I've been swimming competitively since the age of 8, and I've had the same issue for nearly as long. I swim pretty fast in workouts and while training, but when I go to swim meets, my performance is pretty lackluster.
I avoided swimming in a meet until just recently, where the coach guess entry times, and thought mine would be faster than they would. The people who swim in my lane during practice all swim 5-10 seconds faster (in sprints & mid-distance) than I do in a swim meet.
This happens regardless of how in shape I am. And happens less often in distance events than sprints, which makes me wonder if I just have a switch turned off in my brain that should make me really "work it" when I'm in competition.
Any advice? :confused:
Think about the races/days when you DID bring it. How did you prepare? What did you think about? Try reproducing those preparations and thoughts before your next competition and see what really works. If it works again, keep doing it. If it doesn't, then repeat this exercise.
Think about the races/days when you DID bring it. How did you prepare? What did you think about? Try reproducing those preparations and thoughts before your next competition and see what really works. If it works again, keep doing it. If it doesn't, then repeat this exercise.
