Mental toughness is what separates professional athletes from amateur athletes. The difference between the top-level amateur athletes versus professional athletes is minimal, unless you’re LeBron James. Professional athletes are able to succeed and be paid to play sports because they are mentally tough and can overcome all the obstacles and challenges thrown at them. Swimmers are no different from other athletes in this regard. Mental toughness makes you train harder, respond better, and set your expectations higher. Here are a few tips that will help you develop mental toughness.
You need to be able to focus and not get distracted by the things going on around you. The best way to develop and improve your focus is by focusing on two or three areas of training at a time. This will do two things for. First it will teach how to focus properly. Second it will force you to work on a few things, work on them well, and improve. The best way to work on your swimming technique is to focus on two or three area. This way your attention is not spread out and you will see greater improvement in those areas. If you focus on a lot of things at once, you may improve at all those things, but the amount of improvement will be minimal compared to if you focus on only a few things.
Recommended Read: Ashley Zehnder - Training Tips for Beginner Swimmers
Now that you can focus, you need to discipline yourself. This may be the most difficult mental skill to develop for all people in all professions. Focus is similar to discipline in the sense that you can't let yourself get distracted by other things going on around you. Develop discipline by setting incremental goals that you know you can achieve. This will both encourage you and discipline you because you will understand the feeling of completing a goal. Discipline will allow you to overcome mental blocks and prevent you from psyching yourself out by overthinking the amount of training you have to do in a single day.
Discipline and focus will eliminate any self-doubt that you have. Ignore the voices in your head telling you to stop or quit, remind yourself of what you have already accomplished thanks to your discipline and focus, and keep working.
While it's not okay to doubt yourself, it is okay to be a sore loser at times, as long as you are directing those feelings towards yourself and not your fellow competitors. Use losing as a motivational tool to improve and work harder. Conceding defeat is honorable, and you should acknowledge when someone is better than you, but do not accept losing as something that happens. Take it and use it as a motivational tool.
A good way to encourage yourself and keep your mind focused is to write down some keywords or phrases that you know will encourage you. This could be a simple word like “focus!” or something more meaningful and personal. Remind yourself why you have to work hard by using those keywords.
Lastly, make sure that you take pride in what you are doing by understanding that overcoming obstacles has an outcome that you are aiming for. Remind yourself of what you have achieved and what you still want to achieve. Being proud of what you do is the greatest sign of a strong mentality.
Ashley Zehnder is an experienced swim coach and an expert swimmer. She coached at the Clearfork Swim Club in 2009 and 2010. She also was a Kent State Masters Swim Coach from 2010 until 2012 while she was a student at Kent State University.
You need to be able to focus and not get distracted by the things going on around you. The best way to develop and improve your focus is by focusing on two or three areas of training at a time. This will do two things for. First it will teach how to focus properly. Second it will force you to work on a few things, work on them well, and improve. The best way to work on your swimming technique is to focus on two or three area. This way your attention is not spread out and you will see greater improvement in those areas. If you focus on a lot of things at once, you may improve at all those things, but the amount of improvement will be minimal compared to if you focus on only a few things.
Recommended Read: Ashley Zehnder - Training Tips for Beginner Swimmers
Now that you can focus, you need to discipline yourself. This may be the most difficult mental skill to develop for all people in all professions. Focus is similar to discipline in the sense that you can't let yourself get distracted by other things going on around you. Develop discipline by setting incremental goals that you know you can achieve. This will both encourage you and discipline you because you will understand the feeling of completing a goal. Discipline will allow you to overcome mental blocks and prevent you from psyching yourself out by overthinking the amount of training you have to do in a single day.
Discipline and focus will eliminate any self-doubt that you have. Ignore the voices in your head telling you to stop or quit, remind yourself of what you have already accomplished thanks to your discipline and focus, and keep working.
While it's not okay to doubt yourself, it is okay to be a sore loser at times, as long as you are directing those feelings towards yourself and not your fellow competitors. Use losing as a motivational tool to improve and work harder. Conceding defeat is honorable, and you should acknowledge when someone is better than you, but do not accept losing as something that happens. Take it and use it as a motivational tool.
A good way to encourage yourself and keep your mind focused is to write down some keywords or phrases that you know will encourage you. This could be a simple word like “focus!” or something more meaningful and personal. Remind yourself why you have to work hard by using those keywords.
Lastly, make sure that you take pride in what you are doing by understanding that overcoming obstacles has an outcome that you are aiming for. Remind yourself of what you have achieved and what you still want to achieve. Being proud of what you do is the greatest sign of a strong mentality.
Ashley Zehnder is an experienced swim coach and an expert swimmer. She coached at the Clearfork Swim Club in 2009 and 2010. She also was a Kent State Masters Swim Coach from 2010 until 2012 while she was a student at Kent State University.