Katie Francis, a 6th grader in Oklahoma, has sold a record 18,107 boxes of Girl Scout Cookies this year.
Wow, that's a lot of thin mints and samosas.
"What's the secret to selling cookies?"
"Smiling."
Did you know that smiling reduces stress, increases longevity, helps others view you as more attractive and competent, and since others will instinctively mimic your smile, you will give whoever you smile at the same personal benefits?
Children smile a lot and maybe that's why a lot of us feel happier around children. Did you know children smile an average of 400 times a day? Happy adults smile 40-50 times a day and the average of us only smile 20 times a day.
I just learned how to include links into my text and use my webcam to post a photo (can you tell?!).
The links in this blog are articles or books.
If you aren't into reading, check out this 7 minute TED talk by Ron Gutman on
Smiling.
Other things we talked about at the most recent Coaches Training session:
1.
Good to Great:
What makes a good coach? What makes a great coach? What’s the difference?
2.
Energy: How do you consciously communicate the energy
you bring as a coach?
(Body language, facial
expression, voice, words... Yes, Smile! And use swimmers' Names)
3.
Focus on ONE thing… each comment, each
set, each practice.
4.
Feed forward
5.
Brevity: :30 optimal length of comments. “Speak less, do more”
6.
Art of asking
questions in coaching: use the 5Ws (who
what where when why and how). Practice
asking better questions so swimmers can discover and think on their own.
7.
Structure of a
workout: Review (success), New challenge
(stress and stretch), Finish with success again, Fun, End with a smile
8.
Have empathy with
learners: What does it feel like to do
something for the first time? When as
the last time you did that? What could
you do to challenge yourself by doing something for the first time?
Swim drills:
1.
Position II: set up catch slowly and push, aim for stable
head and lead arm, sent it forward, all
energy in pull is forward
2.
Breathing: quicker and earlier
3.
Effective
kicking: What is happening with kicks that hit? Ideas for correcting it (rotate less,
engage core, encourage constant steady narrow kick)
4.
Butter flutter to
fly: fly arms and flutter K to full fly
stroke with dolphin
Focus
words: great body line, tempo, rhythm,
balance, length, press chest and reach, breathe low, drive forward
5.
Breast and fly
turn: begins with a backwards somersault
done by using abs to draw knees up into a tight ball and roll backward. Can you do a backwards somersault from a
forward float?
