The Mental Aspect of
Swimming
Swimming is a difficult sport no matter how you look at it. Training for it is so hard because there are so many skills you really need to master before it all comes together. It also demands the body to use every muscle available, it's one of the few physical activities that works everything. However the mental part of swimming is just as important, if not more so, than the physical. The way your body and brain interpret and deal with whats going on around you are just as vital to a good race as having the physical ability to do it.
This year during my trip to Austalia we spent a day at a "Full-On" camp. this camp teaches how to maximize your mentallity to help you achieve maximum success. Essentially what it all came down to was a part your brain called the Reticular Activating System (RAS). The RAS is located in the back your brain near the stem and it is there to help you achieve your goals if you use it correctly. When you think something the RAS is programmed to respond and give the body confidence or the opposite affect. For example if you say "I CAN do something" the RAS searches for information to back up what you've stated giving you a more confident feel for the situation. The inverse, however, works the say way. If you say "I CAN'T do soemthing" then your RAS Searches for infornmation to back up that statement causing you to falter in your ability to succed.
This concept, I believe, works for swimming just as well as anything else. Take the new supersuit ban for example. In my opinion if you throw a suit in the water and it doesnt move then its just like every other suit. How can a suit realy make you faster? Sure it can make you more streamline or make your hips more square but in the end it simply will not move unless the swimmer does. How then have all these record shattering times been set in the last few years? I believe it all lies in the mental concepts behind these suits. If you think that you're going to faster because you've got a new suit your RAS will pick up onthe thought and look for information to back it up. Your RAS heightens your senses and all of a sudden you may not know it but you've created a new mentality that you will go faster and your body responds by pushing itself to succed toward your goal. The suit may drop another .05 seconds but your mental state and drive to succed are ultimately what really improve your times. This year it will be interesting to see how many swimmers across the country preform without the added benefiet of "I have the upper advantage because my suit is faster". They will either have to believe more in there abilities or find another way to reinforce them without the suit.
I know this all may sound stupid and like it won't work but trust me it does. Since I got back from Australia I've used this mental preparation and concept and it really will help you to achieve your goals. I plan on using it all throughout the swim year. Will it work 100% of the time everytime you tell yourself "I can do something"? No probably not. It's probably impossible to say "I CAN swim a 20 second 100" and have it happen but thats why you need to keep your goal realistic and adjust based on certain situations. I feel this system of believe, reinforce, achieve will help our team throughout the year and even if you don't believe in it please just try it at least once and I think you'll be surpised with the results.
-Sully Landino (site manager)
