The benefit of the doubt goes to the swimmer, and officials are there to educate. Officials do not disqualify, swimmers disqualify themselves, the official acknowledges the infraction. It’s Not a Meet Without Officials When you boil a swim meet down to its bare essentials, the whole thing can be distilled down to four essential, inalienable […]

It’s their sport not mine. The more I got involved and questioned my kids about details of their swimming, the less they wanted to talk about it with me. Parenting has taught me I am far from perfect. There are so many new emotional situations thrown at us with no instruction manual. Hopefully, we learn […]

When preparing to attack a defense the most important thing to do is to understand the nature of the defense. Every defense has strengths and weaknesses that are built into its structure. Looking at a defense can be overwhelming. The first time you go to plan out a game many offensive coordinators will spend hours […]

You have to master each progression before moving on to the next one. Progressions also lead to muscle memory. Muscle memory is good. Fear is a tricky subject all trackers, free runners, gymnasts or any athlete has to face. My name is Raven McCarthy from The Colony, Texas. I do Freerunning, coaching, music and run a parkour […]

The mental training aspect of hockey is just as important as the physical training aspect. You can’t have one without the other if you want to be your absolute best. When you talk to professional hockey athletes, one common theme that you will see among them is that they will not only discuss the importance […]

Pain processing means you must work on clear, honest and consistent communication in your family. It takes work to have this type of dialog, but it’s so important that you must not give up easily. Is your young athlete facing pain right now? Maybe they are not getting the playing time they want, having trouble […]

A better approach is to acknowledge the pain, let them know that you understand it, and then remind them that they’ll be fine. It may take a little while, but they will survive it – we always do. One of the hardest things to deal with as an athlete – youth to pro – is […]

Terrified of swimming in the ocean or open water? You are not alone. One of the most common things that put people off open water swimming or triathlons is the fear of swimming in deep water. This is something the majority of people who get into the sport have to get over, whether they admit […]

For young players it’s a good idea to use language that they can relate to. Explain to your team that a good defense is like a swarm of bees around a hive. As you get to know your team, choose drills that will address your team’s weaknesses (flag pulling, taking the right angle of pursuit, […]

Strike the bottom center of the ball with the inside of the top of the foot. Your foot should be at a 45-degree angle to the sideline when you make contact. Kickers may spend most of the football game watching from the sidelines, but when time’s running out and their team needs three points, then […]