SWIMMING
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Sports Psychology and Peak Performance
HOW SPORT PSYCHOLOGY AND
MENTAL TOUGHNESS TRAINING CAN MAKE YOU A CHAMPION IN THE POOL
As a
sports psychology consultant, Dr. Alan Goldberg works with swimmers at
every level from Olympians right down to age groupers. A popular
presenter at the Olympic Training Center, swim coaches clinics and
clubs around the country, Dr. G specializes in helping individual
swimmers get unstuck and swimming fast when it counts the most. He is
the author of Smoke on the Water, a mental toughness guide for
swimmers, DMTS (Developing Mentally Tough Swimmers) a coach's guide for
developing mental toughness, Swimming Out of Your Mind, a 6-CD sports
psychology/mental toughness training program, The Racer's Edge, a 2 CD
mental toughness meet companion, and Swimming Fast When It Counts The
Most, a mental toughness workbook for swimmers. In addition, Dr. G is a
regular contributor to Swimming World Magazine.
Before
the prelims of the 400 IM at the 1988 Olympic Trials Eric Namesnik was
loose and relaxed. By qualifying for Trials he had achieved a huge goal
and there was absolutely no pressure on him. He was totally oblivious
to the other swimmers in his heat. He had nothing to lose! He just went
for it! (Ever wonder why so many swimmers seem to go faster in practice
than they do in the big meets? If you have too much on the line when
you get up on the blocks you're going to swim far below your
potential.)
Namesnik swam a great race and
when prelims were over he discovered that he had qualified for finals
with the second fastest heat of the day! He started to think, "All I
have to do is swim the same time I did in the morning and I'm going to
the Olympics." This thought was followed by numerous others about the
competition he'd be facing in the finals. By the time the finals rolled
around Namesnik had worked himself into a nervous, pressured frenzy. No
longer relaxed, he was "in awe" of the other finalists. As a result he
swam over 3 seconds slower!! (Sports psychology's greatest secret to
swimming fast is stupidly simple! The more relaxed you are, the faster
you'll go.) Putting pressure on yourself by building up the importance
of the race will guarantee that you swim it badly!
Do you know how important your
head is in your swimming? Are you aware that most races are won and
lost before the start? The difference between your best and worst races
is between your ears. Going fast is almost always a result of either
not thinking or having positive thoughts bopping around in your head
pre-race. Choking, on the other hand is a direct result of
over-thinking and/or having negative thoughts playing in your mind.
Do you have dreams of becoming a
champion? Do you have a big goal that you're shooting for? Want to get
as good as possible? Are you plagued by performance problems that leave
you swimming slowly when it counts the most? You can lift the level of
your training and improve your performance by starting to train your
mind as well as your body. Sports psychology and mental toughness
training will help you turn those dreams of yours into a reality.
Far too many swimmers just work
on the physical part of their swimming, training in and out of the
pool. However, they leave the mental part to chance. They ready their
bodies and hope that on the day of the meet their mind will show up.
Understand this! All the physical training and stroke technique work in
the world won't help you if you get too nervous before your races,
concentrate on the wrong things, are unable to let go of past bad
swims, think negatively or lack self-confidence. Sport psychology can
help you systematically train your mind to work with, not against your
body.
How many past races can you
remember where your head got in your way? Most frequently your toughest
opponent is not in the next lane! They're in your lane and you know
them all too well. It's you!!! But don't despair! This is the good news
because with a little work on your part you can learn to develop
championship concentration, think like a winner, maintain a positive
attitude and stay cool in the clutch. Sports psychology training can
help you do this and more!
Years ago a young swimmer was referred to me for excessive pre-race
nervousness. It seems that before every one of her 200's, her best
events, she'd throw up! (Where does nervousness come from? It's not
your opponent that makes you nervous, nor the size or importance of the
meet. It's not your heat, lane assignment or pool conditions either.
What makes you nervous is YOU! Stress comes from inside, not outside!
It's what you say to yourself and focus on that's the guilty culprit
here.)
After chatting with her by phone
I learned that she was putting much too much pressure on herself. As
she explained, "The 200 is my distance. I own it! I'm supposed to go
fast." What I found interesting is that she always swam much faster in
her off events. Why? She put no pressure on herself.
Despite the fast that she
flunked "stress management 101" when it came to her 200's, she was able
to learn how to shift her focus and drop her performance-disrupting
expectations before she swam. After all, anyone can learn how to
develop relaxation and focusing skills. In addition she was able to
learn other sport psychology tools which gradually turned her into a
mentally tough competitor, regardless of the event that she swam.
Let's face it. You'd never leave
your physical training to chance. You'd never do a season long taper to
prepare for the biggest meet of your life. So why leave the mental part
of your swimming up in the air. Start today to build mental toughness.
Check out some of the sport psychology tapes and books that I've
developed over the years for swimmers.
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