University of Richmond Athletics
Outside the Lanes: Travis Stensby
12/16/2011 | Women's Swimming & Diving
Dec. 16, 2011 - The Adult Versus Child Swim Philosphy
During a recent "Stumbling" session ("Stumble Upon" is a website application that "helps you discover interesting web pages, photos, and videos recommended by friends and like-minded people, wherever you are"), I ran across a St. Francis of Assisi quote that really hit home concerning a topic that has been discussed at recent Spider Swim Workouts.
St. Francis said:
He who works with his hands is a laborer.
He who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman.
He who works with his hands and his head and his heart is an artist.
This quote directly corresponds to a challenge that was presented to the Spider Swimming and Diving Team. This challenge was brought forth by the comparison of the "Adult verses Child" mindsets. The challenge presented is to think like an adult while swimming.
Along with college-aged females, I am currently coaching swimmers from six years old (Spider Swim Clinics) to Masters level swimmers (Spiders Masters). I won't give out the Masters level ages, which is a lesson you learn very quickly in "Coaching Masters Swimming 101".
Neither of these mindsets is necessarily bad, as children have an amazing ability to examine their surroundings with an awe-inspiring curiosity. Put a child in a sandbox for the first time and they are amazed by this new and unknown substance on which they stand. They want to touch the sand, play with it and even eat it!
During recent Spider Masters practices, the group was challenged to turn off their adult brain to experiment and truly explore the water. They performed several sculling drills where they were asked to feel the water with their body and explore which motions were actually propelling them through the water. Some of them affectionately called this their touchy-feely, Kumbaya drill.
On the flip side, there are major benefits to having an adult mindset. The adults typically have the ability to think intellectually about problems or ideas. They are able to dive below the surface of a problem and problem-solve issues before they actually happen. Get a group of adults thinking as adults together in a group, each one will understand their role in the group, the greater purpose behind the group, and will constructively challenge each other to solve the problem given to them. We have all been on that dream team or group that has worked together to get a job done at an extremely high level. Every time that happens, it is a group of adults that are thinking like adults.
Tell an adult to perform a task and they want to know what is going to happen before, during and after all aspects of their task. If a problem arises during that task, they will problem-solve on their own, but will also know when to seek the help of others.
As a student (swimmer or not) enters college, he or she is in the process of switching from a child mindset to an adult mindset. This is part of a natural maturation process that everyone must endure throughout their entire lives. I don't think we fully reach that maturation into complete adulthood, but each day we strive to put more effort into what we do.
I love the St. Francis of Assisi quote because he explains this maturation without the age restriction. We aren't asking our swimmers to simply get older, but rather to put thought into what they are doing. They are being asked to work with their hands and their head.
Specifically, in athletics this helps the athlete continue to progress throughout his or her career. Seniors need to put more thought into their sport than they did as juniors. Juniors need to figure out the things that confused them as sophomores. Sophomores understand what they went through as freshman and are more comfortable in their surroundings than they were as freshman. And freshman... well, they are freshman but are thinking and behaving more like adults than they were as a 13 year old.
Here are some of the great examples I have witnessed recently of swimmers having an adult mindset:
During a recent practice set, we had an odd number in a group (seven people swimming in three lanes). This naturally led to two groups of three swimmers, which left one person swimming by themselves. One of the swimmers, Lauren Hines, noticed the dilemma and simply waited 10 seconds to drop back so their teammate had someone to pace with (creating one group of three and two groups of two). This might seem like something simple, but it is exactly what an "adult" would do: put thought into what is going on around them and find a simple solution to make someone's life better.
In this situation it not only helped the other swimmer, but it also helped our team grow. Great teams need swimmers to push each other daily to compete at a higher level. Having someone next to you swimming faster only makes you want to swim faster yourself. If you have to swimmers pushing each other to go faster, soon they'll be reaching levels that no one thought was possible.
Another great example has occurred with multiple swimmers several times throughout the year. It involves an athlete problem-solving to get the desired results during a set or even during a swim meet.
During a recent difficult set, another one of the Spider swimmers, Paige Arruda, started the set by not performing at the level she was capable of performing, adding time in her first couple repeats. Typically when this happens, negativity sets in and a swimmer becomes their own worst enemy; they defeat themselves by giving in.
On this occasion, instead of giving in to negativity like most of us do, Paige started fighting back. She problem-solved a way to start dropping her times and was aware of the changes she was making. She specifically changed her kick speed to create a faster tempo in her stroke without sacrificing her distance per stroke. This led to her times decreasing instead of increasing. When she started swimming faster, she started believing in herself which then led to her swimming increasingly faster.
Confidence is one of those things that catches fire and takes off. It just needs to be lit.
Going back to my boy, St. Francis of Assisi, I think he hit the nail on the head. To truly be great, one must be an artist. Work with your hands, think with your head and always put your heart into what you do!
Players Mentioned
