Swimming
HOW SPORT PSYCHOLOGY AND MENTAL TOUGHNESS TRAINING CAN MAKE YOU A CHAMPION IN THE POOL
As a sports psychology consultant, Dr. Alan Goldberg works with swimmers at every level from Olympians right down to age groupers. A popular presenter at the Olympic Training Center, swim coaches clinics and clubs around the country, Dr. G specializes in helping individual swimmers get unstuck and swimming fast when it counts the most. He is the author of Smoke on the Water, a mental toughness guide for swimmers, DMTS (Developing Mentally Tough Swimmers) a coach's guide for developing mental toughness, Swimming Out of Your Mind, a 6-CD sports psychology/mental toughness training program, The Racer's Edge, a 2 CD mental toughness meet companion, and Swimming Fast When It Counts The Most, a mental toughness workbook for swimmers. In addition, Dr. G is a regular contributor to Swimming World Magazine.
Before the prelims of the 400 IM at the 1988 Olympic Trials Eric Namesnik was loose and relaxed. By qualifying for Trials he had achieved a huge goal and there was absolutely no pressure on him. He was totally oblivious to the other swimmers in his heat. He had nothing to lose! He just went for it! (Ever wonder why so many swimmers seem to go faster in practice than they do in the big meets? If you have too much on the line when you get up on the blocks you're going to swim far below your potential.)
Namesnik swam a great race and when prelims were over he discovered that he had qualified for finals with the second fastest heat of the day! He started to think, "All I have to do is swim the same time I did in the morning and I'm going to the Olympics." This thought was followed by numerous others about the competition he'd be facing in the finals. By the time the finals rolled around Namesnik had worked himself into a nervous, pressured frenzy. No longer relaxed, he was "in awe" of the other finalists. As a result he swam over 3 seconds slower!! (Sports psychology's greatest secret to swimming fast is stupidly simple! The more relaxed you are, the faster you'll go.) Putting pressure on yourself by building up the importance of the race will guarantee that you swim it badly!
Do you know how important your head is in your swimming? Are you aware that most races are won and lost before the start? The difference between your best and worst races is between your ears. Going fast is almost always a result of either not thinking or having positive thoughts bopping around in your head pre-race. Choking, on the other hand is a direct result of over-thinking and/or having negative thoughts playing in your mind.
Do you have dreams of becoming a champion? Do you have a big goal that you're shooting for? Want to get as good as possible? Are you plagued by performance problems that leave you swimming slowly when it counts the most? You can lift the level of your training and improve your performance by starting to train your mind as well as your body. Sports psychology and mental toughness training will help you turn those dreams of yours into a reality.
Far too many swimmers just work on the physical part of their swimming, training in and out of the pool. However, they leave the mental part to chance. They ready their bodies and hope that on the day of the meet their mind will show up. Understand this! All the physical training and stroke technique work in the world won't help you if you get too nervous before your races, concentrate on the wrong things, are unable to let go of past bad swims, think negatively or lack self-confidence. Sport psychology can help you systematically train your mind to work with, not against your body.
How many past races can you remember where your head got in your way? Most frequently your toughest opponent is not in the next lane! They're in your lane and you know them all too well. It's you!!! But don't despair! This is the good news because with a little work on your part you can learn to develop championship concentration, think like a winner, maintain a positive attitude and stay cool in the clutch. Sports psychology training can help you do this and more!
Years ago a young swimmer was referred to me for excessive pre-race nervousness. It seems that before every one of her 200's, her best events, she'd throw up! (Where does nervousness come from? It's not your opponent that makes you nervous, nor the size or importance of the meet. It's not your heat, lane assignment or pool conditions either. What makes you nervous is YOU! Stress comes from inside, not outside! It's what you say to yourself and focus on that's the guilty culprit here.)
After chatting with her by phone I learned that she was putting much too much pressure on herself. As she explained, "The 200 is my distance. I own it! I'm supposed to go fast." What I found interesting is that she always swam much faster in her off events. Why? She put no pressure on herself.
Despite the fast that she flunked "stress management 101" when it came to her 200's, she was able to learn how to shift her focus and drop her performance-disrupting expectations before she swam. After all, anyone can learn how to develop relaxation and focusing skills. In addition she was able to learn other sport psychology tools which gradually turned her into a mentally tough competitor, regardless of the event that she swam.
Let's face it. You'd never leave your physical training to chance. You'd never do a season long taper to prepare for the biggest meet of your life. So why leave the mental part of your swimming up in the air. Start today to build mental toughness. Check out some of the sport psychology tapes and books that I've developed over the years for swimmers.