Mind Games

It was interesting to notice many high-profile and successful swimmers, who are well-known for their mental strength, using subtle, legal and clever mind games to unsettle their competitors at this 2000 Sydney Olympics. These psychological ploys can be simply labeled as 'everyday psychological warfare' in swimming. As we all know, in a sport such as swimming (where every hundredth of a second counts) even a slight advantage can make a big difference to the result.

I am not saying that these ideas will necessarily work for you, or that you should even necessarily consider using them, but part of my job is to point out what is going on at the psychological level of swimming, and some of the things I noticed included 'Body language' and swimwear changes for finals races, designed to provoke thought in the minds of their competitors - negative thought! These thoughts can also distract their competitors' minds temporarily from the job they are meant to be focusing upon - swimming.

• For instance, Kieren Perkins wore only the bottom half of his fastskin swimsuit in the heat for the 1500m heat (in which he broke the 15 minute barrier for the first time in 4 years), yet he emerged in the full-body version for the final. This was designed to say "you thought I was good in the heats, I'm going to be even tougher now!". It was testimony to Grant Hackett's mental strength not to fall for the ploy. I'm fairly certain that Susie O'Neill used the same ploy in her winning event.
  
• Lenny Krayzelburg did not wear a cap for the semi final of the backstroke, yet he emerged wearing a cap for the final, which also made his appearance look quite formidable.
  
• Even Cathy Freeman, the Australian athlete who won the 400m sprint, did the same and ran for the first time wearing a special sprint suit for the final.
  
• These are a little more subtle than a long-distance swimmer I heard about, who wore a different colour of nail polish on each of her fingers and toes, just to attract attention and simply be an eyesore to her competitors!
  
• Gary Hall Jnr used the power of body language to convey to his competitors that he was going to be tough to beat, flexing his muscles and playing up to the crowd.
  
• Another example is the 'fastest man on earth', the great runner Maurice Greene, who also uses amazing body language to demonstrate how confident he is, strutting around like a winner even before races begin.
  
• Some, such as Ian Thorpe, Inge DeBruijn and Pieter van den Hoogenband do not seem to use any particular ploys, though of course their body language always conveys a very powerful and formidable message to other swimmers.

These little psychological tricks can often work to a swimmer's advantage by occasionally striking fear into the minds of their competitors, but these can only work as long as the tricks do not become a hindrance to the actual swimmer. For instance, it would not be clever to suddenly swim without a cap in a final if you've never swum without one before!

Powerful, confident body language should probably be regarded as one 'minimum requirement' these days for swimmers to compete at the elite level, as not only can it affect your competitors, but it can provide a physical and mental boost to your own performance. Remember, however, that if you decide to try using some 'mind games', make sure you have rehearsed them thoroughly in training before you consider using them in competition, so you're not trying them for the first time in competition. Also, ensure they do not take your focus off your OWN swimming, or they can actually backfire and end up working to your competitor's advantage!

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

Craig Townsend