Performance Issues

"I learnt from Armstrong on the early recordings that you never sang a song the same way twice."
- Van Morrison

"Winning takes talent, to repeat takes character."
- John Wooden

I haven't written in awhile. Let's just say things have been busy. I have returned to work once again with legendary Sean Reeder. To get to work with Sean again meant that I had to end my working relationship with Nathan DeBacker, which was not exactly easy. In the end, to get something meaningful you have to give up something. We'll see where this takes me. In the meantime, it's good to be working with Sean again.

Over the past few weeks of working with Coach Kevin we have started to see what I call True Progress. We recognized that we had been putting a lot of technical Band-Aids on a few key technical elements of the freestyle, and went back to the fundamentals: high elbow recovery, leading with the shoulder and not the hand, carrying the elbows into the water, etc. I've had to concede that if I want to swim faster, then I will have to swim slower for an indefinite period--and I am okay with that. I told Kevin at the beginning of our working relationship that he had 3 years to build an effecient freestyle. One year is almost over, and I think the heavy lifting is over. We know what the issues are and now we just need to beat it into my bones.

My thoughts today on performance come from Van Morrison and John Wooden--two very different people concerned with the same thing. I like what the Belfast Cowboy is hitting on: each performance should be approached as if it is a brand new thing. He's probably going to sing "Brown-eyed Girl" at every concert, but if done properly, it's never going to be the same. He's always bringing something new either emotionally, or musically to the moment.

Dick Jochums is famous for having only ten workouts in his reportoire. I think part of his reasoning is that he wants his swimmers to steel themselves in workout for what they will be seeing in competition. A 100 free is always going to be a 100 free. Learning to treat a workout with intensity and focus, probably leads to a more focused performance.

I'm not on the peformance end of things yet, still in practice mode. Kevin gave me instructions at the beginning of our lesson, and walked the length of the pool as a I swam. The sequence of the remaining lesson went like this: push-off, swim with focus, touch the wall, Kevin says, "Do it again." That was my lesson. I found this experience extremely satisfying. We've spent a lot of time identifying isssues, and now we are actually resolving them.

When I first read the Wooden quote, I thought he meant that success takes character, which is why I selected the quote. Upon re-reading the quote I think he means that anyone who is talented can be successful for a short period of time, but to keep it going takes something else. I can see this fairly easily in my own life. I was a relatively successful tennis player, but those skills don't mean much in the water. Being able to show up someplace and work mindfully, even if you aren't making any perceived progress, is a different skill. I'm sure at some point I will change directions professionally, and my accounting or analytical skills that I have been honing probably won't count for that much. It's sort of nice to know that I have that in my bag of tricks.

Namaste

Barber Shop Ramblings and the Return of Lazaro

"You have to perform at a consistently higher level than others. That's the mark of a true professional."
- Joe Paterno

It's funny how much I love going to the barber shop. When I was a kid, I absolutely hated it. From the ages of four to eleven, I would go to the barber shop with my dad. I never really liked the job my barber did with my hair, I was always itchy afterwards--which required a hated showed to make the annoying "ithcies" go away--and I'd have to wait 10 minutes of so in the strange, dark waiting room before my dad was finished--he has an enormous head with thick, George Clooney like hair. On top of it, they had magazine at the barber shop with really small print. I remember thinking, "Who reads print this small? Where are the pictures of the dancing bears, and elephants with pink polka dots?"

I'm not sure what happened at eleven, but somehow my mom started taking me to get my hair cut. When you are eleven, doing almost anything in public with your mother isn't cool. My mom could have taken me to get a tattoo at eleven, and I still would have thought she was a hard ass that had no concept of what the world was really like. On top of it, when the barber asked me how I wanted my hair cut she would always answer for me: "He wants it short." It was about as much fun as going shopping with your mother, having to parade out in the department store, and then taking it upon herself to make sure there was plenty of room in the crotch.

When I found Lazaro at V's Barber Shop two years ago, I started to enjoy getting my hair cut. He was the first barber that I can remember being professional and focused, yet personable at the same time. Even though he knew how I was going to get my hair cut--a number 2 on the side and clean up the top--he always made sure I wanted the same thing. He always disinfects his straight edge razor, puts in a brand new blade each time, and does a complete clean up on the back of my neck. He follows it up with a hot towel, and a touch of witch hazel to take the sting out of the shave. Most importantly, his work is consistent: each hair cut is a near replica of the last.

As I have stated before, Lazaro is a native of Mexico. Last year he went back home for a vacation, and was not allowed back into the United States for 6 weeks. Up until yesterday, I thought he was still in Mexico. As it turned out, he was just working at a different location within the franchise. So, I passed on hearing Jerome's explicit stories, and had the pleasure of a signature hair cut from Lazaro.

Upon walking into the barber shop and seeing the man for the first time in several months, a huge smile broke out on my face, and we shook hands. What was interesting was that everyone that saw him yesterday since his departure from the barber shop, had the exact same reaction. It is not uncommon for a trusted barber to become an important, and cherished member of a man's inner circle. A man can go an extended period without having a doctor--I count seven years for myself--but only a few weeks without having a barber.

After my hair cut, I had my shoes shined by a gentleman by the name of Jose. It's obvious that broken English is not the man's first language--he is a native of Mexico as well. Now my Spanish isn't exactly up to snuff, but we had a conversation--some in English, some in Spanish--about how hard it is to understand things in your second language when people talk quickly. It was amazing to see how much of communication really is non-verbal, and how humor and a good spirit can cut through the language barrier.