Putting Bad Races Behind You

This week’s Speedo Tip of the Week comes from Dr. Jenny Susser, a sport psychologist at the Women’s Sports Medicine Center at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York. Susser offers some advice for putting your bad races behind you.

Susser’s Tip:

Mental toughness is really about focus – what are you focusing on or thinking about. And just like flip-turns, learning to focus takes a lot of practice.

I like to think about controlling focus like a TV remote control. When you are thinking about things that make you feel bad, like your bad races, you need to change the channel. When you are thinking about things that make you feel good and swim fast, turn up the volume. I know using a remote takes little practice or effort when you’re sitting on the couch, but to teach yourself good focus, you’ll need to practice every day, just like you do for swimming. Pick a time during the day, and make that your “focus practice” time. A good time to pick is the time in the car on the way to or home from swim practice.

One thing to remember when “changing the channel” is to have something to change it to. When you don’t want to think about your bad races, you need to replace that thought with a positive one. So, have some good races memorized to think about to replace the bad ones.