The set was:
8 x 100 fly kick on back with fins /2:00 all 10 m under water.
After four
100, I stopped the swimmers as they were doing the set as if they had not heard
me specify the goal which was to go 10m underwater after each push off. Once
they were out of the water, I asked them to remind me of the goal of the set,
it’s purpose.
Their answer confirmed that their poor performance on the goal was not because
they weren’t aware of the task at hand.
“It’s hard for me to see in you, the signs that someone who struggles to go further underwater, usually would show.” I said while mimicking someone really going out of their way to remain underwater longer.
“For some of you, it’s even really far from looking like a struggle.” I added while observing their body language.
Some swimmers were looking down at their feet, giving me the impression they felt defeated and this vibe, inspired me to come at it from the angle of trying to help them do better.
“So, to help you with this, I will remind you of the story of Brutus, as 10 meters seem to be for many of you, your Brutus.”
Relieved I wasn’t going to make them feel worse for having sold themselves short, I had their full attention.
“OMG, I’m going to die, 10 meters is so far, I can’t do this, it’s too much” I said funnily pretending to be the voices in a swimmer’s head.
I felt this was a great opportunity to have a lesson in raising the “caring level”, in finding meaning, to make the odds against us seem more manageable and hence increase our willingness to struggle, step out of our comfort zone.
Spicing things up
“Because you see 10 meters as your Brutus, it affects your ability to struggle. So, what we’re going to do to increase your ability to struggle is, we’re going to turn the next four 100, into a challenge. You have 4 attempts to have everyone, do all the 10m in the same 100. If you do this, you beat the coach, but if you can’t, I win.”
After discussing what the winner would get, I told them a few things to help them develop even stronger bonds between them.
“Remember that every team is always as strong as their weakest link. If someone’s having difficulties or it’s more challenging for them, it’s your duty as a team to support that person. Cheering, a tip, encouragements are all things that support.”
After the first 100, I got them out of the water to discuss what they had just done.
“You won right away.” I said with a tone revealing I was questioning how challenging it really had been for them.
“What does it mean then?” I asked, looking for their input.
“That we were lazy!” One boy says trying to make everyone laugh.
“Ok, but what did you do different?”
“We tried,” a girl said.
“Did you try to get it done, or did you get it done?”
She looked at me puzzled carefully considering my question.
Her facial expression lightened when she realized that she had gotten it done because she had cared more about getting it done, than the discomfort she would have to go through, to make it happen. It was “worth it.”
After making sure that all the swimmers were aware of the difference in which they had done the previous four 100 and the one they had just done, I continued the debrief.
The risk was worth it
“By adding the element of a challenge, it made things a bit more exciting and you were able to push yourselves further, in other words, you allowed yourself to struggle a bit more. It became ok to struggle because you had a great reason for it. You made it so that you cared more. The risk was worth it. You found meaning.”
I could see that it really was sinking in as many were nodding and all eyes focused on me.
“Did you really need the challenge to do that?” I said in a tone showing the genuine curiosity of my question.
“So, this is where we’re heading. We want to become able to struggle just as hard, regardless of the size of our opponent. Not only because it is more fun, by the way, in which part did you have the most fun?”
After they unanimously agreed they’d had more fun in the second part, I continued: “The reason we want to be able to do this is quite simple, what makes us better is the struggle. Without struggles, there are no improvements.
The “one more” technique
For the remaining three 100, I amped up the size of Brutus by asking them: “How many of you will be able to do 3 out of 3 with perfect 10 meters?”
And added: “Now that there’s no challenge between us and that you know you can do it; I look forward to seeing how you will do the next 3. I think it will reveal a lot about where you’re at in terms of being able to fight under difficult odds. Remember that as long as you allow yourself to struggle, you’ll get better and use the “one more” technique to help you stay focused on the present.”
The “one more” technique is really just a mental technique to approach a set where each repetition is imagined as the last one of the set. This technique leads swimmers to tuning into their “nothing to lose” channel.
During the remaining three 100, I observe carefully how the swimmers perform with the 10m underwater. Some did 12 out of twelve pushes beyond the 10m mark and others missed no more than 4 out of twelve (missed only by a small margin), meaning the quality was far superior in these last 3 than in the first 4.
In the final debrief, I reviewed the steps we had gone through during the set and highlighted the relationship between the fun level, effort, challenge level and level of care.
0 Comments