Psychology plays a role in our sport. It is important to understand some aspects, and these are ones I have seen and that I have been instructed about from other coaches who have even more experience than I have. I wanted to share these two aspects with my readers.
The Totem Pole: This idea is based on what I was told while I was coaching in a small LSC, Central California. The idea is that our swimmers face the same swimmers all the time. They get faster than some swimmers and they get passed by some swimmers, but many times the swimmers put themselves in a pecking order or a totem pole of some swimmers of significance. This becomes a problem in development. The solution was to go outside the LSC on a regular basis. Always looking for new people to compete against, but also looking for the next tougher challenge. This made for a lot of travel, and some difficulty selling the concept, but those who did buy in reaped the benefits.
This idea is expanded to the next level of always trying to go to the highest level that you qualify. This is even harder to sell, as soon people ask, "Why are we going all that way to not even final?" Well, first thing is that you have already doomed yourself by not believing you or your swimmer isn't going to final. Next, is that you want to allow the swimmer to see where they want to be in the future, and that there hard work has taken them to this meet, but next you want to be at the top of this meet. Which is the lead into the next concept.
The Psych Sheet: The Psych sheet is exactly what it is named. It can psych you up, or psych you out. Pretty much this is a piece of paper that swimmer should avoid. It means very little, and for most parents, it is a good thing to avoid also if you are in contact with the swimmer. The last thing the swimmer needs to hear is how they have very little chance of finaling from their support system. This pysch sheet is actually the fundamental base around the previous concept I touched on prior.
I remember going to the Grand Challenge Meet for the first time. I never saw the psych sheet because I never really looked at them much when I swam. I went to check my heat and lane and it wasn't posted yet, so I got to see that I was seeded around 90th. Didn't bother me, it was my first senior meet, I was having a blast just being there. I swam and I had a decent swim, and dropped some time. I looked at the results and saw that I finished somewhere in the 30's. I didn't have an amazing swim, but I realized how ridiculous the psych sheet was at that time. You never know how people at the meet are going to swim. All you can do is swim your fastest and try to make it back for a second swim.
Psychology can play a big role. Try not to allow the Psych Sheet to create your perception of how the meet is going to go. Don't be afraid to travel to compete against new competition. It is actually a good thing. Realize that experience can be important to have success at the same meet later on. Swimmers swim to make it back for a second swim, no matter where they are placed in the meet. Going to the fastest and most competitive meets is a good thing, as the swimmer gets to establish the next challenge by seeing where they want to be in the future; Finals at that next bigger meet.
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