Pursley Pep Talks: The Positive Choice

Pursley Pep Talks are a collection of coaching perspectives written by Alabama head swimming coach Dennis Pursley. This is the 23rd installment of a series that will be rolled out throughout the coming months.

The Positive Choice

Every successful coach understands the importance of creating a positive training environment. Our thoughts, choices and decisions will be influenced by the environment around us.

A commitment to excellence is extremely difficult to sustain even under the best of circumstances. It becomes almost impossible to sustain if we are surrounded by negative influences or by those who promote self-indulgence or mediocrity.

As much as we are able, we should immerse ourselves in an environment that is conducive to the pursuit of excellence. This means that we should choose our friends from among those who are striving to be the best they can be and who are willing to make the necessary commitment to achieve that goal.

It means that the books we read and our entertainment choices should be inspiring and challenging. Most importantly, we should challenge ourselves to “keep it positive” in all of our thoughts, words and actions. The closer we come to achieving this objective, the more likely we will be to achieve performance excellence.

About Dennis Pursley

After getting his start as a volunteer coach on Don Gambril’s first Alabama staff, current Alabama head coach Dennis Pursley has gone on to one of the most extraordinary careers in the sport of swimming, a career that led him to be named one of the 25 most influential people in the history of USA Swimming in 2003.

Pursley has helmed coaching staffs throughout the world, including stops as the first head coach of the Australian Institute of Sport, the inaugural director of the United States National Team and most recently the head coach of Great Britain’s 2012 Olympic squad. Pursley returned to the deck in 2003 as the head coach of the Brophy East Swim Team in Phoenix Ariz., before becoming the head coach of British Swimming in 2008.

Pursley and his wife Mary Jo have five children, Lisa, Brian, David, Steven and J.J. Lisa and David have joined him on the Alabama staff.

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