#2001-03 - The Power of 'Tailoring' Your Visualization

Visualization is the most powerful transformational tool on the planet. If you want to make great strides forward in your swimming, you must visualize the perfect swim regularly. But you must also tailor your race visualization.

But first, to visualize means to vividly imagine a flawless swim in your mind, each and every day. But there is much, much more to it than that. You must become an expert at this. You need to become as strong mentally as you are physically - by going to the 'inner gym' every day to work out for 10 minutes. Mental muscles need just as much regular exercise as physical muscles, or they will become lazy and undisciplined, just as normal muscles can.

However, in order to make your visualization totally effective, you must tailor it to suit your needs perfectly, and the most important aspect of this is your next meet. During the weeks before each meet, vividly imagine swimming a fabulous time in that very pool, seeing it all as if it was truly happening right here and now. This is also known as 'mental rehearsal' - and this sets up a mental blueprint for your body to follow, as soon it dives into the pool (that you have been visualizing).

Susie O'Neill knew she would be back at the Atlanta pool for the 1996 Olympics, and so when she was there a few years before, she took a photo of the pool to hang on her bedroom wall. She used this photo to help her constantly visualize winning gold in that pool 2 years later.

So if possible, always try and get a look at the pool you are going to be competing in - so that you can imagine yourself being successful there in a few week's time. If this is not possible, just imagine being successful there without using any specific details about the pool's appearance. Then, try and arrive early for the meet, so you can get a good look at the pool before the race - and then go out to the car and do another visualization session for 10 minutes.

Though most of them will never tell you, champion swimmers are usually masters of visualizing their future swims. They generally don't want their competitors to know this, and that's why you don't hear much about it - though Kieren Perkins often spoke of using this technique.

More and more nowadays, coaches all over the world are taking their swimmers through a group visualization exercise as well as the routine training session. This is because it is now fully recognised that the mind is the control centre of swimming, and so training the body alone simply doesn't make an sense in these enlightened times of the 21st century.

So remember to tailor your visualization to suit your schedule, and this means when one meet finishes, immediately begin visualizing the next one.

The Mind controls the body, and the mind is unlimited.
The best of success, Craig Townsend

More Mind Training Tips for Swimmers

Motivation & Sport Psychology for Swimmers

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