#56 - Don't Fall Into The 'Excuse' Trap
One of the biggest and easiest traps to fall into, right before a big race or event is to allow your mind to create excuses for you. This is a very common trap, where your mind basically gives you 'permission' to swim a mediocre race. For instance, you might find yourself thinking thoughts such as: "I was sick a few weeks ago, so if I don't swim well, that will be why", or "my coach told me to taper incorrectly, and so if I lose badly, THAT will be to blame".
These sorts of thoughts are generally the kiss of death to your chances of swimming well, and should usually be avoided at all times. Once your mind focuses upon a reason why you may not swim well, it then programs your body's performance, along the lines of "it's OK to swim badly". This usually creates a sub-standard performance. Remember, your mind is the computer which programs your body's swim, and so the thoughts you are thinking before a race are the data which is basically 'programming your result'.
Finding someone to blame (in advance) is a classic negative thought before a race! This comes creates a mindset that says "I'm taking NO responsibility for my own performance, so if I screw up, someone else is to blame!" You often hear these 'gripes' after a race is over about "how everyone else is to blame EXCEPT themselves!", and this attitude gets the swimmer no-where FAST.
Some of these swimmers even use their excuses to attempt to 'psych out' their competitors. Often they'll offer their competitors their excuse right before a race, which is designed to try and reduce the pressure on themselves - and increase the pressure on their competitors! Unfortunately this negative tactic can occasionally work in their favour, but the good news is that in general, excuses simply create bad results. 'Excuse merchants' generally do NOT become champion swimmers!
There will always be exceptions to the rule, however. Strangely enough I've found that around 5% of swimmers actually do swim better when they reduce a little pressure from themselves - and (for this small number of swimmers) an excuse can actually work well for them (however it's always best not to 'advertise' the excuse, as this can quickly create a bad reputation).
Susie O'Neill used the 'quietly negative approach' for many years with great success - but she was highly unusual in this way. You rarely (if ever) hear Ian Thorpe, Inge de Bruijn, Grant Hackett, Lenny Krayzelburg, Michael Klim or Gary Hall Jnr giving excuses for a bad result before a race, they keep their focus quietly positive and upbeat at all times.
But if around 5% of swimmers benefit from excuses, this also means that a whopping 95% of swimmers are much better off focusing upon positive thoughts, rather than looking for 'ways out'. Positive thoughts bring positive results, and negative thoughts bring negative results, always keep this age-old truth in mind. You will usually get what you EXPECT - so make sure you expect the best!
|
