Over the years, I have counseled athletes from virtually every sport from around the world. In the past, I have coached many swimmers and right now I am working with several highly competitive and talented swimmers. Many of them are hoping for Division I scholarships. Some are hoping to make the Olympics.
The beauty of working with swimmers is that their times give me, the coaches and their parents a good sense as to the nature and severity of the problem. While some pools appear to be faster than others, a swimmer's time and fractions tell you a lot about the strengths and weaknesses in his or her performances.
Last week, I got a call from a swimmer who had lost eight seconds off his best time in his event. Obviously, this is a huge drop and it indicates a huge slump in the athlete's progress. The swimmer and his mother were quite concerned and puzzled as to what had caused this decline in performance.
Two months ago, I worked with a swimmer who was losing to another swimmer by a fraction of a second. She is quite intimidated by the other swimmer and seems to lose confidence and focus whenever she races against this adversary.
From a psychological standpoint, these are very different situations. And the kind of coaching that these athletes need is very different. The first swimmer is really "stuck," and probably needs a mental overhaul. The second swimmer needs more of a tune up.
When a swimmer responds to a psychological positively to a psychological intervention and we see a drop in time, we know we are on the right path. Conversely, if there is no change in time, we may need to go in a different direction.
When I counsel swimmers, we focus on their internal psychology as well as their racing strategy. We set goals and we teach them how to get into the zone during practice and during competition. Some swimmers are very weak in terms of racing strategy and what might be thought of as mental toughness.
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