“Lack of direction, not lack of time, is the problem. We all have twenty-four hour days.”
― Zig Ziglar
― Zig Ziglar
The “Process”
The word process is listed in the
dictionary as a noun, verb and sometimes an adjective. The word itself is defined as:
Proc-ess 1. A systematic series of actions directed to some
end: to devise a process for homogenizing milk.
2. A continuous
action, operation,
or series of changes taking place in a
definite manner: the process of decay.
For the sake of our needs I
want you to think of “process” as a noun.
So in this case I hope you will think of “the process” as a state or
quality of action; a series of changes that take place in a definitive manner
to achieve a given end result. Consider
the Apollo 13 accident on April 14, 1970.
Briefly, here is what happened to Apollo 13 and the three Astronauts, James A. Lovell, Commander, John L. Swigert,
Jr., Command Module Pilot, Fred W. Haise, Jr., Lunar Module Pilot.
Approximately” 56 hours into
the mission, at about 03:06 UT on 14 April 1970 (10:06 PM, April 13 EST), the
power fans were turned on within the tank for the third "cryo-stir"
of the mission, a procedure to stir the oxygen slush inside the tank which
would tend to stratify. The exposed fan wires shorted and the teflon insulation
caught fire in the pure oygen environment. This fire rapidly heated and
increased the pressure of the oxygen inside the tank, and may have spread along
the wires to the electrical conduit in the side of the tank, which weakened and
ruptured under the pressure, causing the no. 2 oxygen tank to explode. This
damaged the no. 1 tank and parts of the interior of the service module and blew
off the bay no. 4 cover.”
If you remember the events as portrayed
in the movie, after this explosion on Apollo
13, the Odyssey was sent in to a wild ride that the three astronauts struggled
to control in an effort to accomplish their mission of landing on the Moon and
exploring the Fra Mauro highlands, surveying and sampling the Imbrium Basin. Unfortunately for the three Astronauts their
mission had to be altered as the explosion created a new set of
circumstances. The most important
circumstance was to get the three men home safely without any loss of
life. The explosion created an entirely
new focus for NASA and the three Astronauts.
The focus now became one of survival.
In an effort to get the
Astronauts back to earth safely NASA engineers and the Astronauts had to work
together to implement and follow the “process” in completing their new
task. On the ground NASA engineers were
feverishly working on “processes” to bring the Odyssey under control so the
Astronauts didn’t bounce off into space.
The NASA engineers were also working to provide the process by which life
sustaining oxygen would continue to flow in the craft and CO2 would be
reduced. Still another process was to
help the Astronauts have the needed electrical power to re-start the on board
guidance computers, heating systems and activate the parachutes on re-entry to
allow a safe landing in the Pacific.
During an intense period of
time the ground crews developed the processes that would get the Astronauts
back home, while on the Odyssey the Astronauts were meticulously following, and
implementing the processes so that they could return to earth. The Astronauts, using
their training and skills followed every process as outlined by the NASA
engineers so that they could return. The
end results were that the three men on board Apollo 13 did as directed and they
returned safely home touching down in the Pacific several days after their
initial take off.
For you as swimmers the “processes”
that you need to follow are all those things that will help you achieve your
goals. In freestyle the “process” would
be: 1.
Head and body position, 2. Hip/Shoulder Rotation, 3. Early vertical forearm (EVF), 4. Breathing with the rotation, and 3. Distance per stroke. As for your races a sample “process” would
be: 1. 1-4 above, 5. Great start with tight streamline off of
dive., 6. Fast, tight tucked turns and
streamlined push-offs with three fly kicks of all walls., 7. Use of legs at the right time-“the build”., 8. Breathing through your races-you need to be
able to adjust this as the longer the race the more you need to breathe., 9. No breathing on finishes-flags to wall.,
10. Building the tempo through your
races and being stronger at the end-1-5-4-3-2 (avoid the spikes).
It is hard to focus on these
things all the time, BUT if you will use these things in practice sessions they
will become easier in competition settings.
It takes effort and discipline on your part to do everything just right
all the time. Your body will always want
to take the path of least resistance. DO
NOT LET IT! Instead of focusing on the pain of training or competing, focus on
the process. Remember the three Apollo
13 Astronauts in the movie? In the movie
Commander Jim Lovell asks his crew mates, “Gentlemen, what are your intentions?” Then he pauses and responds, “I’d like to go
home.” The crew of Apollo 13 then went
to work and focused not on their circumstances, but on the process of returning
home. They could have all rolled over
and languished in self doubt and sorrow for their circumstances, but they didn’t. They rolled up their sleeves and went to work
doing what was necessary to achieve their goal.
You are in similar circumstances in training to swim fast. It is hard and takes a great deal of focus on
your part, but you CAN DO IT! Let your
actions reflect your desire to achieve your goals. I believe that you CAN DO anything you want
to do as long as the mind is willing to over ride pain to body by focusing on
the “process”.
