Tomorrow morning is my very first swim meet. I'm very nervous but it was time for me to finally see what I could do in competition versus practice. There are so many things that can go wrong like forgetting to exhale well under water, running out of steam during my 100 free, forgetting stoke mechanics, diving too deep, etc. I don't care how i do compared to others, I'm competing with myself. I always imagined my race times would be faster than my practice times and I know i will be very disappointed if that's not the case. Any words of advice on how to mentally approach this wold be greatly appreciated. Like you wet the bed in your first meet but it got better in subsequent meets:D.
One other question; how do I control the depth of my dive on entry. I rarely every get to practice dives because our pool doesn't allow dives off the blocks unless with the team/coach. So I can only practice it off the pool edge (my masters team doesn't do much start practice). Should I arch my back on head and trunk entry or angle my hands up? If I dive too deep (I hardly have a superb dolphin kick to compensate), I'm toast. It's pretty much hit or miss with me now.
Thanks.
Parents
Former Member
Good luck in your meet tomorrow. I think the most important thing to do is just to relax. You have nothing to lose, right? If you over think it, you'll psych yourself out. I've learned that many times over.
In the warm up definitely spend as much time as you can afford practicing your block starts if you feel inexperienced. Again, don't over think it or get frustrated that you don't have enough time.
I'm not experienced at coaching so I may not be great at explaining the dive. As you know you want a shallow dive. One way of achieving this is trying to dive as far out as possible. You want to imagine that you're going to enter the water as far out towards the flags as possible. When jumping you want to be jumping out horizontally OUT towards the flags- not up and not down.
I assume you're doing the track start. So on the block put one leg on the front of the block and one towards the back. On the block start make sure your back is straight, not arched. Your arms should be straight as well. Lean back slightly to achieve some tension When the signal goes, push as hard off the blocks, simultaneously using your legs and arms. You should extend your body outwards Your head should be tucked with your arms squeezing inwards towards your head. Your legs should be very straight. Keep them tight so they do not bend when you hit the water. Entry should occur first with your hands. Your drive should shallow, because your going to have to commence kicking and when you hit the surface (or just before) start swimming.
Back in high school my coach decided to have one of our freshman divers swim a 50 free in a meet. She had never been in a race before. The horn sounded, she dove in, and dove straight to the bottom of the pool. I didn't know she was in the race (I was watching as this was the 2 heat) and thought someone was drowning. She swam back up to the surface, almost horizontally, and swam the rest of the race. Amazingly, she ended up coming in second to last!
It sounds like you have a good mindset. Just don't over think it. If you don't get the results you expected, there's always next time. That's what swimming is about.
Good Luck!
Good luck in your meet tomorrow. I think the most important thing to do is just to relax. You have nothing to lose, right? If you over think it, you'll psych yourself out. I've learned that many times over.
In the warm up definitely spend as much time as you can afford practicing your block starts if you feel inexperienced. Again, don't over think it or get frustrated that you don't have enough time.
I'm not experienced at coaching so I may not be great at explaining the dive. As you know you want a shallow dive. One way of achieving this is trying to dive as far out as possible. You want to imagine that you're going to enter the water as far out towards the flags as possible. When jumping you want to be jumping out horizontally OUT towards the flags- not up and not down.
I assume you're doing the track start. So on the block put one leg on the front of the block and one towards the back. On the block start make sure your back is straight, not arched. Your arms should be straight as well. Lean back slightly to achieve some tension When the signal goes, push as hard off the blocks, simultaneously using your legs and arms. You should extend your body outwards Your head should be tucked with your arms squeezing inwards towards your head. Your legs should be very straight. Keep them tight so they do not bend when you hit the water. Entry should occur first with your hands. Your drive should shallow, because your going to have to commence kicking and when you hit the surface (or just before) start swimming.
Back in high school my coach decided to have one of our freshman divers swim a 50 free in a meet. She had never been in a race before. The horn sounded, she dove in, and dove straight to the bottom of the pool. I didn't know she was in the race (I was watching as this was the 2 heat) and thought someone was drowning. She swam back up to the surface, almost horizontally, and swam the rest of the race. Amazingly, she ended up coming in second to last!
It sounds like you have a good mindset. Just don't over think it. If you don't get the results you expected, there's always next time. That's what swimming is about.
Good Luck!
