Theory of Constraints Handbook - James Cox Iii [726]
My hard work is paying off in more ways than one. I believe that the countless yards/meters I trained during my high school and college years have formed an aerobic base on which I can rely. Now I need to refocus my energy on improving in the areas which I have not worked on a great deal in the past eight years. Before I go into a detailed analysis, I would like to direct any readers who are not familiar with swimming jargon to refer to the Appendix entitled, “Definitions.” (Not included) Also, there is one other clarification I need to state: in manufacturing, efficiencies can be considered a negative measure unless used at the constraint; however, I speak of efficiency in swimming as a positive measure. When I refer to it in this paper, I am speaking in terms of technique, such as streamlining in the water, hand pitch and hand entry in the water, elbow position, head position, and shoulder roll. An efficient stroke allows the swimmer to have “easy power.”
It happens that my technique in swimming is average, but I have found it to be a negative effect. Other negative effects, some of which I could identify off the top of my head and others which I never thought of until they appeared in the Current Reality Tree (Fig. 38-7), include: (1) I am not as powerful as other female swimmers, (2) I do not have adequate flexibility, (3) I am dehydrated often, (4) I do not get a good night sleep often, (5) I am afraid to race the top swimmers in the world, because I do not think that I can win, and (6) I am not ranked as high in the world as I would like to be or have the capability to be.
FIGURE 38-7 Current Reality Tree of Sheila’s swimming.
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The negative effects listed above are a portion of what I have in my Current Reality Tree, and there are seven core problems that I have identified as causing the undesirable results. The core problems are:
1. I think of the things that worry me before going to bed,
2. I am stressed during the day to accomplish many tasks,
3. I pay too much attention to what other swimmers do in practice when I should be paying attention to my own swimming,
4. I push beyond my physical limit in practice sometimes,
5. I never remember to carry a water bottle,
6. I do not take time to stretch, and
7. I am afraid to suggest a type of training to my coach even when I think that I need it. (Paraphrased from tree where the core problems are shown in bold.)
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The connection among the core problems and negative effects is as follows: If I think of things that worry me before going to bed, then I am not relaxed when I go to bed. If I am not relaxed before bed, then I do not get a good night’s sleep and am not rested well for practice the next day. The second core problem of lacking focus during the day causes a lack of focus and concentration in practice. If I do not concentrate, then my technique is poor. In swimming, it is difficult to maintain the correct technique when you are tired or not focused on your stroke. The third problem of paying too much attention to other swimmers and not enough to my own swimming causes me to lose the necessary concentration on my stroke. The fourth core problem of pushing beyond a certain training limit causes two negative effects to take different paths. The first part is that I have a lack of energy when my body is broken down, and my stroke efficiency once again suffers. The second path is that my body takes a long time to recover when I break it down too far. If my body takes a long time to recover, then I may not be able to perform well for the next practice. In fact, I have been so broken