Which Comes First, the Smile of the Fast Swim?
Which Comes First, the Smile or the Fast Swim?
A fast swim by either male or female swimmers will nearly always result in a big smile. It should. A tremendous amount of work, thought, and time went into that swim. It is clearly a time to celebrate and enjoy the moment. But which came first, the good swim or the smile?
At The Race Club camps, we spend quite a bit of time on mental training. Arguably, mental training is the most under-utilized type of training in swimming. Yet it is so vitally important in determining outcomes. We outline five important processes that should occur during the course of the season in order for the swimmer to be in the mentally toughest state of mind at the championship meet. We call that climbing the killer instinct scale.
Perhaps the most important step in that process happens upon wakening for the first day of competition. Those first few moments of that first day will set the tone for the swimming performances on the first day. Those performances then often set the tone for the swimming performances throughout the remainder of the meet.
