A sunset over a long course pool -- a great way to lead off issue 51. Photo credit: @teamsantamonica
It has been six weeks (sorry!) since issue 50 but it feels like a few hours ago. So much has happened -- we went on an out-of-state team trip, celebrated Thanksgiving, rocked our mid-season taper meet and our younger kids crushed it at another meet. Now it almost time for 2020 - an Olympic year! At least once a week over the past month I sat down and tried to start this newsletter, only to fall into the rabbit hole of my to-do list. Anyway, here it is, issue #51, the last one for this year. Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year! -RW
loosening up
Public service announcement: "Sadfishing," is an unfortunate phenomenon but one worth understanding if you work with young people.
Lately I have been curiously researching the psychological side of swimming and have come across some good resources:
Elite Swimming Coaches' Perception of Mental Toughness was an interesting read: "the participants identified 'coachability' and "retaining psychological control on poor training days" as previously unidentified subcomponents of mental toughness.
My favorite thing I read this week: "Some Crazy Stuff I Would Do" by Chris DeSantis outlines some unusual but creative and interesting strategies he would take as a hypothetical mid-major coach. These ideas deserve more attention, in my opinion.
I find it helpful to look back at the archives of this newsletter when I am looking for some good ideas. You can too -- here they are.
