Humans think around 60,000 thoughts a day, and the quality of these thoughts is becoming increasingly important in a sport where a hundredth of a second is an eternity. Positive thoughts go a long way in aiding any ahlete to perform at their optimal while negative thoughts could lead to feelings of fear, intimidation, lack of belief and self-confidence to name a few.
What thoughts go through your mind before an important race? This question may be crucial to your results in the pool. It seems that the more science discovers about the human mind, the more important the power of thought becomes. Believe it or not, every thought you think, and every word you say in the 5-10 minutes before a race can have a major effect on your results.
THOUGHTS + FEELINGS = BEHAVIOR
Here are some strategies which would help young as well as elite swimmers perform at thier optimal levels in each practice and competitive event.
Goals: Set realistic goals. Try to set goals early in the season and revisit them periodically and change them as required.
Clear the mind: Going into each practice and competition with a clear mind will go a long way in optimal performance. Do not bring any thoughts with you in the pool. It is just you and the water. Enjoy your time in the water and give it your best.
Focus: Choose a narrow focus when you go into the pool. A narrow focus indicates that you try to concentrate on your lane and not be bothered about the crowd or your competitors. Once you have started your lap, concentrate on giving your best and not be distratced by the competitiors in the other lanes. Focus on what you can control.
Be positive: A very imporant aspect as in any walk of life, try to keep thinking and being positive and do not let negative thoughts weigh your performance down.
Relax: Learn to relax before each event, it could be by trying to breathe deeply, listening to your favorite music, visualizing your best performance the day before and minutes before the race.
Routines: Build routines, pre-competition, competiton and post-competition and stick to them. Routines as discussed in earlier blogs, go a long way in helping you be in the right ZONE before each event.
Most of all, enjoy your time in the water and always remember why you started swimming, 9 times out of 10 is because you had FUN.
