Advice for Parents: Helping Your Child Succeed in School—and Life   November 20, 2012 PROVIDENCE, RI— For almost a dozen years, WKCD has gathered the voices and stories of middle and high school age students nationwide. These youth have told us about their desire to do well in school, go to college, improve their community. They want to raise a loving family, right the wrongs they see around them, and much more. When asked what keeps them going, so many of these youth point to a parent (and to mothers most...

What's Grit?   1

PERFECT FLY AND BREAST WALLS         10/5/2015   BY RUSSELL MARK // NATIONAL TEAM HIGH PERFORMANCE CONSULTANT Coaches always preach perfect finishes in workouts. But so often in a race, an athlete will approach a turn or finish in-between strokes. Do you take another stroke or glide into the wall? Neither are ideal. Races are won and lost because of poor timing into a turn or finish.    Don't leave it to chance!! This summer at the prep camp leading into World Championships, Coach Sergio Lopez had Kevin Cordes doing...

Scholastic All-American Swimmers Congratulations to the T2 Aquatic athletes who have achieved All-American status for the 2014-2015 season.  Athletes achieve this standard by satisfying requirements in the pool as well as in school.  Congratulations to all T2 Aquatics 2014-2015 All American Athletes!  For more information:  Scholastic All American Bean Faunce Abby Garner Kaitlyn Hauser Kayla Tennant Lucca Delcompare Liam Hollowsky Wyatt Kellett Rip Lyster Jack Scanlon Paolo Sunyak

THE IMPACT OF OVER-ROTATION ON FREESTYLE AND BACKSTROKE         1/12/2015   BY KATIE ARNOLD//HIGH PERFORMANCE CONSULTANT In earlier articles our staff has talked about the need for long axis rotation to be short and quick. This snappiness comes from shallower rotation (usually around 30 degrees), rather than the traditional “side-to-side.” When I talk to swimmers about this idea, I refer to this shallow rotation as “rail-to-rail,” with your rails being imaginary lines drawn from the front or back of your shoulders to the front or back of your hips.  ...

T2 Aquatics Evaluations! T2 Aquatics features a competitive age group swim team that offers swimmers ages 6 and older in Southwest Florida an opportunity to excel in the sport of swimming and are accepting new swimmers into our program in August! Practice opportunities range from 3 days a week for our youngest swimmers to 6 days a week for our highest level athletes.  Swimmers are placed in appropriate groups based on age and ability and are brought through our program with appropriate amounts of practice.  Look around www.t2aquatics.com for more information...

FOUR TIPS TO IMPROVE YOUR START         3/30/2015   BY RUSSELL MARK // NATIONAL TEAM HIGH PERFORMANCE CONSULTANT Even though it’s championship season, it’s still not too late to improve your start.  Here are a few easy things to keep in mind.   On the block, your “take-your-mark” position primes you for action. Four things to be mindful of:   1. High Hips 2. Eyes Looking Down 3. Arms Loaded 4. Rear Foot Behind Your Hips   The hips are the central point of your weight, and gravity will help...

  10 Tips to Raising Resilient Kids (From a Former Navy Seal) Calvin HennickMarch 25, 2015 Resilience: Hard-Won Wisdom for Living a Better Life, the new book by Eric Greitens, Rhodes Scholar and former Navy SEAL, is hardly a parenting guide. But, Greitens tells Yahoo Parenting, “As I shared the book with parents, including my own, they said, ‘This has a lot to do with how to raise a resilient child.’” Resilience, Greitens says, is an essential quality for living a good life, and one that he hopes to instill in...

Coach Swagger More Than Swing Discover inspiring strategies for helping your child cope with the ups and downs of participating in youth sports. Be sure to review the attached “assignment” with tools and exercises to benefit your whole family. Click the full article to watch the video and read the parent handout and help your young athlete and their confidence. Full Article

What Youth Sports can Learn from Video Games www.changingthegameproject.com   On a recent sunny Saturday, I took my kids out to the local park to play soccer with some friends. They ran, they jumped, and they competed hard. They laughed, they schemed, and they made the rules. Everyone played, no one was excluded from the game, and all the kids tried and failed over and over again without anyone telling them what to do, and without anyone critiquing their mistakes. They learned by doing, they played without fear, and they...