![\"Ryan](\"http:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/ryan-lochte-mesa-2015-2473-e1429649407730.jpg\")
<\/a>Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick<\/p><\/div>\n
Swimming is a sport made up of many different aspects: training, learning, growing, and most importantly, racing. Racing is why swimmers all over the globe participate in this sport. There isn’t much that can match the feeling a swimmer gets when behind the blocks. The nervous butterflies in their stomachs. The pure adrenaline pumping through their veins. The thrill of competition. All of these aspects combine to make a tangibly vibrant atmosphere. But how does a swimmer mentally prepare for a race?<\/p>\n
Great athletes often speak of the mental switch that has helped make them successful. An innate ability to become a different person when the time calls for it, to become something better than themselves, is the key to becoming mentally ready to race. Once that switch is flipped, the swimmer or athlete is able to access an inner strength to propel them forward into competition.<\/p>\n
What is this switch? David Kutrufis, head swim coach of Bethel Park Recreation Swim Team, describes the switch as “becoming primal. When you flip that switch, it’s not you anymore. You become someone else.” Much of what Lochte says rings true in that statement. An athlete taking themselves out of their normal personality and transcending into another mental state is the hallmark of any great racer. Once in this \u201cprimal\u201d mental state, an athlete can reach their fullest potential through the power of their own mind and being. <\/p>\n
Brian Blackwell, head coach of the Seneca Valley Swim Club, defines the switch as a shift in what the athletes are to themselves. “To flip the switch,\u201d Coach Blackwell says, \u201cis to go to a different mode, a different mindset to be able to maximize your body to its fullest potential.” That can mean many different things to many different people. For some, it might mean finally achieving that elusive time standard or beating a long-term rival. To others it can be just as simple as getting your hand on the wall first. But how does activating the mental switch allow an athlete to reach their fullest potential? <\/p>\n
As we have seen, this switch is a complex personality shift where the competitor inside the athlete is turned on. Can this be a learned mental tool that you as an athlete harness? <\/p>\n
Tyler Stevenson, a junior at Franklin Regional High School, recounts when he first learned about his capacity to activate the mental switch. Stevenson was competing at Eastern Zones his freshman year when his goggles broke behind the blocks. Instead of letting that incident faze him, as many in his position would, he instead channeled that anger he felt into what he did in the water. Stevenson attributes this single incident to him having a greater understanding of his own mental switch. Looking back at that incident, Stevenson can now evoke and replicate those emotions to attain the switch. Flipping the switch to him means, as Coach Kutrufis says, “becoming primal.” Stevenson evokes emotions from deep within his own consciousness that he knows will fuel his fire to race beyond what was expected. Over the course of a few years, Stevenson was able to learn how to recreate the emotions he felt at that Eastern Zone meet and develop a firm grasp on flipping his own mental switch. <\/p>\n
Jarod Crowell, a teammate of Stevenson\u2019s, had a slightly different experience learning about his switch. For Crowell, his switch is attributed to the people around him, especially in a relay format. At this year\u2019s Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League Championships, Stevenson and Crowell were on a relay together that qualified for the Pennsylvania high school state meet. “Before we got up on the blocks,\u201d Crowell said, \u201cwe were just yelling and screaming at each other. I ended up dropping a full second off of my split. But it was really (senior) Nick Snyder (that motivated us). We really wanted to do well for his last relay at WPIALs.” <\/p>\n
Picture the last large meet you went to. What did it sound like? What did it look like? What were you feeling? The energy at large meets is very palpable, filled with cheering teammates, nervous coaches, and worried but supportive parents. Blackwell attributes this type of atmosphere as a strong external factor of flipping the switch: “I would say swimmers as a whole perform better when they have large supporting groups.”<\/p>\n
<\/a>Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick<\/p><\/div>\n
Crowell and Stevenson each have completely different views on what their switch is and how they activate it. One is motivated by events surrounding the race; the other by the people with whom he surrounds himself. In swimming, as in life, one mental tool or strategy will not work for everyone. <\/p>\n
“In life, you cross paths with people, then in turn you understand something at a higher level,\u201d said Lucas Marsak, Head Coach of Franklin Area Swim Team. \u201cWhat works for (Stevenson) doesn’t work for me, but from learning about that, you then can document it and continue on this path of learning about yourself and about this internal switch.” <\/p>\n
To obtain the ability to flip the switch, a swimmer must be aware of his or her emotions and learn to control them. Whether that is taking control of negative thoughts or emotions and replacing them, or tapping into the moment and using people around you, a swimmer must become comfortable taking that energy and using it to their mental advantage. Although they had different experiences discovering their own switch, both Stevenson and Crowell gained an edge from it. Success in swimming can relate to a multitude of aspects, mainly a swimmer\u2019s aerobic training and overall capacity to sustain a high level of exertion over a period of time. However, that is not the only type of training that is necessary. When this mental switch is learned, it can help to amplify what a swimmer\u2019s body is capable of doing. <\/p>\n
Consider the following scenario: Two similar swimmers are racing. It doesn’t matter what event they are doing. Both swimmers were trained specifically for this event in the exact same way. The only difference: one swimmer has the ability to flip their switch into race mode, and the other is there to go through the motions. Who wins?<\/p>\n
Nine times out of ten, the swimmer who can fully embrace what is going on and focus all of their energy into the race will have a significant competitive advantage. By tapping into this mental resource, an athlete can fully exploit their training in a way they might not even have previously perceived. In comparison, the athlete who simply goes through the motions and doesn’t fully engage themselves in the present moment will not be able to maximize the effects of their training to the same extent. Without being fully engaged, even a simple chore or activity will not produce the best results. This does not differ at all from competing to reach an athlete\u2019s fullest potential.<\/p>\n
As a coach, you want to prepare your athletes to be able to compete at their fullest potential. This switch that many great swimmers have is another tool that can be useful in reaching that potential. But, can it be taught? <\/p>\n
<\/a>Photo Courtesy: Heidi Torregroza<\/p><\/div>\n
In speaking with other coaches, the answer to this question is complicated. According to Blackwell, the skill is attributed to a swimmer\u2019s self-awareness. “The athlete has to be aware of themselves,\u201d he says, \u201cand be able to separate themselves and stay in that present moment.” Being self-aware of one\u2019s emotions is an integral part of flipping this switch. After all, it is an emotional shift that takes an athlete to a different place. Operating under the principle of self-awareness, as Blackwell describes, can be one useful tool in gaining the switch. Calling forth such memories off-hand may be difficult in the heat of the moment. However, keeping a journal of your experiences may prove helpful. By logging your emotional, physical and mental states before, during and after an event, you can help create a more clear picture of what triggers your switch.<\/p>\n
Kutrufis, on the other hand, attributes the switch to a swimmer’s self-confidence. \u201cBy teaching our athletes to be confident,\u201d he says,\u201d or training them in a way that makes them more confident, you provide them with the opportunity to learn how to flip the switch.” <\/p>\n
During the course of a practice, remind yourself of why you are doing what you are doing. That constant reminder of a championship meet months away, or that elusive time standard that remains just out of reach, will constantly keep you pushing forward. Another useful tool are words of affirmation. You hear stories of professional athletes writing these powerful and positive words on the brim of their hat, socks, hands, and anywhere it can be viewed. With these constant reminders of how great you are and can be, you will boost your confidence over time.<\/p>\n
This enigmatic switch crosses the boundaries of all sports, affecting all athletes. Not only does it cross boundaries, it can be found in all of us. We as athletes, coaches, spectators, employees, and human beings all possess the ability to flip a switch and become something better than ourselves. The journey to find one\u2019s switch may take years, or it may just show up in the heat of competition. Be sure that when it does you take note of how you feel, what led up to that event, how it affected your performance, and how it made you feel. Through revisiting times like those described, an athlete can learn to flip this switch with little difficulty.<\/p>\n
Graham Bodner is the head developmental coach at Franklin Area Swim Team in Murrysville, Pennsylvania. He can be reached at grahambodner87@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n