Swimming anxiety

Hey 'shark; it's been awhile! :wave: I read your post yesterday and held off responding to give it some thought, because I have been through it myself. In the end, much of what I was going to post was said by King Frog! But, it is what worked for me. My leg muscle injuries really set me back in breaststroke and caused that same anxiety. And, my thoracic outlet syndrome makes breaststroke pull difficult to do in any quantity without fatigue. It was getting depressing watching times post up on the board at meets that were anywhere from 2-6 seconds (on 50's- 200's) off my usual times. But, there was nothing I could do; my legs just couldn't get the powerful kick that they used to be capable of getting and my arms can only do so much when constantly working in the forward position; even in recovery. :bitching: So, I decided to do exactly as King Frog suggested: Try different events. I can't train breaststroke on consecutive days, so I decided to work on my backstroke and fly; strokes I could train comfortably. And, I remembered back to Nats., in 2010, when it was you who encouraged me to try 400 IM. Not only am I now racing that regularly; I'm "racing" :lmao: 200 fly and all the backstroke events! And, with my focus on backstroke in training (a stroke that my coach taught me how to swim; it used to be my worst), I am now consistently beating my coach in sprints during training. (Well, he is a distance freestyler and breaststroker...). So, turn lemons into lemonade! You had surgery and it set you back. Is 400 IM the event that is causing you the most anxiety right now? Scratch it off your meet line-up the way I did with 200 breaststroke. Choose events that you haven't swum in the longest period of time. (Remember, you are in a different age group now, so your previous best times are in your past.) Bill is right; hang around with a goofball at your next swim meet! I used to be withdrawn at meets to concentrate on my events. But, that just made me more nervous. Now, I joke around and socialize, sometimes making it to the block just in time to adjust my cap and goggles. I have had some of my best times then, because I was relaxed from laughing and the endorphins were kicked in from having fun with my friends. In the end, this is MASTERS swimming, not college or the Olympics. It's for FUN! Hey, try this: Instead of going for best times, do what I did last year and enter a full slate of tough events and go for high points. Even when I swam the 200 fly and 400 IM in tortoise-like times, younger and much faster swimmers congratulated me and said they would NEVER enter those events! I ended up winning the Georgia Championship Series for high points in my age group, because of that strategy; not because I was the fastest swimmer. And, it was loads of fun not caring as much about the clock! Remember why you are swimming (for fun!) and just work on your technique during a race, challenging yourself to stay relaxed, rather than worrying about the clock. Then, when you reach the wall, ask yourself if you accomplished that goal before you look at the clock. 'shark, you are an awesome swimmer; somebody I have looked up to since I first came on the Forums, three years ago. :cheerleader:

Hey 'shark; it's been awhile! :wave: I read your post yesterday and held off responding to give it some thought, because I have been through it myself. In the end, much of what I was going to post was said by King Frog! But, it is what worked for me. My leg muscle injuries really set me back in breaststroke and caused that same anxiety. And, my thoracic outlet syndrome makes breaststroke pull difficult to do in any quantity without fatigue. It was getting depressing watching times post up on the board at meets that were anywhere from 2-6 seconds (on 50's- 200's) off my usual times. But, there was nothing I could do; my legs just couldn't get the powerful kick that they used to be capable of getting and my arms can only do so much when constantly working in the forward position; even in recovery. :bitching: So, I decided to do exactly as King Frog suggested: Try different events. I can't train breaststroke on consecutive days, so I decided to work on my backstroke and fly; strokes I could train comfortably. And, I remembered back to Nats., in 2010, when it was you who encouraged me to try 400 IM. Not only am I now racing that regularly; I'm "racing" :lmao: 200 fly and all the backstroke events! And, with my focus on backstroke in training (a stroke that my coach taught me how to swim; it used to be my worst), I am now consistently beating my coach in sprints during training. (Well, he is a distance freestyler and breaststroker...). So, turn lemons into lemonade! You had surgery and it set you back. Is 400 IM the event that is causing you the most anxiety right now? Scratch it off your meet line-up the way I did with 200 breaststroke. Choose events that you haven't swum in the longest period of time. (Remember, you are in a different age group now, so your previous best times are in your past.) Bill is right; hang around with a goofball at your next swim meet! I used to be withdrawn at meets to concentrate on my events. But, that just made me more nervous. Now, I joke around and socialize, sometimes making it to the block just in time to adjust my cap and goggles. I have had some of my best times then, because I was relaxed from laughing and the endorphins were kicked in from having fun with my friends. In the end, this is MASTERS swimming, not college or the Olympics. It's for FUN! Hey, try this: Instead of going for best times, do what I did last year and enter a full slate of tough events and go for high points. Even when I swam the 200 fly and 400 IM in tortoise-like times, younger and much faster swimmers congratulated me and said they would NEVER enter those events! I ended up winning the Georgia Championship Series for high points in my age group, because of that strategy; not because I was the fastest swimmer. And, it was loads of fun not caring as much about the clock! Remember why you are swimming (for fun!) and just work on your technique during a race, challenging yourself to stay relaxed, rather than worrying about the clock. Then, when you reach the wall, ask yourself if you accomplished that goal before you look at the clock. 'shark, you are an awesome swimmer; somebody I have looked up to since I first came on the Forums, three years ago. :cheerleader: