With the big end of the season championship meets coming up, I want to tell a personal story about the importance of being able to control your emotions at stressful competitions. As talked about in previous blogs, your attitude will affect your performances, and it effects the performance of teammates around you as well. Emotions play a huge role in dictating your attitude, and it’s important to learn how to control them.
In 2012, my sophomore year of college, the Big Ten Championships was at the new University of Iowa pool. In the 50 freestyle, I was seeded to win. I knew this for months going into the meet and I put an incredible amount of pressure on myself. I knew that in my head everyone was counting on me to win, everyone expected me to win, so the only thing I could focus on was winning. Now if you have worked with me before, I stress the importance of focusing on things you can control. I could not control whether I won or not, but what I could’ve controlled is the factors that dictated my place, like my mindset, emotions, race strategy, technique, physical preparation, etc.
Anyway, behind the blocks for prelims of the 50 freestyle I had what I believe was a panic attack. My heart rate skyrocketed, my fingertips felt like they were exploding, and I could not physically close my hand to make a fist. I had let myself get way too amped up, the pressure I put on myself to win sent my body into a panic. The official called us up to the blocks and said, “take your mark.” As I went down to grab the block, my hands wouldn’t curl around the edge of the block. The starter signal went off, I dove in and couldn’t find my hands. Underwater my streamline slipped, hands crossed, lost all my speed, and panicked even more. Needless to say, I swam like crap. The kid seeded to win didn’t even qualify for finals.
I took this “failure” very hard. I felt like I let my coaches down, my team down, and ultimately myself down. This hit me so hard that I actually considered quitting the sport for some time. But I am so glad that I didn’t. I started my junior year with a totally different perspective. I decided “what do I have to lose?” From that point on, I put no pressure on myself. I focused on what I could control, and I learned how to manage my anxiety before a race. I learned how to properly set goals, how to work towards them, how to fine tune my attention to what is controllable, and by the end of the year I was a Big Ten Record holder and a bronze medalist at NCAAs.
So, moral of the story is: Control your emotions! A single bad swim does not mean it will be a bad meet. A “failure” is an opportunity to learn, use it as such. While bad swims can negatively affect future performances, so can great swims. I have seen a number of athletes get so excited about a great swim that they forget to cool down because they’re too busy talking to teammates and coaches, calling their mom, texting their boyfriend/girlfriend…all this excitement wears them down! Now I’m not saying don’t get excited about a great swim. Ride that high for a long time, BUT be in control. Prioritize your recovery and your next swim.
Lastly, I’m going to get scientific on you here. Everybody has a different level of “arousal” (this includes feelings like excitement, anxiety, nervousness, etc.) that works best for them to reach their optimal performance. This is called their Individual Zone of Optimal Functioning (their IZOF). Some people race their best when they are calm and collected, some need a little bit of blood pumping to get them going, and other people need to scream, yell, and slap themselves red to pop off their best performance.
Here is the most important thing I am going to tell you in this blog. What works best for your coach, might not work best for you. What works best for your parents, or your teammates, or the person swim next to you, might not work best for you. You are your own individual, and there is something that works best for you. That is for you to figure out (people can help you figure it out though), for you to fine tune, and for you to utilize to find your best performance.
Below you will find some slides depicting the IZOF zones. Some people perform best with low levels of state anxiety, some with moderate levels, and some with high levels. In my story above, I was way too amped up and clearly overstepped my “optimal zone.” After that instance, I learned that I need to be somewhere between a moderate and a high zone. My heart rate will increase, I’ll feel slight tingling in my fingertips, but I am always in control of my body and can actually grip the blocks.
So, during your meets this weekend, find your optimal zone. Be in control of your body, mindset, and emotions. After a race, good or bad, learn from it and move on. And most importantly, HAVE FUN! The hard work of the season is over, now is the fun part. Relax, race, smile and have fun. Good luck everyone!
Comentários