6 Tips For Getting Over the Midseason Slump

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6 Tips For Getting Over the Midseason Slump

The end of the year is quickly approaching, which means that the school semester is winding down and winter break is coming soon. With that also comes the middle part of the winter swim season, and often the midseason slump. It is often the hardest section of training for the whole year, with limited racing opportunities, and the point where tapering seems so far away. Here are a few strategies to help you find motivation during the middle of the season: 

Reach Out to Coaches and Teammates

Chances are, you aren’t the only one feeling this way. Your teammates are also in the middle of their seasons and may be struggling with the same motivational issues. Sharing your feelings can help you not feel so overwhelmed. Coaches can provide encouragement during slumps, either through advice or other means. They can help you orient your training so that you can still achieve your goals, but also to throw some variety in to keep things fresh.

Mix Up Training

Cross-training is a helpful method of progressing performance without relying as much on water time. Even replacing an hour or half an hour in a week of practice can help add variety and make practices feel less repetitive. Additionally, training different strokes and specialties can also bring some variety to training. Swimming different strokes adds skills for primary events. For example, working on backstroke sets as a sprinter can help with underwater work. 

Ask Yourself the “Why” 

Sometimes, we forget why we swim in the first place. It can be easy to forget the bigger picture, what drives you to love the sport in the first place. Finding and reminding yourself of the ‘why’ makes being resilient through sets that much easier. It also helps increase personal appreciation and motivation for the sport. 

Find a Moment To Be Appreciative in Practice 

Practices can feel like they are made to squeeze in as much work in a few hours as possible (because they are made to!). Take a moment or two in the middle of practice, away from thinking about technique and splits, to find appreciation for the sport. Appreciation can be found in the way it feels when you dive in, the satisfied exhaustion after a difficult set, or even just the chlorine smell. We can take practice time for granted sometimes. Realizing how much we appreciate just being in the water can help us find appreciation and revitalization for training. 

Create Short Term Goals 

Sometimes our goals that are made over the course of a season seem a little too large to comprehend. Creating short term goals that can be accomplished by the end of practice or at the end of a week can help break up training. Having achievable goals can make you feel more accomplished, and more motivated to continue. 

Have Fun 

At the end of the day, we all swim because we enjoy it. Swimming is not always fun, but leaning into what makes the sport fun can help enthusiasm. Competing and racing, being with friends, and just being in the water can be things that you have fun doing. Remembering and focusing on the fun parts of swimming help with rejuvenating motivation for the sport. 

Do you have any tips for getting over the midseason slump? Share with us in the comments! 

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