Sports Psychology and the art of feeling good about yourself....or not
Former Member
Confession time: I struggle with a committee in my head (and I've tried to ignore 'em) that tells me things like...."you suck"..."you'll never get any better", blah blah blah.
Now that BillS has encouraged me to delete that dreaded work from my lexicon, I am sure that another one will pop up.
I know this is kind of a rant....but how does one really feel good about themselves as a swimmer yet avoid being delusional? Seriously....how do you keep a balance of positive thinking while being able to honestly regard how you swim and what needs to change/improve?
What do you guys do? Is it good coaching, simply having a solid self esteem in the first place....?? Is it simply that people carry their low self esteem into the water...if so, how do you overcome that...?
Thoughts?? What in the world is sports psychology anyway?
Parents
Former Member
Several years ago I was surfing around looking for sports psychology (as those kinda things are interesting to me--wonder why?) and found this site. Most of it is 'pay to view' but there are several articles that are free, you might find interesting. Click on the archive link on the left.
swim psychology
Ask yourself if what you are doing, is working for you. Is the negative self talk getting you what you want? If it isn't, then ask yourself why you continue to engage in that behavior. Finally ask yourself how you can change your negative talk into positive criticism.
Most people have some self doubt and engage in critqueing their own behavior a sometime. When you feel the need to critque your performance, do it constructively. Instead of saying, "I suck.," Say, "My elbow wasn't as high as it should have been." That kinda of "negative talk" focuses you on how you could do better. Then you have to follow through and work on improving. Beware though that you shouldn't try to fix everything at once. Focus on ONE or TWO things. Don't worry about other things, and try try try not to make negative statements about the things you haven't chosen to change. As the things you have focused on improve (keep a chart), at the very least, remind yourself of how far you have come in both the skill and self talk (and reward yourself with a new suit, or fins, etc.), then select something else to improve. Now that's a positive way to approach the problem.
Positive reinforcement increases behavior and punishment decreases behavior. Then there's omission and negative reinforcement (which isn't the same as punishment) but I'll hold those for another lesson.
A simple behavior mod technique for eliminating negative thoughts (would be considered punishment): wear a really good, thick, stiff rubber band on your wrist at all times. The second a negative self thought pops into your head, pull that rubber band back and give your wrist a good stinging snap.
Lainey
Several years ago I was surfing around looking for sports psychology (as those kinda things are interesting to me--wonder why?) and found this site. Most of it is 'pay to view' but there are several articles that are free, you might find interesting. Click on the archive link on the left.
swim psychology
Ask yourself if what you are doing, is working for you. Is the negative self talk getting you what you want? If it isn't, then ask yourself why you continue to engage in that behavior. Finally ask yourself how you can change your negative talk into positive criticism.
Most people have some self doubt and engage in critqueing their own behavior a sometime. When you feel the need to critque your performance, do it constructively. Instead of saying, "I suck.," Say, "My elbow wasn't as high as it should have been." That kinda of "negative talk" focuses you on how you could do better. Then you have to follow through and work on improving. Beware though that you shouldn't try to fix everything at once. Focus on ONE or TWO things. Don't worry about other things, and try try try not to make negative statements about the things you haven't chosen to change. As the things you have focused on improve (keep a chart), at the very least, remind yourself of how far you have come in both the skill and self talk (and reward yourself with a new suit, or fins, etc.), then select something else to improve. Now that's a positive way to approach the problem.
Positive reinforcement increases behavior and punishment decreases behavior. Then there's omission and negative reinforcement (which isn't the same as punishment) but I'll hold those for another lesson.
A simple behavior mod technique for eliminating negative thoughts (would be considered punishment): wear a really good, thick, stiff rubber band on your wrist at all times. The second a negative self thought pops into your head, pull that rubber band back and give your wrist a good stinging snap.
Lainey
