Tracking Improvement A coach and an athlete need to have measurement points along the way to measure improvement based on the training plan. The obvious first tracking area is the athlete’s performance in swim meets. The key question should be “Is the athlete’s performance in swim meets consistent with expectations based on the training load?” A coach may make necessary adjustments to the training based on performance in a meet. Meet performance, however, is not the only way for a coach to track improvement. Another essential element to tracking improvement...

Understanding Why Kids Swim We know from past research conducted by USA Swimming that kids stay in swimming because it is fun and quit because it is not fun. This is a bit of an oversimplification, but it is important for coaches to know what it is that makes swimming fun for athletes. Recognize that fun can be incorporated into practice without detracting from the training Often, fun and hard practices are viewed as being on separate ends of a spectrum. But, from research, USA Swimming found that kids do...

Congratulations to all PST Swimmers who competed Saturday at the Pompano Beach Ocean Mile Swim. A Special Congratulation goes to Sophia Oliva for winning the Over All Women’s Division. Pompano Beach Ocean Swim PST Slide Show

A Balancing Act By Kathleen Woolf, PhD, RD//Correspondent What you eat can have a big impact on your health and performance both inside and outside of the pool. This isn’t news. Hippocrates recognized the relationship of food and health when he stated, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food”. Today, registered dietitians/nutritionists promote the food and health relationship by recommending a balanced diet. What exactly does this term mean? A balanced diet is one where you eat a wide variety of foods in moderation. You consume enough,...

Nutritional Cheat Sheet BY MIKE MEJIA, M.S., C.S.C.S//Special Correspondent Eat Breakfast Start out with a proper breakfast. This does not entail grabbing a bagel with cream cheese and eating it in the car with a large orange juice on the way there. The bagel, especially if it's made with white flour can really jack up your blood sugar levels. Granted, the fat in the cream cheese will blunt this affect somewhat, but add in the OJ and you'll be all fired up for warm-ups and likely crash shortly thereafter. The...

PST 2011 Summer Practice Schedule Starting Monday, June 13, 2011 Coach Jimmy & Dave Monday thru Friday Swim 7:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Saturday Swim 7:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Tuesday & Thursday Gym 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. by Coaches Invitation Only Monday & Wednesday Dry land 4:20 p.m. to 4:55 p.m. Monday thru Thursday Swim 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. OFF on Friday nights Coach Terrell Monday thru Friday Dry land 7:30 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. (Please wear sneakers, gym short & shirt.) Swim 8:15 a.m. to 10:00...

PST Swimmers and Families Many athletes and their family members have asked me about nutritional advice, supplements and all around dietary and exercise guidance. Well, here we go. PURESPORT.com which is the official workout and recovery sports drink for training and faster recovery. We have a great opportunity for 35% discount on all orders at the time of checkout and 20% from each and every order that you place through the life of the program. A direct link for PURESPORT will be available on PST’s website. We also have a...

Understanding Your Physical Growth and Development as an Athlete Did you know? Athletes follow a predictable pattern of physical growth but the rate at which you go through this growth varies by individual. Consider… You typically grow about 2.5 in/yr and gain about 5 lb/yr. Your growth spurt occurs during puberty/adolescence. This means that someone the same age as you can vary by as much as 5 biological years, meaning with two 11-year-old swimmers, one may be 10 and the other 15, biologically. What can you do? Be aware of...

PST Entries Events 1-30 Friday June 17th Warm Up @ 4:30pm Events 31-60 Saturday June 18th Warm Up @ 8am The meet is here at Central Park

How Psychological Development Affects Your Performance Psychological Development is a key component in sports performance. Here are three important factors that affect how not only how well you perform but how much you enjoy the sport. Perceived Competence: (Also known as self-esteem) Athletes' perceptions of their athletic competence go through predictable developmental changes: Athletes 7-9 years old focus on outcome and effort in judging one's competence. "I won, therefore I am a good athlete," or "I tried hard, I must be a good athlete." Winning and Losing serve as an...