The table of contents for sports psychology tips for swimmers and parents of swimmers from Craig Townsend.
There is no-one like you. You are unique. There is no-one to compete with, because you are different from the rest. No-one has your strokes, technique, mind or body - but you. This is where you have the advantage.
Probably the most powerful and under-rated ally that you possess during your races is your own nervousness! Almost every swimmer I speak to seems to regard nervousness as a sign of weakness, something bad and which they are often ashamed to admit. This is the exact opposite of what it really is! Nervousness creates great performances. If you are not the slightest bit nervous before a really big race, it's quite possible that you are not truly psyched for the event, and this may not provide you with your best possible swim on the day.
The atmosphere at training can have a huge effect upon your future results at meets. Jeremy Tillman from Holyoke YMCA Vikings in Massachusetts wrote to me as he noticed that in the past he was greatly affected if a swimmer in the lane next to him was not trying as hard as he was. This touches on a subject which is highly under-estimated and rarely discussed - the huge influence your team has on your performance. Each team or squad possesses its own collective group attitude or mindset which has the capability to either raise each swimmer to the greatest heights of their ability, or pull them all down to the depths of despair if not watched carefully.
One of the most frustratingly powerful negative forces in swimming (to avoid) is unconscious sabotage. This is definitely the one to avoid at all costs! Unconscious sabotage causes a swimmer to 'self-destruct' during the pressure of a race, through making a host of major and uncharacteristic errors that were simply never there during training. This is certainly not fun, as there's absolutely nothing you can consciously do at the time to change the situation, as the problem is not conscious, it's sub-conscious (or below our normal conscious awareness).
The Power of One
It's important for you to know that you have a mind as powerful as a Ferrari just waiting for your instructions. This unbelievable computer mechanism you possess has the ability to create huge personal best times (through a mental state known as 'the zone'), overcome pain instantly, and create an immense burst of energy (through natural adrenalin-release) at a time when you may feel that you can't swim another stroke.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.
What motivates you to swim well in a race? The answer to this may reveal more than you think about your results. A common trap some swimmers fall into (especially young swimmers) is to focus upon beating their competitors instead of trying to achieve their own personal best time. This approach takes your mind's focus off your true goal (which is excellence in the pool) and changes it into more of a 'personal vendetta'.
YES!!! Your body is designed to be able to do this. This is often referred to as "getting your second wind". When your body is being over-exerted, your immune system is designed and often triggered to come to the rescue, by releasing powerful, natural adrenalin into the bloodstream which boosts energy and performance. Adrenalin gives the body an incredible 'turbo-charge' and is simply life's natural form of 'fuel injection' for human beings, very much like a fuel injection for a car.
Right now you have a huge advantage over your competitors, and you may not even know it! You have the most powerful computer known in the history of mankind residing right there within your brain - which gives you the power to do almost anything you choose to ‘put your mind to’. (Actually, to be even more correct, science is now saying that the mind may actually reside right throughout your entire body, not just within the brain - which means that your mind and body may truly be ‘one’).
After years of frustrated questions from coaches regarding this, it's finally time to address the issue of how some parents are unknowingly preventing their child from achieving swimming success (and possibly even success in other areas, for that matter). Coaches often refer to these problems caused by 'over-zealous' or pushy parents, who get overly-involved and pre-occupied by their child's performances, mentally 'pushing' them to do better, and even worse, telling them that their performance was not good enough.
