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Print this entrySwimming Question of the Week - January 20, 2009
What do you do (or what can you do) to gather inner strength and confidence before a race?
Responses
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I always give them a few pointers on stroke or pace but not much. I have them stand up take a deep breath and BRUSH OFF THE DIRT. They actually bursh their hands down their chest and away from themselves. It seem to help clear their head of nerves and focus on the ABC's of the stroke and pace. This really works well if they have just come off a bad race too.
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I just read that chewing gum can help a lot, because it gets you focused. I guess what works in school for concentration can work for swimming. I listen to music and do active warm up such as arm swings and jumping around, but I never really stretch anything. I also tense everything in my body to get things going. Then I take off my music and just talk with others to relax, and as I do that I shake my muscles to make sure they are relaxed. |
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yupp, chewing gum and music is great. I'll come back to these ones on the nationasl in July - I will be the only representative from my club, which means that I most probably won't know a single person there *urghs*. However, the most I like to goof around with my swim mates. laughing relaxes me the best. otherwise I think too much about the race and get so nervous that I feel like something sucked the entire air out of the swimming hall, and cannot really breathe and feel like pucking. When I am at the blocks though I do not need motivation. I know that I have done this 1000 of times in practice and that I have trained the hardest and smartest of all... and that I look great in my powerskin haha... a couple of more stretches, once again I shake my muscles and spin my arms, a last look to my coach and I am ready to look even better in action :) |
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Visualize a successful race, focus and push the nerves back. I have never really used music. |
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Train. |
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hm, that might be too late when u are alrerady on the startblocks ;) |
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Ahhhh... but that's why you start preparing for your races 6 months prior to the actual race. I've found that walking up to the blocks completely fit and prepared gives me the confidence I need. If I've not done that, no self-talk in the world is going to make it happen. But hey... that's just me. |
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Along those same lines, before a meet/race I like to reflect on all the hard training and hard sets that I've done in preparation for the race. But, like Glenn says, you have to actual DO the hard training and hard sets.... |
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sure, if it was possible to just pump up yourself with music or whatever, whithout all the hards training before, it wouldn't be interesting. :) |
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ya i like to just get my ipod going, and alot of times ill walk around the outside of the facility by myself and think about all the sets that i did to get here |
Lori
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