J is for Juggling by AIMEE KIMBALL, PhD

This weeks ABC’s of swimming: J is for Juggling

BY AIMEE KIMBALL, PhD//Sport Psychologist

Athletes are dedicated. They are committed. They are willing to make sacrifices in their lives to help their sport performance. However, when you take this commitment to their sport and add a similar level of commitment to their academics, social lives, work and family, it can lead to a very difficult juggling act.

Take “Christina” for example. She is an athlete whom I work with that did not play well partly because she had done poorly on a paper and was stressed about it and partly because she didn’t get a chance to eat before her game and instead had taken a nap.

She was so tired because she was up until 1 a.m. finishing a paper. She was up so late because she had procrastinated and did not manage her time well. She had known about the paper for a week, but said that it wasn’t really that long or difficult of an assignment. She even admitted she could have done a better job managing her time because she probably didn’t haveto watch “Grey’s Anatomy” (which took longer for her to watch than it did to actually complete the paper).

She also said her friend had a bad day, so she spent almost an hour on the phone talking to her. Because she waited until the last minute, waited until she was totally exhausted, and did not prioritize well, she not only did poorly on her paper she also did poorly in her game. Juggling her fun time, with her friend time, with her sport and academics proved to be too overwhelming. However, if she had thought it through and worked to manage her time and energy better, she could have been more successful in both her academic and athletic performance.

Unfortunately, I’m sure many of you can relate to Christina and are wondering how committed athletes who look for success in all areas of their lives juggle everything. Here are some suggestions to help you juggle your many demands successfully:

Recognize it’s hard to give 100% to everything all the time

You’re not a superhero. At some point something has to give, and that’s OKAY. It’s fantastic to strive to be perfect, but it’s unrealistic to expect it all the time in everything you do. Do what you can, the best you can, with what you have at that moment.

Know your true priorities and think long term

Make sure if you choose to sacrifice one area of your life for the benefit of another that you are not just focused on the here-and-now, that you are thinking about how prioritizing one area of your life will affect you 1, 5 and 10 years from now. For example, if you choose to put your social life first and go out with friends all night rather than working on a project or getting a good night sleep before your 6 a.m. practice, recognize that one year from now your grades might not be good enough to get you the job or get you into college, or, five years from now when your swimming career has ended you may regret not doing the little things necessary to help you to reach your fullest potential. However, when choosing your priorities, keep in mind that the odds of competing at the collegiate or Olympic level are against you. So, before you prioritize swimming over all else, make sure you don’t totally neglect the areas of your life that you have to rely on if/when competitive swimming ends. Again, think about the long-term effects of your decisions.

Know who else your decisions affect

As you are juggling the various aspects of your life, make sure you know what relationships might suffer. Whether it’s your relationship with teammates, coaches, friends, or family, when you are spending a good deal of time with one group your connection to others may begin to fade. It’s just something to consider as you try to balance your life.

Decisions don’t have to be totally wrong or totally right, they just have to be the best you can make at that time

Many people stress out because they don’t want to make the wrong decision. When several things are important to you, you are likely to feel that you are doing something wrong if you have to make a choice between two things you enjoy. When you struggle with such a decision, weigh the pros and cons, the long term effects, the people involved (including yourself), and make the best choice you can with the options available.

Balance the time and energy required for tasks

When you have lots of demands for your time, it is hard to get everything done. You can feel overwhelmed, stressed, and think that it is impossible to be you and be everywhere at once. When you have stress because of significant time demands, the best way to get control of it is to plan it out and learn to manage your time and your energy. First, get out a piece of paper and divide it into five sections. This is going to be your “to do” list.In the first column write down everything you have coming up. In the second column estimate how much time the task will take. In the third column, decide on a scale of 1-5 (1 being a little bit, 5 being a lot) how much energy the task is going to take. Then look at your list and prioritize-your fourth column is the order in which you are going to complete each task. The final column is the date or time you want to complete the task by.

To Do

Time Required

Energy Required (1-5)

Priority

Completion Date/Time

 

I suggest doing the tasks that require the most energy first, the ones that require the most time next, then, with the remaining tasks, decide which are most important. The reason you want to do the tasks that use your energy first is because you want to do them while you still have energy and you don’t want to have them hanging over your head all day. You might have to call a coach and tell him that you are going to miss practice, something you dread and know it takes a lot of your energy to do but not necessarily a lot of time. If you wait until the end of the day, you’ll have been stressing over this “energy-draining” task all day, which can distract you from all of your other tasks (causing them to take longer than needed and possibly decreasing their quality). Also, once the “energy-drainers” are completed, that sense of relief of having it done can actually bring you an energy boost.

Juggling the various aspects of your life is a skill. If you can create good time management habits, set goals to help you choose your priorities, and learn how to deal with the stress of it all, you will develop the ability to be successful in multiple areas without having to sacrifice too much in others. Sometimes, there is a lot going on and a lot being demanded of you, but the more you work at it, the more things you can juggle at once.

Make it great!

Dr. Aimee

I is for Injuries by AIMEE C. KIMBALL, PhD

I is for Injuries – ABC’s of swimming from USA Swimming.

 

BY AIMEE C. KIMBALL, PhD//Sport Psychologist
When you work hard, push yourself to your limits and engage in physical activity, you are not only competing with other swimmers, you are also competing with your body.

If you have ever been injured, you know how stressful and life-altering it can be. Whether it’s the disappointment of having trained so hard and no longer being able to compete or the feeling of being an outsider rather than a part of the team, there are many sources of injury stress.

It is important to know how to cope with this stress and what mental skills you can use to help throughout the recovery process. This article is about how to cope with injuries so you can get back in a pool ASAP.

Relax!

When you have physical tension or mental stress, your body uses its resources to fight the stress rather than to heal your injury. Also, if you go to physical therapy, and your muscles are tense (which occurs because you are stressed) you won’t be as flexible as you do your rehab exercises. This limits the progress you can make. If you are stressed about the injury or about other things in your life and you bring this to your physical therapy sessions, your focus will be on the stressors rather than the exercises. Because of this, you may not be pushing yourself and you may not be doing the exercise correctly, both of which can keep you from progressing as quickly as possible. Thus, it is important to know how to relax and to take the time to de-stress periodically throughout the day, especially before rehab.

Social Support

Make sure you have people you can talk to about the injury. You might find it helpful to talk to someone who has experienced a similar situation and is now back competing again. You may find just being around the team helps you, even if you are unable to swim. There are also mental training consultants and sport psychologists who understand what you are going through and who can be a “neutral” source for you to get out your thoughts and emotions and who can teach you how to refocus more positively.

Set Goals

Make sure you have goals for rehab. Most athletes set goals for improving their times or winning events. However, when injuries strike, all of those goals you were striving for change. As an athlete, you are used to working towards accomplishing something, so it’s important to channel that drive into your rehab and into goals you have in school or other areas of your life. For example, if you had shoulder surgery, make sure you talk to your surgeon and physical therapist about what the rehabilitation process is like. Have them educate you on milestones you are likely to experience throughout the recovery as well as obstacles you might face. If you can, at least once a week (if not every day) talk to your physical therapist or athletic trainer about what muscles or ligaments you are strengthening and write down goals that you want to achieve for each exercise. It’s important to recognize that with injury, small changes are big deals. Don’t just emphasize major accomplishments like the day you can swim at full speed, acknowledge range of motion improvements or increases in the number of reps you do while lifting. These goals provide you with motivation by letting you know you are getting closer to your ultimate goal and can provide that extra push on the days when you are mentally and/or physically struggling. Goals also can also help to diminish fear of reinjury when you return. Comparing what little you were able to do when you were first injured with the day you are fully cleared will give you greater confidence that you are well on your way to returning to full speed.

Keep an Injury Notebook

Some athletes find it very helpful to keep a notebook throughout their injury as a way to get their thoughts out of their heads. In this notebook, you can keep track of your goals each week. Chart what you are working on and what is improving. Make note of how your mood might be improving, what helps you to deal with pain, fatigue and stress. Take notes about what the coaches are teaching other swimmers so you can learn new things and recognize what the coaches want from their swimmers. The reason for doing this is: a) writing things down can serve as a stress reliever, b) setting goals can keep you focused during rehab and c) keeping track of improvement is a great motivator and confidence booster. This injury book can also provide encouragement after you have returned from injury. If you ever start to feel burned out you can always look at this notebook and remind yourself that you didn’t go through all of this to give up now.

Do Imagery

There is a lot of research within sport and other domains that shows how effective imagery can be in speeding up the recovery process. Some studies show that imagining yourself healing influences blood flow, optimism and sense of control, which can all help you to get back in the pool sooner. Additionally, by having vivid images in your head and essentially “feeling” yourself swimming, you keep your muscle memory in tact and your skills won’t decrease as much as if you sit around and don’t think of swimming at all.

The above suggestions are just a few ways to address the mental aspects of injury. While no one wants to get injured, it is unfortunately a part of sport. By choosing to view the injury as another challenge to overcome, you will develop a very valuable life skill-the ability to succeed in the face obstacles. You can also learn a lot about yourself and about your sport while injured. Thus, while dealing with an injury can be a very stressful experience, you can return a stronger competitor and a more mentally tough individual once you’re back in the water.

Make it great!

H is for Having Fun by AIMEE C. KIMBALL, PhD

 H is for Having Fun

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
BY AIMEE C. KIMBALL, PhD
I agree with Abraham Lincoln, who said, “People are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”

I think that having fun is, in fact, a mental skill. Most people believe having fun is as easy as getting involved in something you enjoy, which is true. However, what happens when what you enjoy also becomes a source of pressure, anxiety, fatigue and pain?

Most athletes start swimming because they love being in the water and enjoy being with their friends. When they decide to turn their “hobby” into a competitive activity is when some of the “fun” can be taken away.

That is, when you now have to practice for two hours after school and you are being asked to push your physical limits, you may start to focus on the aspects of competitive swimming that you don’t enjoy.

Focusing on your dislikes is what can make the fun disappear. Then, when you start to get good, develop high expectations for yourself, and feel pressure to drop time every meet or win every race, you may find even more things you don’t like about a sport you used to enjoy.

If you take it to the next level and start swimming to possibly get or keep a college scholarship and your whole reason for swimming is based on the belief that you HAVE to swim well or you will lose this opportunity, then even more anxiety occurs.

Basically, the higher the level at which you compete, the more potential there is for you to find things you don’t like about swimming, and thus, swimming becomes less fun.

Don’t worry though, just because you are now competing doesn’t mean swimming has to cease being fun.As I said before, you control your own happiness.

Here are some things you can do to make sure you can still have fun while swimming competitively:

Focus on the positive
Like anything else in life, the more you focus on what you enjoy, the happier you will be. It is easy to go to practice focusing on how much you don’t want to be there, how tired you are going to be, or how much you hate when your coach yells at you. However, if you accept that all of those things are part of your reality and instead change your focus to what you are going to get out of the day, you’ll find it a lot more enjoyable. So, before heading to meets or practice, remind yourself what you are looking forward to while you are there, rather than what you’re dreading.

Remember the good stuff
If you are ever struggling and feel like some of the fun of the sport has been lost, pull out a picture of yourself from when you were really young. Maybe it’s from the first race you ever entered or from a day where you were just with your friends practicing your cannonballs. The picture should put a smile on your face and remind you that you chose to swim because of how happy being in the water makes you.

Embrace the pressure
The pressure you feel and the anxiety you experience don’t have to be detrimental. Instead of perceiving your expectations for yourself as a negative, recognize that it means you have confidence in your ability. If you didn’t know you were good, you wouldn’t have such high standards for yourself. Experiencing pressure just means you’ve created an opportunity for yourself to reach a higher level of success. That you’ve proven you are good enough to be in this situation should bring satisfaction rather than worry. Also, choose to view meets and difficult practices as small challenges that you are going to work through to overcome. A sense of pride should come from knowing you are working your hardest to achieve something meaningful to you.

Swim for the sake of swimming
While it’s easy to get caught up in external rewards such as medals, records and scholarships, you must keep in mind these are not the reasons why you swim. First and foremost you swim because it’s a sport you enjoy. The accolades are just a by-product of your hard work. We lose the fun when we think we are swimming to get something out of it. Make sure you remind yourself that you swim for enjoyment, for improvement and to be with friends. Then, by being involved in something you find inherently fun and putting forth the effort to see how good you can be at that activity, you are setting yourself up to enjoy the processof achieving success – not just for success itself.

Remember, having fun is up to you. No matter how hard practice is, no matter how “serious” the meet is, you can enjoy competition and all that it brings with it. It’s up to you to decide that your passion for the sport and everything you love about swimming are much more important than the aspects you don’t like. So next time you head to the pool, jump right in and have some fun!

Make it great!

Dr. Aimee

G is for Goal Setting by Aimee C. Kimball, PhD

Hello Everyone,

This weeks topic for the ABC’s of swimming is Goal Setting. This is an  important topic for every swimmer, since their goals are unique to them. We hope you enjoy this article.

G is for Goal Setting

Every athlete has a goal. Whether it’s to win races, achieve a personal best, or simply make it through a grueling practice, the goals we set undoubtedly exert influence on our performance.

However, there’s a lot more to goal setting than just stating what it is you ultimately want to achieve. To get the motivational support and performance boost that goals can provide, athletes must set goals systematically and have various types of goals.

This article will lead you through steps to setting goals so that your performance, satisfaction and quality of practice can all be enhanced. While this article is geared to your sport-related goals, the same steps can and should be used to set goals for all areas of your life.

Step 1: Know where you are headed

Five years from now, what do you want to be doing? One year from now? At the end of this season, what do you want to have achieved? All of these long-term goals are important to sit and write down because they give you something to commit to. It is also important to identify why you want to achieve these goals. This “why” should be something that is valuable to you more than it is to others. Once you identify your goals, close your eyes and picture yourself achieving them. Try to experience the feelings you expect to have when you achieve these goals.

On a weekly basis, reexamine your end-of-season goal. It is okay if you need to adjust it and make it more challenging or more realistic based on your circumstance. Make sure you keep your season goal in mind as you practice so you are aware that what you do today connects you to what you want to achieve in the future. At the end of each season, re-visit your yearly goal and at least once a month imagine yourself achieving your 5-year goal.

Step 2: Know how to get there

Ever get lost on the way to a meet? If you have, typically you knew where you were supposed to end up, you just didn’t have a very accurate map of how to get there. Having a path towards your long-term goals is extremely important because what you want to achieve weeks, months, or years from now can only happen if you take the opportunity each day to make progress towards your longer-term goals. Each day ask yourself, “What can I do today to get myself one step closer to where I want to be?”Make sure you always have a short-term, specific goal you are working on. Whether it’s a technique goal, a mental goal, or a nutritional goal, keep focused on your daily and weekly objectives so you can give yourself the best chance to reach your ultimate goals.

Step 3: Identify milestones of success

Having intermediate markers of success can help enhance motivation (ex., swimming a PR, qualifying for a specific meet, mastering a fundamental skill). These markers serve as points on your goal route that are important to you and are achievements you will be proud of. These milestones provide set standards so you know you are progressing along your goal path. They let you know that your hard work is paying off and give you confidence, encouragement, and enhance your commitment.

Step 4: Identify obstacles

Reaching long term goals is a very challenging process and there are a lot of uncontrollable factors that may keep you from reaching these goals. Look at your long term and short term goals and identify obstacles that may prevent you from reaching these goals. Injury, strength of the competition, and burnout are common obstacles swimmers face when trying to win meets, improve time, or work their hardest. If you list an obstacle you can’t control, cross it off your list (if you don’t control it, don’t worry about it). If it is something you do control, make a plan for dealing with it when it comes up. By identifying obstacles and being prepared to overcome them, you are helping to ensure obstacles do not become excuses.

Step 5: Create a system

Everyone is a little bit different in how they set goals. Some set daily goals while others focus on what they want to accomplish on a monthly basis. Create a system that you can stick to that allows you to: a) Set specific, challenging goals, b) Measure progress towards these goals, c) Gain motivation and encouragement from your goals, and d) Focus on these goals every practice.

I suggest setting, at minimum, weekly goals. Maybe every Sunday write three specific areas you want to improve on. Share these goals with coaches, parents, and/or teammates so you have someone to hold you accountable to working on these goals and who can recognize when you achieve your goals. Each day before practice review your goals and remind yourself what you are working on and how this week’s goals connect to your goals for the season. At the end of the week, assesswhether or not you achieved your goals. If you didn’t accomplish what you set out to do, make sure you honestly figure out why you fell short and try to control what you can in the future. If you did achieve even some of your goals, take a moment to reward yourself and feel proud that your hard work paid off.

Step 6: Set different types of goals

One of the biggest mistakes athletes make is setting goals focused only on the results of meets. While these outcome-oriented goals are important, they are often out of your control. Therefore, it is essential to set process and performance goals as well.

Process goals-fundamentals totally under your control (stroke, turns, attitude)

• Performance goals-“statistics” based on individual improvement (drop time, increase in sets)
• Outcome goals-focus is on comparisons to others (winning races, being the best)

Ultimately, you want to focus on your process goals since the more of the fundamentals you master, the more likely you are to reach your performance goals (good technique + good mentality=better time). When you reach your performance goals, you give yourself a better chance of achieving your outcome goals (you don’t control if you win, you only control if you swim your best). By focusing on the process and what you control, you are trusting that the way you swim will lead to the performance you want.

Process ⇒ Performance ⇒ Outcome

Summary

Whether you are 14 or 41, goals are vital in providing direction, creating motivation, and enhancing commitment. Some people shy away from setting goals because they are afraid of being disappointed if they fall short. Other swimmers only set goals for meets or for their careers. It is important not to see goals as the ultimate indication of success or failure; rather they provide you with guidance so that you can stretch your abilities as far as possible. Very few people achieve every goal they set; therefore it is the progress you make towards these goals and the effort you exert in their pursuit that is the determinant of your success. If every day you get a little bit closer to where you want to be, consider that to be a successful day.

GOAL SETTING EXERCISE

My strengths are:

• My plan for using and building upon these strengths:

Areas I can improve (mental, technique, fitness, nutritional…):

• Actions I will take to improve on these areas:

My goal for the season/week/month is:

• What will I do to achieve this?
• What obstacles might I face and how will I overcome them?
• What will result when I achieve this goal?

Written by Aimee C. Kimball, PhD

Nutrition Tips for Young Athletes

From the American Youth Soccer Organization    http://www.ayso104.org/parents/nutrition.html

Nutrition and Performance

It is important that young athletes eat well-balanced meals and remain hydrated in order to achieve optimal health and performance. Bodies need to be fueled by eating proper types of foods, such as 3-5 cups of fruits and veggies a day. Doing so will ensure that young athletes play at their best. The following sites contain nutritional guidelines and food suggestions to help improve your health.

A Few Resources

MyPyramid, Steps to a Healthier You

The MyPyramind plan can help you choose the foods and amounts that are right for you. My Pyramid Tracker provides an assessment of your food intake and physical activity level.

BAM! Body and Mind

The BAM!web site answers your questions on health issues and recommends ways to make your bodies and minds healthier, stronger, and safer.

Parents Magazine

Parents Magazine has an excellent article, Healthy Snacks From A to Z, which provides you with some healthy snack suggestions.

Heath and Nutrition for Kids

The students of Green Mountain Central Schools in Vermont suggested the Health and Nutrition for Kidspage from CulinarySchools.org, which has some great information about eating right and being healthy.

Fueling the Young Athlete

Nutrition plays a key role in athletic performance. Failure to provide the calories and carbohydrates that young athletes need to fuel their bodies, the fluid to maintain hydration, and the vitamins and minerals to support metabolism and tissue growth and repair will result in poor performance and an increased risk for injury and/or illness. The following nutritional guidelines will ensure that every young athlete is fueled and hydrated for optimal health and performance.

Calories

Physically active children and adolescents have calorie requirements that are 12-15 percent greater than those of their sedentary peers. The precise calorie and carbohydrate requirements will vary depending on the type, intensity, frequency and duration of exercise in which they engage.

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates provide the primary fuel for exercising muscles. It is essential that young athletes consume lots of complex carbohydrates (i.e., whole grains, fruits and vegetables) on a daily basis. In addition, it is important to ensure that young athletes get the proper amount of carbohydrates before, during and after exercise to support optimal health and performance.

How Much to Eat and When

Before Exercise

Make sure your young athletes arrive to practice well-fed. They should eat a well-balanced meal that contains 75-200 grams of carbohydrates, 2-4 hours before the practice session or competition. A snack 30 minutes prior to exercise may also be beneficial, particularly if an athlete was unable to consume an appropriate meal 2-4 hours prior. The snack should contain approximately 20-50 grams of easily digested carbohydrates.

During Exercise

Consuming carbohydrates during exercise may be beneficial if:

The exercise session is more than one hour.

The exercise session is very intense.

The athlete did not eat anything before exercise.

After Exercise

Replacing carbohydrates that were used during exercise within 2 hours of completing the exercise session is essential for speeding recovery and preparing for the next athletic training period. The post-exercise meal should contain approximately 150 -200 grams of carbohydrates.

Keeping Kids Hydrated

A number of factors place young athletes at an increased risk for dehydration and various heat illnesses. First, the higher energy expenditure of young athletes means that they produce more metabolic heat. In addition, young athletes don’t sweat as efficiently as older athletes and thus cannot cool their bodies as effectively. Finally, young athletes are not as diligent about drinking fluids and their body core temperature during dehydration tends to increase faster. For these reasons it is essential that young athletes be encouraged to drink frequently even when they are not thirsty.

Research studies have shown that providing a cooled and flavored beverage produces greater fluid consumption among children and helps prevent dehydration. Parents should make sure that athletes arrive at practice sessions, games or competitions fully hydrated. Coaches should enforce drink “pauses” every 15-20 minutes even when athletes do not feel thirsty. Parents, coaches and the athletes themselves should watch for the “warning signs of dehydration:”

Warning Signs of Dehydration

·                  Thirst

·                  Irritability

·                  Headache

·                  Weakness

·                  Dizziness

·                  Cramps

·                  Nausea

·                  Decreased performance

Guidelines for Optimal Hydration

The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) provides the following guidelines for the maintenance of optimal hydration:

Before Exercise:16 – 20 full ounces within the 2 hour period prior to exercise

During Exercise:4 – 6 full ounces

Post Exercise:replace 24 full ounces for every one pound of body weight lost during exercise.

NOTE: Your child has lots of beverage choices, but the best source of hydration is still good old fashioned water. The problem is getting your child to drink that much. If you can couple your hydration and nutrition efforts, eating snacks like bagels, trail mix, dried fruit, or pretzels will stimulate the athletes’ thirst and encourage them to drink more. Alternatively, sports drinks like Gatorade are designed to stimulate thirst, so the athlete drinks more.

Pre-and Post-Exercise Snacks for Young Athletes

2-4 hours before exercise

1.                 Sandwich with lean meat, piece of fruit.

2.                 Pasta with tomato sauce.

3.                 Cereal with milk.

4.                 A bagel with peanut butter and honey, and a piece of fruit.

5.                 English muffin with honey and low-fat yogurt.

30 minutes before exercise snacks

·                  Honey-Energy Bars.

·                  Honey Applesauce Swirl: To make, stir 2 tsp. honey, or more to taste, into a single serving unsweetened applesauce snack pack.

·                  Honey Pretzel Dipping Sauce: Whisk 1 tbs. of your favorite spicy mustard together with 1 cup honey. Makes enough dip for 8 servings of 20 small pretzel twists.

Post-exercise meals

·                  Sandwich with 3 ounces lean meat, piece of fruit, pretzels, juice or milk.

·                  Pasta with tomato sauce, whole grain bread, skim milk.

·                  Cereal with milk, piece of fruit, toast with honey.

·                  Bagel with peanut butter and honey, piece of fruit, skim milk.

·                  3 ounces lean meat, potatoes, cooked veggies, skim milk.

Food& Drink Ideas for the Team Cooler

·                  Bagels.

·                  Honey-Energy Bars.

·                  Breakfast bars.

·                  Crackers and peanut butter.

·                  Pretzels.

·                  Chex mix.

·                  Fresh fruit (e.g., bananas, grapes, apples) or dried fruit.

·                  Yogurt.

This article was brought to you by P2Life

Let’s all be part of helping our swimmers to reach their goals. Go CBAC Go, let’s see those records fall.

Coaching Staff

“E is for Emotional Control”- BY AIMEE KIMBALL, PhD

From CBAC Coach Team

Whether it’s yelling at a parent, kicking a bleacher, or letting an expletive fly, most people have lost their “cool” at some point. Emotions are a part of every sporting event, and if we don’t recognize how they are influencing us, emotions can impact our performances. This article will focus on how to control your emotions by recognizing them, addressing them, and using them to your benefit.   Are Emotions Bad?

Most athletes perform their best when they keep their emotions to themselves. It is often the case that becoming too emotional creates an improper focus on the initial cause of the emotions (e.g., a bad start, an important event, a competitor from the other team). Emotions become most detrimental when they cause athletes to lose focus on what they need to do to swim well and instead create a focus on a past event, a negative occurrence, or a future unwanted action.   Even positive emotions can elicit poor performance. When a football player becomes elated because he just ran back a kick-off only to start celebrating two yards short of the end zone, you can say his emotions got the best of him. You’ve seen swimmers, a few strokes away from winning the race, let the opponent make a comeback. Often this happens because the swimmer in the lead was so caught up in the positive emotions of winning that their thoughts were no longer on the event. Thus, overconfidence is an emotion that can negatively impact individuals because it can make their focus less than ideal. Therefore, it’s not just negative emotions that we need to be aware of.   That said, emotions are not necessarily bad. Some people perform their best when they are emotional and claim their emotions help them to “get into” the event. I have worked with many athletes who tell me they play better angry, but I find the reason for this is because they consequently become more intensely focused on what they need to do in the competition. Essentially, certain emotions help them to create the focus that allows them to compete at their best.   While emotions can help people to focus better, the problem with swimming “emotionally” is that emotions can be physically manifested. Emotions often tighten athletes’ muscles, which changes their mechanics and decreases reactions, ultimately hindering their performance.   Having emotions isn’t bad. The key is in controlling the emotions you do have and not letting them cross the line from beneficial to detrimental.   Controlling Your Emotions

To make sure your emotions don’t hurt your performance, you need to know how to control them.   First, take deep breaths as often as possible. A deep breath will slow down your heart rate and slow down your thoughts, both of which give you better control over your emotions.  •Have a pre-planned way to stop your emotions and refocus your energy more positively. If you are really excited, turn this excitement into a desire to swim well and focus on what you need to do. If you’re often angry after a race, have a post-race routine that you do after all races (good or bad). This may include listening to three songs before talking to anyone and then logically assessing your swim by thinking about what you did well and what you will work on for next time.  •Be creative and come up with other ways to physically and/or mentally release the emotion. Pull on your cap and say “Pull it together” or as you get out of the water after a poor race think about leaving it behind.   Watch Your Body Language

Your mind will react to what your body does. If you put your head down, throw a water bottle or slump your shoulders, you are essentially telling your mind that you’re mentally checking out. If you keep your head up, your eyes focused ahead, and your comments positive, your mind will know you have already let go of the bad race and are ready to keep going. This helps to control your emotions by treating bad races (or other negative occurrences) as nonevents—just part of the sport—and showing your mind that you are in control of your body and your emotions.   Practice Emotional Control

Outside of sport, there are many situations that test our emotional fortitude. By practicing staying calm when you are sitting in traffic, in the slowest line in the grocery store, or fighting with a sibling, you are training yourself to be in control of your emotions. Just like practicing your physical skills is essential for peak performance, so is practicing your emotional skills. So start taking control of your mind, your body, and emotions in every situation.

Make it Great!

D is for Dedication- by AIMEE C. KIMBALL, PhD. USA Swimming

Please find your latest installment in the ABC’s of swimming from USA Swimming.

This week is D is for Dedication

BY AIMEE C. KIMBALL, PhD//Special Correspondent

For many swimmers, their sport is more than just a hobby. It’s more than just something they do to get fresh air, meet people and get some exercise. There is nothing wrong if you swim just for fun, but if you treat sport as hobby, it’s hard for you to expect to swim your best. Anyone looking to perform to their potential needs to be dedicated to their sport.This article is for team leaders and individuals who want to take their performance and the performance of those around them to the next level.

Get on the Same Page

Athletes participate in sport for many different reasons. While individuals’ rationale for competing might differ, in order to be successful the whole team needs to be working towards the same goals. The first way to develop more committed athletes is to make sure they are all on the same page with what the team is trying to accomplish. Open and honest communication about team goals and about each individual’s contribution to the team’s mission is essential. At the start of each season, the team should discuss the answers to the following questions:

What do we strive to accomplish? How do we accomplish this?

1. What drives us to be better? How does our motivation help us to reach our goals?
2. What do you enjoy about swimming? How can we find balance between your enjoyment and what the team is trying to accomplish?

From this discussion, you can create a team motto and before each practice huddle as a team and say your motto to remind the team what they are working towards and what everyone has committed to. When members of a team have a shared goal, they will begin to demonstrate a greater dedication to their sport and team.

Relationships Are Key

Once everyone is on the same page and knows what is expected of them, it is important to interact with team members in a way that enhances their commitment to these goals. Leaders need to do more than just be role models, it is also essential that they demonstrate their respect for, interest in, and care for their teammates. Team leaders can use the following suggestions to help build a strong sense of mutual trust and support amongst teammates, which will ultimately improve dedication to each other:

Ask for input and constructive advice and be willing to listen

1. Get to know individuals outside of sport
2. Remove hierarchies. All members are equally important
3. Encourage support for everyone’s success. Compete but cooperate

Dedication Starts with Motivation

Ultimately individual dedication hinges on individual motivation. The athletes who often demonstrate the most dedication are those who love the sport and work to see themselves improve. Getting athletes to focus on becoming their best can be difficult, but when leaders build a culture emphasizing pride in effort and daily improvement, team members become more dedicated to what they do in both practice and competition. By having athletes state goals for each practice and by rewarding the process of achieving those goals, athletes will take to heart the importance of individual improvement. This increases their sense of intrinsic motivation which will then enhance their dedication to the team.

Know Your Purpose

Another important aspect of dedication is sense of purpose. Athletes want to know that they are contributing something to their team. For athletes whose talent may not be as great as their effort, it can be hard to feel like they are important to those around them. Thus, team leaders need to be cognizant of each swimmer’s strengths and make a point of consistently acknowledging and thanking them for their contributions. Whether it’s their physical ability or their support of teammates, individuals want to know what they contribute is meaningful, and when they discover their purpose they will further dedicate themselves to bettering the team through their identified strengths.

What if I Won’t Dedicate 100%?

Knowing how to be fully dedicated to something is a very important life skill to have. If you don’t ever learn what it means to give 100%, how will you know if you can be successful outside of swimming? There are many reasons why athletes do not fully commit to their sport, some are completely understandable (involvement in other activities) while others need to be overcome (laziness, don’t want to make the sacrifices). Some athletes are at a stage where they just swim for fun rather than the competition, so giving 100% to swimming isn’t important to them. Whatever your current reason for not being fully dedicated, make sure you are still maximizing your commitment level given varying priorities. What I mean is, if you sign up for a swim team, know what is required and maintain that commitment. If you are not willing to put forth the effort that the team requires, there might be a better team for you because you are likely to end up unhappy if you are on a highly-competitive team but you aren’t a highly competitive person. If you find a team that matches your motivation, you will most likely enjoy the sport more and be able to match your dedication level to that of your teammates. I caution you not to sell yourself short though. Some people don’t want to be on a competitive team because they don’t believe the“extreme” swimmers can have any fun. However, the majority of people who give 100% love the sport and find most of it enjoyable. They find the fun in knowing they are getting better, pride in the hard work they put in and excitement in beating someone new or in getting a PR in a race.

Levels of Dedication

• No Dedication:Showing up at practice when I feel like it.
• Minimum Dedication:Showing up to mandatory practices.
• Moderate Dedication:Working hard at mandatory practices and some optional practices.
• High Dedication:Working hard at all available practices and doing a little bit extra outside of the pool
• Total Dedication:Working hard at all available practices and doing everything you can outside of the pool (mental training, nutrition, strength/flexibility training…)

If right now you are moderately dedicated to your sport but really want to become a better swimmer, you do not have to totally dedicate yourself to swimming and make your life revolve around it. In order to see some improvement, you just have to do a little bit more than you are now. Maybe you don’t have time for extra training, but you may be able to read the latest articles inSplashmagazine or watch an instructional video on YouTube . To become the best swimmer you can be and to truly reach your potential, you do need higher levels of dedication, which include out-of-pool activities. Ultimately, you have to choose your own dedication level, which should be based on your ultimate goals and willingness to make sacrifices. Olympic dreams require more than moderate dedication, while participating on a high school team may not. It’s up to you whether you want to see how good you can be, but your potential in the pool can only be met through consistent dedication. Dedicating yourself to a sport is about working to accomplish something and putting in the effort necessary to meet the challenge. It is much more disappointing to finish a race with a less-than-ideal time and think to yourself, “If only I did a little more” than to finish and say “I gave it all I had.”

Dedication Decoded

Someone once told me that “Dedication is when you are bent over, drenched in sweat, just about to pass out, and then you smile.”I think there’s some truth in the idea that dedication is about pushing your limits and still enjoying the process. If you can get yourself and your team to do that, you know they have the dedication necessary to succeed.

Make it Great!

Kind regards,

CBAC Coaching Staff

C is for Confidence- from Coach Katie

C is for Confidence

Mentally preparing yourself to swim fast can be as easy as A-B-C. Sport psychologist Aimee Kimball brings usaswimming.org her third installment of the ABCs of mental training — “C” is for Confidence.

Confidence is a Choice

Many people think the only way to be confident is to be successful. While it is easier to believe in your abilities when you have had proven success, it is not the only way to feel a sense of confidence. Confidence is a choice. It comes from choosing to focus on your strengths and knowing that you are good. It comes from choosing to be positive with yourself. It comes from focusing on what you need to do to swim well rather than uncontrollable, situational factors. Most importantly, confidence comes when you’re not worrying about being the best, but when you are focusing on being yourbest.

How Can I Create Confidence?

The first step in creating confidence is preparation. If you fully engage physically and mentally in practice, you will feel more prepared when competing. Focused practices allow you to trust that you did everything you could to enable yourself to perform your best.

Second, it is important to act confidently. Our mind reacts to what our body does. If your head is down, your muscles are tense or your shoulders are hunched, your mind will sense your self-doubt. So always make sure your body language and your communication with yourself and others portrays confidence. Even when you don’t feel confident, act and think confidently.

Finally, realize you don’t need other people to tell you that you are good. Many athletes wait for coaches to tell them they are swimming well in order to believe in themselves. You maywant others to tell you that you are good, but it’s not something you need. You already know when you swim well, hearing it from others is just icing on the cake.