Kicking With Kaitlin Blog
The last day of a meet is by far the toughest, both mentally and physically. By the time you get to the last day you are mentally drained from the level of focus needed for the first few days. You have raced multiple events. Your body is drained. You’ve gone through highs and lows after each race. You’re tired but you need to push through. Here are my top tips for the last day of the meet when you need to focus and execute.
You haven’t dropped time in 6 months, a year or more. You’re frustrated and wondering what you need to do to break through. I’ve been there. Being stuck in a rut is one of the toughest things to mentally push through, especially when you are training your butt off. Here are some tips to help you push through and breakout on the other side.
Ah, the 50 free... my FAVORITE. The 50 was my top focus event through college, with my fastest SCY times clocking in at 22 mid. These are my top 8 tips to make your 50 free as fast as it can be.
Streamline position is the most important technique you need to learn if you are trying to get better at swimming. It is the foundation of the sport. The benefits of learning proper streamline are endless. However, I've narrowed down to four. Streamline position produces the least amount of drag in the water, teaches you how to hold proper body position as you swim your full stroke, teaches you how to connect your kick to your core and shows you where you might be lacking necessary mobility and flexibility to progress in swimming.
When is it time to pull back? That is one of the toughest questions to answer. Swimming is a very intense sport. You train every day, multiple times a day. During peak training weeks, you grid the yardage out day after day after day. What do you do when you feel off? You can come up with a game plan once you have identified what the issue is. Are you sore, sick or hurt? Always communicate with your coach so they can understand how you're feeling. Identify, strategize, execute.
Looking back on my journey as a young multi-sport athlete, I recognize three HUGE benefits in competing in more than one sport growing up. Competing in multiple sports curates perfectly balanced cross-training, eliminates potential burnout and establishes discipline.
Overthinking can be the most detrimental part of your race. When it comes to race day, you need to turn your brain off, trust your training and race the person next to you. The time for thinking and refining your technique and game plan is in practice, not on race day. TRUST IT. Turn it off. Race the person next to you.