Pre-Meet Jitters/Anxiety

Good question as to what you are anxious about.Plan to have fun and meet people.From a performance stand point a little bit of butterflies in the stomach usually help.I'd recommend spending time visualizing the meet,not just your events.Visualize yourself having fun and being glad you came.Then go out and have fun.

You've received some very good advice. I can totally understand where you're coming from, being a bit of a perfectionist who suffers from performance anxiety. I always have. I do think that severe anxiety can impede performance, but mild anxiety can actually improve it. I find that if I'm TOO relaxed, I don't do as well. My meet warm-up helps to dissipate a lot of the dysfunctional worry, but I'm still able to keep the mild stuff that helps the adrenaline surge. It hightens awareness and focus. I've actually learned to welcome the jitters, as long as they're not too bad! :)

Lately, I've taken to imagining myself as the starship Enterprise before meets. You know that scene in the new Star Trek movie where the Enterprise is leaving dock for the first time and all those ships make those really cool, resonating noises right when they go into warp? Yeah. That really amps you up. Just a cool-ass starship waiting in a space dock, until... WHOOSH!!! I agree with ande, only scale up the nerves right before you go to warp- I mean, right before you step up on the blocks. edit: oh, and how can I forget the silvery acceleration handle that Mr. Sulu uses to go to warp? Imagine you've got a hand on that and you're pushing it forward every time you want to accelerate. Complete with cool engine noises.

You know I'm going through a similar thing. This Saturday is the Ohio State Masters Championship, and I'm swimming the 200 Back for the first time in my life. While I'm confortable with the 100 back, I've never raced anything longer than a hundred. There are three things that have helped me get over the jitters though. 1. We swim distances greater that 200s every day. 2. I swim because its fun, doesn't matter what place I come in. 3. Once the race starts, its only me and the water, and we're good friends. Basically, if you have swum backstroke in practice, you can do it during a meet. Swimming to set records or win the race is the quickest way to burnout. you have to swim for your self. "It's easy to forget when you're an elite athlete that everyone else gets nervous as well. Even the best people in the world, at whatever they do, they're still nervous". Leisl Jones - world record breaker at the 2005 World Championships

I hope this makes you laugh....this is something I was inspired to write after participating in the Colonies Zone Championships in NY: On Saturday, December 5, 2009, I participated in the above meet and suffered pre-meet neurotic disorder. The three mental exercises I use to cope with this are the following. Excuses: On the colonies zone meet entry it was stated that this would be the last meet where high tech suits would be allowed. Of course, in my state of anxiety, I pictured my self being the only one wearing a Speedo from Modells. Here I was "Speedy Gonzalez" seeded last in the 400 meters. My excuse for this: OOOoops, mistakenly, I had to export my Mercedes to Germany for repairs and forgot that I had locked my high tech suit in the trunk of the car. (Truth is, I drive a 1998 Honda CRV with 160,000+ miles and will keep it going as long as I can to avoid car payments and help finance my swim habit.) Visualization(?): Now, why the heck would I put myself through the agony of swimming the 400? All I could think of was the opening to the "Wide World of Sports" - the thrill of winning and the agony of defeat." Well, I'm a Nurse and I've been taught that the feeling of "impending doom" is usually what people feel before a code is called. When I swim longer distances instead of sprints, my pace is slower and I don't get that feeling of "impending doom" due to oxygen deprivation. I need to practice visualization to re-program my mind to get through the sprints so impending doom,for me, won't mean getting a crash cart. Here's where aromatherapy can help to mimic reality: I'll relax, lie on my couch with an open bottle of Clorox next to me with the water running in the sink while I visualize. Fantasy: To deal with intimidation ( I have to say that in my experience some local top notch swimmers look at swimmers like myself with disdain...) My fantasy about this: when those arrogant so and so's are in the "get set" position to dive off the block, I step on a whoopee cushion to make the sound of one big fart (music therapy). Geeeeez some comraderie!!! I watch them with awe and admiration, as do other slower swimmers. What's this about? Oh, and I forgot about prayer: I happened to be on the deck when from behind me, I heard someone ask "would you like a US Masters Swim Cap?" I turned around, looked up and recognized that it was Rob Butcher, an archangel flown in from USMS headquarters. All I could do was blurt out, "I'm a slow swimmer." His response was that "there are no slow swimmers here." I thought "WOW" and felt grateful for the encouragement. I hope this helps you with your pre-meet jitters.....You're not alone...Keep on Swimmin'....Keep a Sense of Humor:banana:

I just can't believe how much good advice that you all are giving!! Thank you all SO much for the advice, encouragment, and ideas. I'm still weighing the decision to compete at this meet. I'll be coming off of a 14 day work week with no rest, and driving the 5 hours to make the meet. I do think lack of rest has been the reason for a LOT of my anxiety. I'm just crossing my fingers for now and holding on for the ride. Ande~I'd love to use the anxiety to my advantage. Tamping it down, before the meet is what I'm having difficulty doing right now. Elaine~You have been such motivation and encouragement to me. This will be my first "official" meet EVER!! I never did any age group, HS, or college swimming. Bobinator~Hopefully, I'll see you there! Couroboros~I'm actually more of a Star Wars fan myself. Can I make lightsaber noises and X-Wing fighter noises instead? After the race, I'm sure everyone will hear my Darth Vader breathing impressions:eek:

Elaine~You have been such motivation and encouragement to me. This will be my first "official" meet EVER!! I never did any age group, HS, or college swimming. The only competitive swimming I did in the past was in high school. And, I never was really coached, because our "coach" was a P.E. teacher who got stuck with the swim team. (At least, I think that's what happened, because we found out she didn't even KNOW how to swim, when we threw her in the pool at the end of the season and she panicked getting to the side of the pool!) Needless to say, I never got proper stroke instruction (or any other worthwhile instruction, for that matter...) So, Cheryl, we're (almost) in the same boat! But, now, we have these forums and our fellow forumites for advice, Ande with his great tips (and advice:applaud:), Swimmer Magazine, You Tube videos, and all sorts of great books and videos available for us to access. Isn't it awesome? :D

Flowswimmer~ THOSE ARE HYSTERICAL!!! Thanks so much for the humor and encouragement!!:rofl: I hope this makes you laugh....this is something I was inspired to write after participating in the Colonies Zone Championships in NY: On Saturday, December 5, 2009, I participated in the above meet and suffered pre-meet neurotic disorder. The three mental exercises I use to cope with this are the following. Excuses: On the colonies zone meet entry it was stated that this would be the last meet where high tech suits would be allowed. Of course, in my state of anxiety, I pictured my self being the only one wearing a Speedo from Modells. Here I was "Speedy Gonzalez" seeded last in the 400 meters. My excuse for this: OOOoops, mistakenly, I had to export my Mercedes to Germany for repairs and forgot that I had locked my high tech suit in the trunk of the car. (Truth is, I drive a 1998 Honda CRV with 160,000+ miles and will keep it going as long as I can to avoid car payments and help finance my swim habit.) Visualization(?): Now, why the heck would I put myself through the agony of swimming the 400? All I could think of was the opening to the "Wide World of Sports" - the thrill of winning and the agony of defeat." Well, I'm a Nurse and I've been taught that the feeling of "impending doom" is usually what people feel before a code is called. When I swim longer distances instead of sprints, my pace is slower and I don't get that feeling of "impending doom" due to oxygen deprivation. I need to practice visualization to re-program my mind to get through the sprints so impending doom,for me, won't mean getting a crash cart. Here's where aromatherapy can help to mimic reality: I'll relax, lie on my couch with an open bottle of Clorox next to me with the water running in the sink while I visualize. Fantasy: To deal with intimidation ( I have to say that in my experience some local top notch swimmers look at swimmers like myself with disdain...) My fantasy about this: when those arrogant so and so's are in the "get set" position to dive off the block, I step on a whoopee cushion to make the sound of one big fart (music therapy). Geeeeez some comraderie!!! I watch them with awe and admiration, as do other slower swimmers. What's this about? Oh, and I forgot about prayer: I happened to be on the deck when from behind me, I heard someone ask "would you like a US Masters Swim Cap?" I turned around, looked up and recognized that it was Rob Butcher, an archangel flown in from USMS headquarters. All I could do was blurt out, "I'm a slow swimmer." His response was that "there are no slow swimmers here." I thought "WOW" and felt grateful for the encouragement. I hope this helps you with your pre-meet jitters.....You're not alone...Keep on Swimmin'....Keep a Sense of Humor:banana:

Glad you liked it!!!!!! I purchased a whoopie cushion at Pier 1 while Christmas Shopping!!!!! I started swimming in meets in my 40's!!!!:applaud::applaud:

Hi Cheryl, How'd it go in Lexington for you? Hope you had a lot of fun, and liked the t-shirts. I swim in Lexington with the Wildcats, and when I first started going to swim meets, we said our goals were to: 1) have fun, and 2) get a t-shirt. Hope you met those goals! kregor