Competitive Opportunities: Age Group Swimming One of the benefits of your USA Swimming membership is the privilege of being able to compete in swim meets across the country. When you’re first starting out, though, you will probably participate in competitions a little closer to home. There are many different kinds of meets you can participate in, but most age groupers will probably be competing in local invitationals. These invitationals are usually held over the weekend and hosted by a nearby club – maybe even your own. There are typically anywhere...

Attention All Area 2 Division Swimmers!!! The PST Booster Club is inviting you to Pizza at the Pool in honor of your accomplishments! Thursday, February 24th. Pizza will be served at 6:15 (after practice) to all deserving swimmers! Parents are invited to come early, 5:30PM, to help us set up and discuss our upcoming PST hosted Senior Meet- March 4-6. For all your Area 2 meet information (warm-up times, psych sheet, timelines,) etc.. please check website often. www.swimpst.com

R is for Resiliency Mental toughness is as much about our reaction to an event as it is our preparation for that event. There are going to be times when your race doesn’t go exactly as planned. There are going to be times when you fail, you struggle, or you have to return from injury. This newsletter focuses on resiliency, a necessary mental skill that can help you to cope with the obstacles sport and life throw at you. So what is resiliency? The best way to demonstrate the concept...

Swimming Fast When the Pressure's On One of the greatest challenges for a swimmer is learning how to be a great competitor, especially when the race begins. In my years of experience as a sport psychologist, I have found that there are a few keys to performing well under pressure: See competition as a challenge rather than a threat. If you prepare for your big event with excitement, anticipation and enjoyment, you will be able to get the butterflies in formation and use your nerves in a positive, performance-focused way....

Reminder on Mental Toughness To reach your goals, you’ll need to learn to deal with stress and keep a healthy perspective. Below is a list of five short reminders about mental toughness that every swimmer should follow: You have to be in control of yourself before you are in control of your performance. Take deep breaths, slow down the thoughts racing through your head and smile. Allow yourself room to fail. Remind yourself that taking a chance and failing is better than not having the guts to fight in the...

Animal Group will practice at 7:30am. All other groups will practice at 8am. There will be no afternoon practice for all groups.

Parental Involvement Given the age and level of emotional and financial dependence of youth athletes, parents play a critical role in the development and social climate of youth sports. Parents hold the responsibility of transporting their children to and from practice and games, providing the monetary funds for equipment and travel and most importantly, acting as the advocates and cheerleaders for young athletes. The social and emotional environment of a youth sport event is dictated in great part by the behavior of parents which can result in a positive or...

. Sportsmanship I saw a television commercial during an NFL game this year about sportsmanship. In the commercial young children repeat negative comments about officials, coaches, and players they were exposed to at home. At the end of the commercial the kids say they want to grow up to be like their dad. This commercial made it into a lot of homes through a television screen and probably caused many adults to consider the powerful effect their words have on children. Poor sportsmanship displays by adults are inexcusable and are...

PST Senior Invitational February 11 & 12, 2011 Timelines updated as of 2-9-11 Psychsheet updated as of 2-9-11 Real Time Results Results pdf TM-File for coaches

Parent Behavior: Desires from coaches and athletes. Much like the researchers who have been working on identifying parent behaviors and strategies to train them, I find myself asking more questions than finding answers. So many unexplored areas of parent involvement make it difficult to identify a starting point! Earl Wilson's quote describing a parent's sporting experience can also often be fitting for coaches dealing with parents...how many more innings/games/contests do I have to deal with "that" parent? And the day "that" parent leaves your team, a weight is lifted from...