Is it everyone else fault but yours?
Responsibility is part of being a good teammate and a huge part of swimming. Does this sound familiar? You’re late to practice, again. This is the 4th time this week and your coach is really starting to get ticked off. Who’s fault is it? Well let be honest, it is 100% yours. 
Sounds tough doesn’t it, but it’s true. The excuse can be made that it’s Mum or Dad’s fault because they were late picking you up from school. You could say that the alarm didn’t go off. You could say that you couldn’t find your goggles this morning. But truth be told they are just excuses. These excuses show that you didn’t take the responsibility of getting to training on time seriously. If your parents are going to be late or can’t get you to training you should arrange to catch a lift. You can always ask to get a lift with someone else in your squad. You could catch the bus or better yet walk. After all the training isn’t for your parents, they’re not the swimmer, you are.
Rise and shine.
What do you mean your alarm didn’t go off? Why did you only have 1 alarm set? Nearly every kid above the age of 11 has an electronic device with a built-in alarm clock. If you don’t you can buy an alarm clock for about $10. Plus you should have at least 4 alarms, all set to go off 5 minutes apart. That way if you turn all 4 of them off you know who is responsible. Then is no accident for getting late for training it’s deliberate.
You are old enough to stand on a podium and receive a medal then you’re old enough to pack your swim bag. You can pack it the night before and set your own alarms and wake up your parents. You’re old enough find out the local bus timetable and look at the bus routes and times. You can also speak to a friend at school and ask to carpool or catch a ride. Basically, who’s fault is it? Go out of our way to make sure it’s not yours. Figure out how to be independent and resourceful enough to get your butt to training on time.
Let’s put it this way, you stand alone. At race time when you’re on the blocks ready to hit the water, you stand alone. When you get up to the podium and collect your medal, you stand alone. When history books are written about 
how you won Olympic gold and your triumphs, you will stand alone. Your mother, coach or best friend won’t be on the podium with you. Sure your parents will get an honourable mention from time to time. The reality is it’s you who will get the attention. All the opportunities, all the sponsorship deals and the Olympic Gold medal will be hung around your head, not theirs.
What your coach wants.
Do you really want to know what your coach wants? I can tell you they don’t want to repeat themselves and explain a drill 3 or more times. They don’t want to have people late to practice. They especially don’t want swimmers going slow to get in the pool. Your coach wants you to succeed, they want you to win all your races, set new personal best times. Most of all they want you to listen to their knowledge they are trying to share. They also want you to work hard with them, not against them.
Nearly every coach on the planet will put themselves out for one of their athletes. The whole point of coaching is to pass on knowledge to others that share your passion. If you’re late to training and then start talking when you should be listening. Or not following instructions and not giving your best efforts. Then you really need to ask yourself “Why am I here?”. If you’re there to have fun and socialise, then that’s great. This doesn’t give you the right to stop others from training hard, paying attention and getting the work done. Remember you are part of a swim TEAM, and teams only work well when everyone works together.
Whos fault is this?
Picture this, at swimming practice there are3 lanes of 6 to 8 kids each. In each lane there is that one kid, let’s call him Frankie. Frankie always ducks his head under the water, or talks when the coach is talking. He always splashes others and doesn’t try hard when it’s time to do drills and efforts sets. The coach has to continually tell Frankie to listen and pay attention.
It comes time for the school swimming carnival, everyone in Frankie’s class knows that he does a lot of swimming. They know he goes to swimming practice as well as swimming carnivals. The gun goes off with a bang, off they go down the pool in a flurry, arms and legs go everywhere. At the end of the race, Frankie looks around and everyone is cheering and clapping. It takes a minute to sink in that everyone isn’t cheering for him. The crowd is applauding the winner, the kid for the other swim school in town that came first and set a new school record. 
Who’s fault is it? Frankie swam poorly, who is responsible? The coaches? Should Frankie’s coach have been more strict in training? Frankie’s parents? Should they have watched training from time to time to see if Frankie is misbehaving? Frankie’s teammates? Should they have told Frankie that his behaviour is stopping the team from working harder and learning? I could go on and on and on about all the other factors that affect performance. However, at the end of the day, the buck stops with Frankie
Sport is tough.
Sounds harsh right, well, unfortunately, that’s the nature of competitive sport, which is mirrored in life. There can only be one winner. So next time you go to training why not set yourself a goal, a real easy one. Set yourself the goal of not speaking unless you absolutely have too. Telling your bestie about your day is not absolutely necessary while in training, it can wait until later.
There’s is a poster floating around the internet called “10 things that require zero talent”. If you haven’t seen it, Google it. If you have seen it, print it off and stick it on the wall in your room and on the fridge.
For motivational posters click here.