After the I.M. thread and watching my daughter at her meet I got to wondering if being good at certain strokes has anything to do with heredity. If you read the I.M. thread you know that I am terrible at the breaststroke. Today my daughter had to do the 100 I.M. She was second after the fly and doing the backstroke. She had at least a 1/4 of a pool length on the two swimmers behind her. All the parents around me were commenting on how good she looked. I told them to wait and see what happens on the breaststroke. What do you know the two swimmers behind her caught her and past her on the breaststroke. She dropped down to fourth place. Is she destined to be a terrible breaststroker like me? Keep in mind that she has always done lessons at the Y and not with me.
I don't think it's necessarily heritary.
I'm a firm believer that "it's all in the presentation."
If there is nothing physically or mentally wrong with someone I don't see why they can't learn to do something and well. Of course we've all seen "the naturals" but I know I am not a natural swimmer and I've learned to do all of the strokes whereas I can get by. I do believe that genetics play a role in sprinting vs. mid-distance and distance abilities. I'll never be a "sprinter" but I have gone 26.2 in the 50 free which isn't bad. But I also know I'm not the first choice in the 200 free relays!
So, what I mentioned, "it's all in the presentation" I will liken to training Auggie Doggie. Auggie was (she passed away this time last year) our 120 pound Anatolian Shepherd, bred to be a shepherd (2.000 years worth of breeding!). Learning to acclimate to a crate was certainly not even a thought in her gene pool. My husband spent several days "presenting" the crate: leaving the lid off, putting a nice blanket in it, getting in it himself, etc. She loved the crate. I'm sure if we had just stuffed her in it and slammed the door, she'd have hated it.
I use this theory all the time with parents at school too (no, not the crate thing)... I sometimes suggest, for example, where homework is concerned, "Do you ask if there homework is done? or Do you ask what they learned today, and if they could share it with you?" I know from parent feedback that this has been successful.
So, in all my ramblings about dogs and students, she'll be the best breaststroker she can if it's presented positively :)
I don't think it's necessarily heritary.
I'm a firm believer that "it's all in the presentation."
If there is nothing physically or mentally wrong with someone I don't see why they can't learn to do something and well. Of course we've all seen "the naturals" but I know I am not a natural swimmer and I've learned to do all of the strokes whereas I can get by. I do believe that genetics play a role in sprinting vs. mid-distance and distance abilities. I'll never be a "sprinter" but I have gone 26.2 in the 50 free which isn't bad. But I also know I'm not the first choice in the 200 free relays!
So, what I mentioned, "it's all in the presentation" I will liken to training Auggie Doggie. Auggie was (she passed away this time last year) our 120 pound Anatolian Shepherd, bred to be a shepherd (2.000 years worth of breeding!). Learning to acclimate to a crate was certainly not even a thought in her gene pool. My husband spent several days "presenting" the crate: leaving the lid off, putting a nice blanket in it, getting in it himself, etc. She loved the crate. I'm sure if we had just stuffed her in it and slammed the door, she'd have hated it.
I use this theory all the time with parents at school too (no, not the crate thing)... I sometimes suggest, for example, where homework is concerned, "Do you ask if there homework is done? or Do you ask what they learned today, and if they could share it with you?" I know from parent feedback that this has been successful.
So, in all my ramblings about dogs and students, she'll be the best breaststroker she can if it's presented positively :)
