The table of contents for sports psychology tips for swimmers and parents of swimmers from Craig Townsend.
You may have never noticed it before, but you are in a particular mood every time you swim at your best. All you need to do is find out what it is! Moods (or emotional states) are vital to your chances when swimming important meets. They are somewhat less important in training - as it's difficult to get as emotionally charged in training as you might in an important meet. Every swimmer possesses their own winning mood which will bring them with their own best possible performance. When you swim at this level, we call this mental state the zone - as mentioned in some of my earlier tips.
An open water swimmer asked me recently about the difference in mental preparation between a sprint swimmer and a long distance swimmer, especially when finishing the race (not winning) becomes the main concern. This is an interesting question because the preparation for both swims is similar in one way, but different in another.
A Head Swim Coach asked if I could focus some tips on training for swim meets, as well as the events themselves, for some very valid reasons. He teaches his swimmers that if they maintain positive thoughts and attitudes during the training session, it does two things; firstly it greatly improves their enjoyment of each session, and secondly, it helps them to prepare for the actual meet, as it's much easier to be positive at a meet when you've practiced being that way everyday. He also believes that as so much time is put into training (as opposed to meets) that this time can surely be used for practicing new techniques such as mental training, and he is absolutely correct.
I received an email from a coach asking how to stop her swimmers from worrying and reacting to un-controllable in races, which are the things we simply have no control over in a race whatsoever. She gave examples of when her swimmers would worry about things such as the temperature of the water, thinking there were too many people in the warm-up pool, or not liking the lane they were assigned. She said their minds would get stuck on these small problems and they would put in a bad performance. This is where the mind can focus upon minor details, looking for an excuse to use in case they didn't swim well in the meet. The best way to overcome 'un-controllables' in a race is by knowing that "What You Focus Upon, Expands".
I am often asked is it possible to perform well in meets directly after coming off illness or injury? Judging from my experience with many swimmers, the answer is definitely yes. One of the very few 'benefits' a swimmer gets after being off sick for days, weeks or even months is that there if virtually zero expectation put upon them. The pressure is taken completely off because no-one (and possibly not even yourself) expects you to do well if you've missed lots of training and have been unwell.
I conducted a seminar for some young swimmers at Sydney’s Olympic swim site, and (as usual) found myself being asked some unusual questions about the power of mental training in swimming. This is one of my favourite subjects, because regardless of whether the time is fast or slow, the mind plays a huge part in every swim, much more than most people think.
One of the popular questions I get asked by swimmers is "what’s the best way to handle nerves?" The answer is, of course, is relaxation.
Is it possible to beat a swimmer who is faster than you? Yes! In fact, it happens all the time. Let me explain how this is possible. Many times I have worked with swimmers who have been technically better and faster than another competitor, yet they were consistently beaten by these competitors at meets. Even more frustrating, they quite often put in better training times than their competitors, only to find themselves battling to catch them in the meets.
This is something all good swimmers experience at some time in their careers, which can often bring on feelings of stress and anxiety, and this can affect your performance in the big meets. Whenever you experience these feelings, an important thing to know is that these thoughts very often become exaggerated in the mind, and become ‘mental monsters’ which they usually have no right to be!
The most vital time for a competitive swimmer is in the five minutes before each race. This is the time that makes or breaks a swimmer – often from this time they will end up on the block either mentally prepared or beaten before they start. During this time the mind becomes ‘programmed’ for a particular result, from being bombarded by a host of positive or negative thoughts – and these determine the quality of the swim to come.
