The first half of my college season this year has been some what disappointing. I would do a bad time, or just have an overall bad swim, and then I think what furthered that trend was my mentality...that there must be something seriously wrong with my stroke, turn, start, anything really, that was going to prevent me from getting faster until I fixed it. Plus, after having a really bad meet, I have a hard time in general, getting back up the next day, next weekend, which ever and not thinking about that previous meet.
My coach says that sprinters tend to have that mentality a lot more than a distance swimmer, just because in a longer race, theres so much time to make a mistake, or get off pace. While, in the 50 or 100free, if your adding 2seconds onto your time thats huge, because you get to thinking "how could I have possibly swam that horribly, that I added 2 seconds to my 50 time!?"
But most significantly, I feel like lactic acid sets, where we go from the blocks at the end of practice and do a bunch of 200s or 100s depending on our coaches mood, for time, are the most detrimental to my mentality. I have never been much of a practicer, in the sense, that I can't hold my best times/race pace times in practice, no matter how hard I try. Even in sets during practice this discourages me, because while I know I am the fastest sprinter on my team, and in the top 10 in my conference, everyone is able to hold 100s and even 50s on a faster time than I. No coach has ever been able to provide me insight to why that is the case...maybe someone here has an idea on that issue? But, yeah, lactic sets, I regularly do 10-15seconds slower than my best time on my 200s, and 5 or so on my 100s...while most of my teammates are able to hold within 0-3 seconds of their best times a lot of the times...
So, the moral of my rant here is that tomorrow I have my first dual meet since early December. We've been doing doubles; working our butts off, and I am praying that tomorrow my season makes a full 180... I think I have brushed off any negative thinking I had had...so hopefully I will be able to swim my events tomorrow with confidence and ...speed?
Morgan:-D
sorry for boring you all with my super long, nearly pointless post:-/
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Former Member
Interesting...during the last couple of seasons, I have made an increased effort to become a "practice swimmer". The satisfaction of hitting practice goals and challanges throughout the year seems to me to far outweigh the "taper for the big one" goal. (I still don't believe that I've ever hit my taper just right). The potential to miss peak performance on the big one (for any number of reasons) is great, and to have all ones eggs in that one basket.....
I don't like having to wait a whole year for another basket of eggs.:2cents:
I completely agree! My coach always is saying--just wait till you see how much you improve at championships...and I'm thinking to myself do I really get up at 515 every morning, swim for 2 hours do dryland for another hour, then go to a full day worth of classes every day...for 6 months....just to have one good race? Back in high school and uss swimming, we would taper for a big meet or two a year, but my times didnt drop as drastically at those meets, because I was steadily dropping time all season long....which is much more rewarding, because then, after a big tapered meet, I was able to start back at a time closer to that PB i did tapered and shaved....while here at college, last year at championships I went a 54 high in the 100freestyle, but this season I started out back at a 58 low...((needless to say this has been a really slow season for me-as I hadn't done a 58 in the 100 freestyle in years, prior to this season!))...but I wish I could come back from a tapered meet, and be at least within a ballpark range of the performances I did there.
Interesting...during the last couple of seasons, I have made an increased effort to become a "practice swimmer". The satisfaction of hitting practice goals and challanges throughout the year seems to me to far outweigh the "taper for the big one" goal. (I still don't believe that I've ever hit my taper just right). The potential to miss peak performance on the big one (for any number of reasons) is great, and to have all ones eggs in that one basket.....
I don't like having to wait a whole year for another basket of eggs.:2cents:
I completely agree! My coach always is saying--just wait till you see how much you improve at championships...and I'm thinking to myself do I really get up at 515 every morning, swim for 2 hours do dryland for another hour, then go to a full day worth of classes every day...for 6 months....just to have one good race? Back in high school and uss swimming, we would taper for a big meet or two a year, but my times didnt drop as drastically at those meets, because I was steadily dropping time all season long....which is much more rewarding, because then, after a big tapered meet, I was able to start back at a time closer to that PB i did tapered and shaved....while here at college, last year at championships I went a 54 high in the 100freestyle, but this season I started out back at a 58 low...((needless to say this has been a really slow season for me-as I hadn't done a 58 in the 100 freestyle in years, prior to this season!))...but I wish I could come back from a tapered meet, and be at least within a ballpark range of the performances I did there.
