your special plans is a farmers answer to prayer, and you can still overcome those obstacles and make a difference in your life and the lives around you. 

Be thankful that we are NOT in control.  It would be a boring world.

Psalms 22:28 - For the kingdom [is] the LORD'S: and he [is] the governor among the nations.

Feel Good Moments

Every since I have been coaching at Calvin, it is my tradition to bombard the team with what I call "feel good moments" during the last week to ten days leading into our championship meet.  This goes back to when I had to go to Blockbuster and get VHS tapes and fast forward them to the right spot.


I like to bombard their senses with positive images, sounds, and words as they go into their big meet, I feel it makes a big difference and the team really looks forward to them as well.  It is pretty simple these days with youtube and the internet, we just watch 10-20 minutes of a movie, youtube video, speech, espn highlights, or whatever I can find before we get in the water.  I think the big speeches, the slow motion cheering, the music, the turning point in the movie triggers positive images in the brain, and really helps the atmosphere in the last few days leading into the meet.

Yesterday we watched a classic motivational youtube video that had clips from several different movies tied in with some good music, then we finished it off with a best of Duck Dynasty which got everyone laughing.   We had a great attitude, great mood, and a great practice.  Give it a try.

Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.
C. S. Lewis

Distance Set

Here's a set that I got great results from this past week.  It was motivated by watching some of my distance group take out their 500's and 1000's a little to strong and in turn fail to stay in control through the entire race. 

The sendoff's and times are from our top group, we did have lanes that were scaled back on the sendoff's with the same strategy.

We did 3 rounds of:

1 X 100 @ 1:10 from a dive
1 X 200 @ 2:15 w/ the 100 pace faster than the dive 100
2 X 300 @ 4:30 the first just trying to stay strong on short rest, the 2nd the goal was to drop at least 15 seconds, as they were getting more than a minute before starting their 2nd 300

We did an EZ 300 in between rounds.

Our top group had to work hard to keep the first 100 between 1:00-1:05, their instinct was to go too fast.  The goal was if their first 100 was 1:00, then they needed to hold at least :59's on the 200, stay strong on the 1st 300, and then put the hammer down on the 2nd 300.

Results:  1st round - they went too fast on the first 100 and couldn't go faster on the 200,  which is kind of what I was hoping would happen, the 2nd and 3rd rounds, they got it right, and we saw some big swims on the last 300 with a couple guys putting up some times in the 2:40's, which is pretty good right now.

Celebrating the Journey

Last Saturday was senior day, and we have a very special tradition at Calvin where we gather after the meet is over with the team and parents to eat good food and have a chance to honor our seniors with stories, and "thank you's" in a public setting.  It always means more when you share things in a public setting.  This is one of my favorite traditions of the year.

I started out by saying something about all 11 seniors, and when I looked down at my list I couldn't help but notice how many things a senior overcomes as they go through 4 years as a student athlete.  Here are some interesting facts about our senior class:

1.  At least 4 will admit to wanting quit after their freshmen year
2.  All of them had a bad meet at some point.
3.  At least half had injuries or illnesses out of their control that   altered training at least once.
4.  Three or four changed majors.
5.  All of them turned down other opportunities (trips, travel) because of their commitment to the team.



This is not what we tell recruits, right?  Here are some more statistics that make it all worth it.


1.  All of them are better equipped for the "Real World."
2.  All of them understand how to be multidimensional, and find balance in their lives.
3.  All of them have a plan going forward, jobs, grad school, weddings, etc...
4.  All of them swam faster over their career.
5.  All of them understand how to gave back to the team.

Make sure you honor your seniors and celebrate the journey because that is what they will remember. In today's world there are so many things competing for their attention.  Commitment is a lost art.  Seniors learn how to get through difficult situations, they learn how to adjust, they learn how to be a leader, they learn how to give back to the team, and they get to see the finished product. 

It is a valuable, life shaping experience.


And, you’ll know you are on the right road when your life looks more and more like Jesus in attitude and action, because He is “the radiance of God’s glory” (Hebrews 1:3). You’ll know that you’re getting up to speed with Him when you see all your relationships and encounters as opportunities to make the qualities and characteristics of our glorious God clearly seen and experienced.

Read the rest of the devotional at rbc.org.

By: Chris. This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 29th, 2010 at 11:03 am and is filed under Devotional, Jesus, Spiritual Discipline. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Recognizing Fear

I am continuing to talk with my team about our end of the season performance and give them tools to use as they get closer to the our championship meets.  My last post talked about our beliefs and how what we believe is true influences what we can and can't do. 

Fear is also a big reason that we end up coming up short of our full potential.  I don't think that there is anyone that says they don't get scared before a big race, or an exam, or whatever situation life throws our way.  Fear is real, and it is not going to go away, however we can get better at recognizing it and dealing with it so we can have a better chance to reach our full potential.

I am sure there are more, but here are the 4 biggest fear mechanisms that get in our way.

1.  "I don't care anymore," "It doesn't matter," and "Whatever."  Who hasn't said this when it comes down to crunch time, getting the last few reps in, or fully committing to the process.  Unfortunately, this is too easy to say, and start believing when things start to get difficult.  Sometimes it can even be "cool" to act that way.  This is a big fear mechanism we use all too often to take the easy way out.  It is way easier to "not care," than to finish the race the way we hoped to and our brain knows that.  When you feel these thoughts and words coming out, re-visit your goals, understand what your mind is trying to do, and think back to what is important to you.

2.  False Expectations/False Evidence.  This is just using bad logic.  How many of us have heard or used the "I'm not a big meet swimmer, I have a bad feeling, I knew this was going to happen."  This is when we are searching for an excuse even before anything happens.  There have been great performances under many conditions and circumstances.  When you get that "bad feeling," recognize that it is fear creeping in and get some positive thoughts back in your head.  Don't try to use bad logic to talk yourself out of your goal.

3.  What are you REALLY scared of?  A lot of times we go into a situation scared about the wrong thing, which get's in the way of what we really want to do.  For example, the 400 IM is a scary race for most and many swimmers will get to race day and be terrified of the 400 IM and there will be thoughts of "will I finish, I'm going to die, it's going to hurt, among other things."  All of a sudden the 400IM goes from just being a tough race to an unbearable race.  If you look back to all the time spent training, that same swimmer swam many 400IM's and sets in practice that were probably just as painful, longer, and they did them without question and it was not even that big of a deal.  So it's not the 400 IM that's scary, it's the situation.  In this case, realize that you are not scared about the 400IM, rather all the things you can't control.  Have a game plan, and execute the game plan.  Everything else will take care of itself and is out of your control.

4.  Past does not predict the Future.  Don't let past failure OR success dictate what will happen this year.  Just because somebody beat you last year, does not mean the same thing will happen this year.  Just because you swam well last year or didn't swim well last year, doesn't mean the same thing will happen this year.  Every year is different, life would be very boring if nothing unexpected happened.

Recognize your Fears and deal with them.  It is OK to be scared, be strong enough to deal with them and you will reach more of your potential.

Matthew 6:34  "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of it's own."

What do you Believe to be true?

We are approaching championship season and our goals and belief's of what we can or can't to do at the end of the season will be put to the test.

When it come to achieving great things, what we believe we can do plays a huge part.  We are products of the opportunities given to us by our parents, the community we are a part of, the team that we practice with, and the coaches we play for, among other things.  Within those influences we accumulate a belief of what we can or can't do and unfortunately, they usually limit us.  For example, I am too short to be a great swimmer, I don't have big enough feet to kick fast, nobody on my team has ever accomplished that, my parents weren't great athletes, I am not as talented as him/her, and the list goes on. 


The problem with this is that not many of these belief's are true.  Eric Vendt was one of the best swimmers in the world at sub 6 ft., Tom Dolan won gold medals with severe asthma, Missy Franklin's parents were not great swimmers, Tom Malchow won gold medals and admits he had no coordination.  The difference is at some point along the way, these athletes started to believe that they could achieve great things at the highest level.

Where this happens could be anywhere along the road.  A small compliment from a coach, an image that gets stuck between the ears, expectations of a team, results from a race or practice, or sometimes just being in the right place at the right time.

Don't limit yourself to what your environment says you can or can't do.  Believe in yourself because if you doubt yourself, you are definitely outnumbered.

II Timothy 1:7 "For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline."

Training Trip Set of the Week

We were down in Deerfield Beach, training at Coral Springs Aquatic Complex last week.  It was a busy week of training, team bonding, body surfing, beach volleyball, a dual meet against Williams College, and even a trip to the ER to get an appendix out!  I love the training that we do down on our training trips, but the biggest value to these trip are the intangibles, the relationships that get built, the stories that are made, the 24 hour bus ride together, and this year, the trip to the ER.  All these things make us a better team and a faster team.

Back to the training, here is my favorite set that we did all week.  We swam really well together on this morning, and the execution of the set was outstanding.  As you can see, the set requires you to control your speed and energy output as you go through the set.


Warmup: 300 with open turns (pushing off square, and warming up the streamlines) + 200 Buddy Kick

Warmup Set:  6 rounds of: 1 X 50 K/S @ 50, 1 X 25 drill @ 50, 1 X 50 @ 50 (first 25 strong)

Main Set:

3 X 50 @ 45 P200 + 1 X 100 @ 1:10 (make interval, hold form) + 1 X 25 AO @ 50 + 25EZ
*on last 25 AO, goal is to increase tempo in both arms and legs and go faster than 1st 50's

8 X 125 FR @ 1:45
#1 - cruise+9
#2 - cruise+6
#3 - cruise+3
#4&5 - cruise then go back up
*cruise for 1:40-44 200 freestyler is 1:09-11, for 1:50-54 200 freestyler 1:15-17

3 X 50 @ 50 P200 + 1 X 100 @ 1:10 (make interval, hold form) + 1 X 50 AO + 50 EZ

6 X 150 @ 2:20 Odd - cruise, Even - EZ
*cruise for 1:40-44 200 freestyler is 1:24-1:26.5, and for 1:50-54 200 freestyler 1:31.5-1:34

3 X 50 @ 55 P200 + 1 X 100 @ 1:10 (make interval, hold form) + 1 X 75 AO + 75 EZ

4 X 250 @ 4:00 (1st 2 cruise, 2nd 2 EZ) we doubled our 125 cruise speed and added 3 sec.

3 X 50 @ 60 P200 + 1 X 100 @ 1:10 (make interval, hold form) + 1 X 100 AO + 100EZ

extra 500 warmdown
*strokers were allowed to do first 3 50's stroke and last AO swim stroke, otherwise the rest was freestyle.

Give it a try!