Racing and negativity

Talked to the group today about racing.

Essentially that is what the sport of swimming is. I think at the age-group level sometimes we get caught up in the times so much we forget to tell the kids to race.

I think that this is one reason why we see so many kids swim there best in High School Season. High School Swimming is based on scoring points and racing, there is not as much emphasis on the time itself. Put your hand on the wall first that is your job.

I talked to the swimmers about fearing the loss. They are going to happen, but there are different ways to view the loss of a race. The Swimmer can feel indifferent. This is where we kind of want most beginning swimmers, as we want them to focus on their improvement. As they get faster they need to develop the race mentality though. The negative interpretation is allowing a loss to verify where you stand as a swimmer in the pecking order. I know coaches sometimes swim outside of their LSC to get their swimmers away from all the normal competition to avoid this as well. The positive interpretation is accepting the loss, but looking at those who beat you, and committing yourself to working harder to beat them later. The positive interpretation creates inner motivation to push more at practice which in turn leads to better results.

How do you interpret a loss? Neutral, negative, or positive? As a developing swimmer Neutral is ok, but to take the next step you must develop the positive interpretation.

Similar to breaking Negative Self-Talk, you may have to start by artificially telling yourself the positive outloud, and repeat it many times. It may seem silly, but the more a swimmer hears it the more likely they will begin to change their interpretation.

Negativity can kill a swimming career. One bad season or meet that a swimmer allows negativity to take over can become a slippery slope that is really hard to come out of at the end. It takes effort to develop a positive attitude, similar to training your body; you must train your mind. Do not underestimate the power of the mind, negativity can literally destroy a swimmer going down a great path towards success. It will be that thing that no one can understand what all went wrong.