{"id":418719,"date":"2020-02-25T07:40:38","date_gmt":"2020-02-25T14:40:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=418719"},"modified":"2020-02-25T14:14:15","modified_gmt":"2020-02-25T21:14:15","slug":"sara-isakovics-guide-to-building-happy-swim-masters-of-their-minds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/sara-isakovics-guide-to-building-happy-swim-masters-of-their-minds\/","title":{"rendered":"Sara Isakovic’s Guide To Building Happy Swim Masters Of Their Minds"},"content":{"rendered":"

2020s Vision:<\/a> Swimming Culture – Psychology<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

How do the development years of a swimmer contribute to delivering a<\/em>\u00a0mentally robust and resilient athlete prepared for the thrill and challenge<\/em>\u00a0of performance sport? How can the young swimmers navigate a beat of<\/em>\u00a0parents, coaches, schools, physical challenge, goal-setting and more armed<\/em>\u00a0with the tools for the job?<\/em><\/p>\n

The mind matters. Prevailing swimming culture – the topic of Dr. Shane Gould’s thesis<\/a> – has long fallen shy of a<\/em>\u00a0deeper understanding of what “the mind” means and how it can make or break.\u00a0Developing mental skills, understanding the\u00a0psychology of sport, is \u00a0long-term, ongoing process, this the day we publish Dan D’Addona’s interview\u00a0with Texas freshman Drew Kibler<\/a>, who says: <\/i><\/p>\n

“I made a lot of personal changes with the way I attack the season. I am getting to the point where I am mentally more capable of handling everything. I am mentally much more ready to attack things.\u201d\u00a0<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Between Two Lanes – Photo Courtesy: Andrej Peunik\/ Sara Isakovic<\/p><\/div>\n

The process of developing the mind for fight and\/or flight, of course, starts much earlier. How it turns out depends on what messages the young mind receives and what it does about them.<\/p>\n

For deeper understanding, we turn to a few guests and presenters at the
\nWorld Aquatics Conference in Lund<\/strong> last month, starting Sara Isakovic<\/strong>, the
\nOlympic silver medallist and Slovenian pioneer of the pool who treated the
\nevent in Sweden to a sneak preview of her book “Between Two Lanes – a<\/em><\/strong>
\nMental Training Program For Swimmers”.<\/em><\/strong> Isakovic’s early experience was that of a swimmer; her adult, academic journey has taken in more extreme situations in the realm of psychology.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Here we take a look at her book and its the program, the background and learning curve that led Sara back to the water and \u00a0prompted her to put\u00a0Between Two Lanes<\/em> together. We then ask Sara why she feels her work is needed, why there is work to be done on psychology in swimming and how that can help swimmers have a better experience and get more out of their racing days.<\/p>\n

Between Two Lanes – A Mental Training Program<\/h2>\n
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Sara Isakovic: Between Two Lanes – Photo Courtesy: Andrej Peunik<\/p><\/div>\n

The book and accompanying program, including 36 voice recordings on mental training, is available for \u20ac49.00 (free worldwide delivery if you order 2 books or more) at Sara Isakovic’s website, where you can learn more about what she describes as “The World of Practical Performance Psychology”<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Colorfully illustrated with cartoon images and speech bubbles that make the work highly accessible for children as well as practical for parents and coaches, the book and CD takes the reader through:<\/p>\n