Saturday, July 19, 2014

What Is Swimming?

At seventeen years old, I walked onto my coach's pool deck and joined his swim team. It's been one tough, exhilarating, awesome, and educational experience. These posts are basically some updates on where I've come and my goals, and what I've learned about swimming.

The number one lesson I learned long before joining a team is to love the sport. If you love what you are doing, you will go far.

I also learned that swimming is connecting the mind with the body. The trick is to not let the mind get too far ahead of the body, and not let the body get too far ahead of the mind. Keeping the body and the mind in a good relationship is not only healthy, but essential to improving strength and technique in swimming. When the body delivers a message to the mind, the mind has to know when and how to listen to it or tell it to be quiet. The mind has to know when and what message is proper to send to the body.

I learned this at my first big three day meet after my mind got too far ahead of my body and I had horrible technique while trying to sprint a fifty yard free.

Everything counts in swimming. Everything makes a difference; where the fingers are, where the toes are pointed, even how far the head is under the water. Think about them. Don't just fix them, but learn why to fix them. Train the mind, and the body will fallow.