8 Mental Hang-Ups Swimmers Experience in the Pool

The Sammy-Save Up. The Sandbagger. The Lane Rope Puller. The Leaves-Three-Seconds-Early-on-Every-Repper.

Going through swimmer stereotypes is fun, usually because we see an element of someone we know in them (and usually a bit of ourselves, too).

The less fun ones, though, don’t really make us laugh all that much. It’s the ones that we identify with and can pinpoint as a reason why we aren’t successful.

You know…

The ones we privately struggle with and often feel hopeless in the face of…

It’s the mental hang-ups swimmers experience in the water.

Perhaps you see yourself in one of the following mental types.

Maybe even a couple of them.

Don’t be alarmed—this list started out with the ones I knew best…because they were my own when I was an age grouper.

Additionally, if you heave a sigh when you read one of them because it makes you feel hopeless, take a breath—I’ve got some help if you want it later.

Tell me if any of these 8 mental hang-ups sound familiar:

• You’ve got the swimmer who is an emotional and performance yo-yo in swim practice…and then repeats this in competition (and usually wonders why).
• You’ve got the training stud, the swimmer who works their tail off every single day in training…and then can barely swim faster when they step up on the block.
• You’ve got the “when I feel like it” athlete…who swims crazy fast when and only when they are 100% motivated (which isn’t often enough).
• There’s the athlete who can’t stay mentally focused long enough during a workout…and then wonders why their performance is shaky at race time.
• You’ve got the swimmer who has a hard time mentally dealing with injury…and they end up quitting or not doing the recovery program as intended (and sooner than later getting injured all over again).
• There’s the swimmer who is so wound up before competition that they could spin off the planet…leading their performance to crater when they get behind the blocks.
• There’s the swimmer who compares themselves constantly to other swimmers and their own past performances…causing them performance-crushing stress and anxiety.
• And you’ve got the natural born racer…who would be even faster if they actually showed up and competed that hard consistently in practice every day.

So the next question becomes…

What are you doing to address your own particular hang-up(s)?

Do you sit down with a mental game plan for each season to be a more confidant and consistent swimmer?

Do you work on your mindset in practice and in the gym so that when you step up on the block with the confidence to destroy your PB’s?

Or do you prefer the white-knuckle approach, hanging on for dear life every time you rattle across another one of those rough patches?

More Stuff Like This:

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This Mental Training Workbook Will Help You Swim Like a Rock Star This Season. Confused about mental training? Want to unleash pro mode on your swimming this year? Learn how this mental training workbook will change your mindset and help you pummel your PB’s this season.

Why Change is So Hard in the Pool (and How to Make It Easier). We all want change in some measure—so why is it so dang difficult to make happen? Here’s the reality behind making change that actually sticks in the pool.

17 Things That Mental Training Will Do for Your Swimming. Not entirely sure what mental training can do for you? Here’s just a sampling of the superpowers it gives you in the water.