The Swim to Win Playbook 0945609973

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Bell, Keith F. The swim to win playbook / by Keith Bell. p. cm. ISBN 0-945609-97-3 1. Swimming -- Psychological aspects. 2. Swimming -- Training. epelatie: GV838.53.P75B455 1997 797.271 -- dc21

COPYRIGHT

© 1998 By KEITH F. BELL

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without written permission from the publisher. Manufactured

in the United

POs

States

of America

291 058°65452

Cover Design by Bridger Bell

Published and distributed by:

KEEL PUBLICATIONS P.O. Box 160155 Austin, Texas 78716 512-327-1280

[email protected]

|

—“~——“~*

This book is available at a special discount when ordered in bulk quantities.

Re | a

w

Dr. Keath Bell

a

re

— in loving memory of Jerry Bell —

ster health, fitness, ¢ rsuit of excellence

Swim one stroke (freestyle, butterfly, backstroke, or breaststroke) or a combination of all four strokes (individual medley) a specified distance.

1. To win the 200 meter butterfly in the 2008 Olympics in world record time.

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

THe Swi To WIN PLAyBook

Acknowledgments | am grateful to the thousands of athletes and coaches with whom I’ve consulted over the years and from whom I’ve learned in the process. | am especially grateful to a few coaches who provided extra-special opportunities for me to play sports psychologist with their teams on an ongoing, in-depth basis. Former University of Texas swimming coach, Melvin R. “Pat” Patterson, and golf coach, George Hannon, both believed in my ideas enough to allow me to implement untested ideas in a yet-to-be-developed field in topnotch NCAA programs. University of Texas and United States Olympic swimming coach, Eddie Reese; New Zealand Olympic and Commonwealth Games swimming coach, Hilton Brown; Kenyon College swimming coach, Jim Steen; and Pacific Dolphin Swimming Association, University of British Columbia, and five-time Canadian Olympic swimming coach, Tom Johnson, all provided me with unique opportunities to collaborate closely in their quests. These opportunities allowed me to discover, develop, refine, and polish intervention strategies in a wide variety of high-level training and competitive arenas. The richness of these opportunities is unparalleled. From these coaches, their athletes, and our collaborative pursuits come much of what is contained in The Swim To Win Playbook. To these coaches, | am humbly indebted. | am deeply appreciative of the opportunities they provided and for their friendship. Thanks to the University of Texas Professor Frank C. Richardson and the late Dr. Paul Trickett, President of the American College of Sports Medicine, who encouraged me to develop the ideas that led to my work in sports psychology. They supported my early play in this developing field, then in it’s infancy. Thanks to David Levinson for his helpful comments on my manuscript and to Michael Arbore for helping Sandy with the typesetting. Special thanks to1996 Olympic quadruple gold medalist, Amy Van Dyken and to 1996 Olympic triple gold medalist, Josh Davis for their kind comments and sample plays. As always, | could never express the depth of my appreciation for my loving family. My children Kirsten, Keena, Bridger, and Cooper teach me so much, put everything in perspective, and give me unlimited love and support. My son, Bridger, designed the cover for The Swim To WIN Playbook and was my resident computer consultant. My wife, 1972 Olympic triple gold medalist, Sandy Neilson-Bell, provided sample plays, formatted and typeset The Playbook, arranged for the printing, sold the advertising, took on extra loads in an already tremendously demanding schedule in order to allow me the time to write, and provided constant inspiration, support, and love. Special thanks to my family for loaning me out to write and to play sports psychologist and, most of all, for their love and support.

You You You You’re on And YOU

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Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

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Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

10

I started swimming as a ten and under. I didn’t start playing sports psychologist until I was in graduate school at The University of Texas. I have been playing sports psychologist, however, for about twenty five years now. During that time I’ve consulted with about 400 swimming teams in about 40 states and 10 countries and have collaborated with over 15,000 swimmers, including scores of Olympians, world champions, and world record holders. All of these swimmers have much in common. Almost every one of them has told me he wants to swim faster, wants to win when he races, and would like to increase his enjoyment of swimming. And, oh yes, every one of them has told me he likes to play games. Not everything you do is a game. Everything doesn’t need to be a game for you to decide it is important to do. Neither do things need to be fun in order to be worthwhile. There are lots of good reasons to do things besides the fact that they are fun. But, if you are going to do anything, you may as well make it fun. One way to make things fun is to make them into games. To me swimming has always been fun. As a child, I loved to play in the water. I loved to race. And I loved to win. Not long after I finished my collegiate swimming career, before I knew about Masters swimming, I started swimming a few times per week because I missed it. Although I was playing a wide variety of other sports on a regular basis, nothing else seemed to fill the void left by the absence of competitive swimming. It wasn’t long before I found myself in the pool with increasing regularity. Swimming is a part of me which I don’t want to let go. At some point I decided to keep swimming for health, fitness, and cosmetic reasons. Or, maybe those were the excuses I used to bring me home to the pool. In any case, when I made that decision, I also decided that if I

was going to swim, I was going to make it fun. I was unwilling for it to be anything but fun. As it turned out, I have become incredibly skilled at making swimming fun. For me, that wasn’t that hard. I always found it easy to see the fun in swimming. All I had to do was pay attention. The parts of swimming that I didn’t like as much, I just changed. I made them fun. I decided to be unwilling to be bored. I learned to stop fearing pain and failure. I learned to enjoy even the most intense sensations; to relish the challenges, win or lose (though I still much prefer to win); and to bring variety to what others made monotonous. Of course, my doctorate in sports psychology didn’t hurt. I dived into the pool equipped with many useful psychological tools. Come to think of it, I may have brought many of those tools with me to my training in sports psychology, training which only affirmed, and gave me a vocabulary and structure for, what I already knew. Either way, I always thought playing sports psychology was fun, or, at least, I somehow always knew to make it fun. Yes, it must have been the latter. I must have decided to play sports psychology instead of working for a living. The biggest difference between work and play is how you view it. I decided to play sports psychology, just as, long ago, I decided never to workout, but to play swimming instead. Swimming is a sport. Swimming is a game. You can make it into work if you want to, but that seems silly to me. It’s much more fun, and you swim better, when you play swimming. All of which brings me back to what thousands of swimmers like you have told me: you want to swim faster, you want to win, you want to enjoy your swimming more, and you like to play games. So, here is what is intended as a contribution to the swimming world: The Swim To WIN Playbook, more than 150 games, drills, and quizzes you can play to help yourself to swim faster, to win, and to enjoy your swimming more. Play your way through The Swim To WIN Playbook. Notice please, that I said “play your way” through. I did not suggest that you read the book. Oh, I suppose you would get something out of reading it. Actually, I would hope you would derive much benefit from reading it. But as is true with swimming, the benefits of watching the game pale in comparison to playing. The Swim To WIN Playbook is meant to be played.

ese Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

11

WarM-UP

I'd like to think that you’ll be excited by what The Swim To WIN Playbook has to offer and, as you play your way through it, you will eagerly anticipate all of what comes next. But take it slowly. The Swim To WIN Playbook is meant to be played one game at a time. Play the games. Don’t just read them. Reading and understanding are not the same as doing. You may understand what is said. But a general understanding of the principles and skills of swimming psychology will not constitute the competitive edge you seek. You want to win when you race. Swimming psychology takes more than understanding. It takes well-practiced, strategic application. Don’t be in a hurry to get through The Playbook. Racing is fun, but playing The Swim To WIN Playbook is not arace. The goal is not to get finished. The idea is to reap more from The Swim To WIN Playbook than anyone else; not only more than those who fail to avail themselves of the opportunity, but more than those worthy opponents who do. Read each section, play each drill, and take each quiz slowly with careful consideration. Play each game with enthusiasm and determination. Decide to enjoy each game and to play each one well, better than anyone else, certainly better than your competition. If you are anxiously looking ahead to one of the later sections, fine. Go on and skip ahead. There is some order to The Swim To WIN Playbook. Playing the games in the first few chapters will aid your performance in the games that appear later in the book. But you may benefit from jumping ahead to play some of the later games that interest you or that you think meet your most immediate needs. Just make sure you return to the early games that provide some foundation for the later ones and be sure to replay the games to which you skipped ahead after you go back and play the earlier ones. The Swim To WIN Playbook includes many exceedingly simple tasks and some repetition. I know that challenges are fun, but don’t breeze over any of the games, quizzes, or drills just because they are easy. Please do them. Write them out. When it calls for specific acts, thoughts, or comments, do them. General understanding and good intentions won’t suffice. Specific acts are specific acts. Please take the time to act. Think of the easy ones as stroke drills or aerobic training. They may be easily accomplished, but doing them, and doing them right, pays off. Play now. Now is the only opportunity you have to act. As you get to each game, drill, or quiz, please do it in that now. Otherwise you may never get it done. Certainly, you will fall behind where you otherwise might have gone. That, of course, is not to suggest that you spend every waking hour on The Playbook. It already takes a lot of time to play swimming. But do play your way through The Playbook on a regular basis. Ongoing play is important. Playing your way through The Swim To WIN Playbook is part of playing the swimming game. Playing swimming psychology will help you to get more out of the rest of your swimming play. Consistent Playbook play will give you a significant jump on much of the competition. A good goal might be to play at least three of the games per week. If you do that, the benefits of your play will accumulate quickly and powerfully. Not everyone will play his way through The Swim To WIN Playbook. When you do, you take an extra, giant step ahead of a good portion of your competition. Some of your competitors, probably many of the better swimmers, will play The Playbook. Do even those who play, one better. Play the games better. Play more creatively. Take the games further than others. Give the games new twists and tougher challenges. Replay them again and again. Take the lead. Some of you may think the way things are worded is corny. You may think I am trying to be too cute writing that way. You may think you are too cool to play games. If you do slip into thinking you are too cool, remember a lot of what it takes to win isn’t cool to do, but it is what it takes to win. There is purpose to what is here. Swimming is a game, one that can be played with great intensity and resolve, but a game nonetheless. There are reasons why The Playbook is a playbook and not a workbook, why the Playsheets are play sheets and not worksheets, and why games are games, not exercises or homework. Accept The Playbook as it is. Play the games as prescribed. Get with the spirit of the game. You will be glad you did. You don’t have to play every game contained in The Playbook. But then, it is more than likely that you will benefit more if you do. Don’t skip over any of them too lightly. Generally speaking, the more you do the better. Get a jump on your competition.

Some games probably are better left unplayed for some swimmers. When you already do things extremely well, you don’t want to think about them too much. That is why you won’t find a sample from me for 20/200 Hind,i4M, though you do for almost all of the other games in The Playbook. After years of study and practice, my thinking skills are very good. I’m quite aware of what were my demons and I’ve gotten very skilled and well-practiced at defeating them. I didn’t even want to give them the attention needed to provide you with some ugly examples. So, I elected to pass over that one and just provide you with more productive samples. You too, may choose to skip over those things you already have a good handle on in order to avoid making well-learned

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

THe Swit To WIN PLAyBooK acts too conscious or in order to devote more time and attention to developing and practicing skills in areas where you are presently less competent. Don’t decide too lightly, however, to skip over any of the games, drills, or quizzes. Review and repetition will help and, in all but very few instances, won’t hurt. I’ve been playing swimming psychology for a long time. I probably am as skilled as anyone has ever been in this area.

Nevertheless, writing examples for Game Plu, and Routine for The Playbook, for example, turned

out to be great reminders for me and to help me tremendously in subsequent meets. Practice and reminders of what we do well act in many ways to boost performance. Few persons have great dreams and high aspirations. Fewer persons realize great dreams. Few persons set lofty goals. Many fewer persons consistently set weekly and daily goals to take goal-oriented action. Very few persons persist in taking goal-oriented action until they reach their dreams. The select few who reach the top, do so by doing what others fail to do. That is what excelling is all about. Set, write, and act to accomplish at least three goals each week, including goals for playing your way through The Swim To WIn Playbook. This doesn’t have to take much time. A good goal can be to write at least three goals, to play through at least six pages, to complete a particular play sheet, or to play at least one specific game by the end of the week. You will experience much overlap in your swimming psychology play. You may take a “jump start” (see pg. 91) by writing goals. You may write goals to take “jump starts.” Performing the same or similar acts for different games in different situations (for example, writing similar goals or self-statements for different play sheets) is not only to be expected, but is tremendously useful. Such repetition will help you develop these skills and to groove in good habits. It makes sense then that you may write the same or similar goals for different games or various aspects of your swimming play. Your goals for leadership, for example, may overlap with your goals for fun, for taking charge, or for team building. Your goals for self-talk or imagery may be applied for handling pressure or for handling pain. Your swimming psychology skills will be applied for meeting many of the challenges you face when playing swimming. As you play your way through The Playbook, you will write many goals and self-statements, make numerous heart-felt personal decisions, and log lots of jump starts. After you write each one, take time to copy it onto your Goal Arsenal, your Self-talk Arsenal, your Affirmation Arsenal, your Personal Decision Arsenal, or your Jump Start Arsenal (all located in the Equipment Bin), whichever is appropriate. The larger the arsenals you build, the better-armed you will be to take on the competition. Feel free to copy Playsheets for your own personal use so that you may replay games, play games for different events or situations, or if you need more space. Please do not copy Playsheets for anyone else’s use. Play your way through The Swim To WIN Playbook by yourself, enlist a teammate to play it with you, or play through The Playbook with a small group of teammates or the entire team; but do play. Be sure to incorporate your swimming psychology when you play swimming. Swim fast. Kick butt. Have fun. I?ll see you around the pool.

=

Los

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

13

14

YOUR

MISSION

Too often your purpose gets lost in the shadow of your routine. You go to swim practice because that is what you do at that time of the day. You fail to pay attention to why you are there and to where you are going. Acknowledge, discover, or create some purpose for your swimming. A clear sense of purpose helps you set priorities, make good choices, and stay on track. Decide on your purpose. Then formulate a clear written statement of your mission.

LEVEL 1 In the space provided in Level 1 on your Driving Force Playsheet brainstorm on the purpose for your swimming. Write as much as you can, as fast as you can, for three minutes on why you are swimming, what you hope to accomplish, and what you want to get from the experience. Write freely without concern for correctness, possibility, likelihood, priorities, practicality, grammar, or spelling. make choices. For now, there are no limits. Just write.

Later you will

LEVEL 2 Select 10 of the most important reasons you swim from your play on Level 1 of your Driving force Playsheet.

List them in the

space provided in Level 2 of your Driving Force Playsheet.

LEVEL 3 For each item recorded in Level 2, determine the best way to fulfill that purpose (and hopefully derive added benefits as well) in a competitive swimming environment. Record your judgment in the space provided in Level 3 of your Driving Force Playsheet.

LEVEL 4 Review your play in Levels 1-3 of Driving force. Then, in the space provided in Level 4 of your Driving force Playsheet write a mission statement for your swimming: a clear statement of your purpose.

1. To play Driving Force this week. 2. To decide to consistently pursue swimming excellence.

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

cee

15

Decive To Swim To Win

LEVEL 1 In the space provided below write as much as you can, as fast as you can for three minutes on why you are swimming, what you hope to accomplish, and what you want to get from the experience.

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

16

THe Swi To WIN PLAYBooK

LEVEL 3 For each item recorded in Level 2, determine the best way to fulfill that purpose (and hopefully derive added benefits as well) in a competitive swimming environment. Record your judgment in the space provided below.

LEVEL 4 In the space provided below, write a mission statement for your swimming.

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

17

Decide To Swim To WIN

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Fitness. Weight control. Kicking butt. Fun. Do things others can’t do. Share wholesome, healthy experiences with my family. Travel and make friends while doing some goal-oriented, fun activity. Stay healthy. Have a healthy lifestyle. Race.

1. Pursue excellence in competitive swimming. . Really get after it. Consistently do mega-yardage. excellence in competitive swimming.

Pursue

. Prepare well. Train intensely. Pursue excellence in competitive swimming.

. Enjoy the pursuit of excellence in competitive swimming. . Pursue excellence in competitive swimming. . Pursue excellence in competitive swimming. . Pursue excellence in competitive swimming. . Pursue excellence in competitive swimming.

. Pursue excellence in competitive swimming. . Pursue excellence in competitive swimming.

MISSION OF CHOICE The pursuit of competitive swimming excellence seems to be the best mission for any competitive swimmer. The pursuit of swimming excellence necessitates high aspirations and superlative preparation. As a result, action in the pursuit of swimming excellence seems to fulfill many other purposes you may have for your swimming. The pursuit of excellence tends to be the best way to fine-tune your body, acquire a multitude of life skills, reap rewards, gain recognition, realize opportunities to travel, please parents and coaches, control your weight, and make competitive swimming fun. There are other ways to fulfill these various aims, but within the competitive swimming arena they are best realized by doing it right: training and competing to win; striving for excellence. Embrace the pursuit of excellence as your mission.

1. Decide to make the pursuit of excellence your mission in competitive swimming. 2. Decide to set your goals with an eye toward excellence. 3. Decide to act consistently with an eye toward excellence.

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

18

THe Swit To WIN PLAYBOOK

PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY There are few ultimate truths in this world, but one of them is:

"The responsibility is mine." It can be no other way.

LEVEL 1 Fill in the blanks on Part 1 of the Reponsititity Playsheet. Carefully reflect on it’s meaning.

(Hint: the answers are either "Mine" or "| am.") Read each line slowly.

LEVEL 2 In the space provided on Part 2 of the Reponsitility Playsheet, list at least 10 additional questions (similar in form to those posed in Part 1) in regard to who is responsible for your swimming. Provide the answers to your questions.

1. To play Reponsibility today. 2. At least three times when | notice that | slipped and complained about something, to add three questions and answers to Part 2 of my Reponsititity Playsheet that reflect my responsibility for the situation.

LEVEL1 Fill in the blanks.

(Hint: the answers are either “Mine" or "I am.")

Who is responsible for completing this Playsheet? Whose responsibility is it to see to it that | enjoy doing this Playsheet? Who is responsible for my swimming? Whose responsibility is it to have a mission for my swimming? Whose responsibility is it to see to it that | commit to the pursuit of excellence in competitive swimming? Whose responsibility is it to value my mission? Who is responsible for the choices | make? Whose responsibility is it to see to it that my decisions reflect my values? Who is responsible for the passion with which | pursue swimming excellence? Whose responsibility is it to see to it that | swim faster? Who is responsible for whether | win when | race? Whose responsibility is it to see to it that | make goal-oriented decisions? Whose responsibility is it to see to it that | exhibit a positive attitude? Whose responsibility is it to set goals for my swimming? Whose responsibility is it to set goals every week? Whose responsibility is it to see to it that | value my goals? Whose responsibility is it to see a path | can take to reach my ultimate goal?

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

19

Decide To Swih To WIN

Whose responsibility is it to see to it that | do what it takes to reach my goals?___ Whose responsibility is it to see to it that | reach my goals? Who is responsible for what | say to myself? Whose responsibility is it to see to it that | take advantage of opportunity? Who is responsible for my dreams? Whose responsibility is it to see to it that | enjoy my swimming? Whose responsibility is it to see to it that my training is interesting? Who is responsible if I’m bored? Whose responsibility is it to see to it that | train productively? Whose responsibility is it to see to it that | prepare better than others do? Who is responsible for making my training fun? Who is responsible for my regular attendance at swim practice? Whose responsibility is it to take charge of my swimming? Whose responsibility is it to see to it that my coach helps me? Whose responsibility is it to see to it that | eat right? Who is responsible for my academic performance? Whose responsibility is it to see to it that | maintain good sleep habits? Whose responsibility is it to see to it that | regularly use this Playbook? Whose responsibility is it to see to it that | opt to get after it rather than cruise? Whose responsibility is it to see to it that | enjoy my training? Whose responsibility is it to seize the moment and act now? Whose responsibility is it to make the pursuit of swimming excellence fun? Whose responsibility is it to create a team climate conducive to the pursuit of excellence and enjoyment? Who is responsible for how weli my teammates train? Whose responsibility is it to see to it that my teammates stay on track? Whose responsibility is it to see to it that my teammates get back on track when they fall off course? Whose responsibility is it to see to it that | am calm, relaxed, and ready to go when it comes time to race? Whose responsibility is it to cope with my fear of “pain”? Whose responsibility is it to see to it that | swim without pain? Who is responsible for my bringing superlative preparation to my races? Whose responsibility is it to see to it that | leave distractions and worries behind when swimming in meets? Whose responsibility is it to see to it that | swim without unfinished business hanging over my head? Whose responsibility is it to see to it that | have a well-practiced pre-race routine? Who is responsible for my having a good, clear, well-practiced, winning game plan? Whose responsibility is it to see to it that | bring everything | need to the meets? Whose responsibility is it to see to it that | swim with confidence? Whose responsibility is it to see to it that | swim well in big meets? Whose responsibility is it to see to it that | swim well in spite of any nervousness?

—_

Whose responsibility is it to see to it that | enjoy swimming in meets? Who is responsible for my feeling excited about the prospect of racing? Who is responsible for my peak psychological readiness for big meets?

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

20

Tue Swim To WIN PLAyBooK

LEVEL 2 In the space provided below, list at least 10 additional questions (similar in form to those posed in Part 1) in regard to who is responsible for your swimming. Provide the answers to your questions.

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

Decioe To Swim To WIN

21

LEVEL1 Who is Whose Who is Whose Whose Whose Who is Whose leo Ol CoN SO Who is 10. Whose 11. Who is 12. Whose 13. Whose 14. Whose 15. Whose 16. Whose 17. Whose 18. Whose 19. Whose 20. Who is 21. Whose 22. Who is 23. Whose 24. Whose 25. Who is 26. Whose 27. Whose 28. Who is 29. Who is

responsible for completing this Playsheet? |am. responsibility is it to see to it that | enjoy doing this Playsheet? Mine. responsible for my swimming? |am. responsibility is it to have a mission for my swimming? Mine. responsibility is it to see to it that | commit to the pursuit of excellence in competitive swimming? responsibility is it to value my mission? —_Mine. responsible for the choices | make? —_|_am. responsibility is it to see to it that my decisions reflect my values? Mine. responsibility for the passion with which | pursue swimming excellence? Lam. responsibility is it to see to it that |swim faster? —_Mine. responsible for whether | win when | race? Lam. responsibility is it to see to it that | make goal-oriented decisions? — Mine. responsibility is it to see to it that | exhibit a positive attitude? Mine. responsibility is it to set goals for my swimming? Mine. responsibility is it to set goals every week? ~—Mine. responsibility is it to see to it that |value my goals? =Mine. responsibility is it to see a path | can take to reach my ultimate goal? — Mine. responsibility is it to see to it that | do what it takes to reach my goals? _—Mine. responsibility is it to see to it that | reach my goals? _Mine. responsible for what | say to myself? Lam. responsibility is it to see to it that | take advantage of opportunity? ine. responsible for my dreams? Lam. responsibility is it to see to it that | enjoy my swimming? Mine. responsibility is it to see to it that my training is interesting? Mine. responsible if I’m bored? Lam. responsibility is it to see to it that | train productively? Mine. responsibility is it to see to it that | prepare better than others do? ~—Mine. responsible for making my training fun? Lam. responsible for my regular attendance at swim practice? lam.

30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36.

Whose Whose Whose Who is Whose Whose Whose

responsibility is it to take charge of my swimming? Mine. responsibility is it to see to it that my coach helps me? _——Mine. responsibility is it to see to it that | eat right? Mine. responsible for my academic performance? = Lam. responsibility is it to see to it that | maintain good sleep habits? Mine. responsibility is it to see to it that | regularly use this Playbook? Mine. responsibility is it to see to it that | opt to get after it rather than cruise? — Mine.

37. 38. 39.

Whose responsibility is it to see to it that | enjoy my training? = Mine. Whose responsibility is it to seize the moment and act now? Mine. Whose responsibility is it to make the pursuit of swimming excellence fun? _— Mine.

40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48.

Whose Who is Whose Whose Whose Whose Whose Who is Whose

49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58.

Whose Whose Who is Whose Whose Whose Whose Whose Who is Who is

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. a. &. g. =O . 11. 12.

Whose Whose Whose Who is Whoge Whoge Whose Whose Whoge Who is Whose Who is

MINE

responsibility is it to create a team climate conducive to the pursuit of excellence and enjoyment? _— Mine. responsible for how well my teammates train? lam. responsibility is it to see to it that my teammates stay on track? = Mine. responsibility is it to see to it that my teammates get back on track when they fall off course? = Mine. responsibility is it to see to it that | am calm, relaxed, and ready to go when it comes time to race? _— Mine. responsibility is it to cope with my fear of “pain”? — Mine. responsibility is it to see to it that |swim without pain? — Mine. responsible for my bringing superlative preparation to my races? |am. responsibility is it to see to it that | leave distractions and worries behind when swimming in meets? Mine. responsibility is it to see to it that | swim without unfinished business hanging over my head? Mine. responsibility is it to see to it that | have a well-practiced pre-race routine? Mine. responsible for my having a good, clear, well-practiced, winning game plan? lam. responsibility is it to see to it that | bring everything | need to the meets? Mine. responsibility is it to see to it that | swim with confidence? _—Mine. responsibility is it to see to it that | swim well in big meets? Mine, responsibility is it to see to it that | swim well in spite of any nervousness? Mine. responsibility is it to see to it that | enjoy swimming in meets? Mine. responsible for my feeling excited about the prospect of racing? lam. responsible for my peak psychological readiness for big meets? |!

responsibility is it for me to train well even when the water in the pool is too hot? Mine. responsibility is it to take care of my equipment? Mine. responsibility is it to see to it that | wear shoes and a hat after practice when it is cold outside? responsible for my getting to bed at 10:30pm? Lam. responsibility is it to set aside time to read and meditate? Mine. responsibility is it to see to it that a new team member gets welcomed to the team? Mine. responsibility is it to see to it that my coach enjoys coaching me? Mine. responsibility is it to see to it that | show appreciation to my parents for their support? Mine. responsibility is it to carry and drink from my water bottle when | train? Mine. responsible for judging my swims and not myself? lam. responsibility is it to set up a date with Shantel? lam. responsible for taking the lane lines out after practice? lam.

Mine.

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

22

Tue Swi To WIN PLAYBOOK

VALUE YOUR SWIMMING 1. Whose responsibility is it to value my mission? 2. Whose responsibility is it to see to it that my decisions reflect my values? 3. Who is responsible for the passion with which | pursue swimming excellence?

VALUE YOUR

MISSION

Your value for anything comes from your decision to regard it highly: to deem it desirable or useful. You decide what you value. You decide what to value passionately. Those who excel, value excellence more than others do. That is a large part of why they excel. The more anyone values his mission; the more incentive he brings to his pursuit and the better care he takes of his mission, goals, environment, and resources. The decision is yours, but it is a decision. You are responsible for your values, no matter whether you make the decision or you let others decide for you. Make the right choice. At this point, you have already decided to swim. You may as well decide to value your swimming and to value it passionately.

LEVEL 1 Identify the things that you value about swimming. Then, list at least 15 things you value about competitive swimming onto Part 1 of your Swimming Values Playsheet. LEVEL 2 In the space provided in Part 2 of your Swimming Valuer Playsheet list at least 10 things you will choose to value about your swimming. LEVEL 3 As you notice that you enjoy various aspects of swimming, make note of them on your Swimming Valuer Playsheet. Log at least three entries the first time you play.

1. To play the Swimmin, Values game this week. 2. To record at least 10 additional things | value on Part 2 of my Swimming Valuer Playsheet this week, expanding my list of things | value about my swimming. 3. To play Part 3 Of Swimming Valuer at least 3 times this week.

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

23

Decide To Swih To WIN

LEVEL 1 In the space provided below, list at least 15 things you value about competitive swimming.

if

ODNAARWN

LEVEL 2 In the space provided below, list at least 10 things you will choose to value about your swimming.

1;

WYN ONAAR © =

—s

—_bk

NB

="

o

—_

=

—_

—

a 2

—_

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

24

THe Switr To WIN PLAYBooK

i

LEVEL3 In the space provided below, record the date and log at least 3 things you valued about your competitive swimming today.

ogi

1

poe

ee

am LEVEL i it’s . the . the . the

1 fun

feel of powering through the water challenge, exercising my being, stretching my limits competition, racing others

keeps me fit

EEVEL il the

2

pursuit of swimming excellence

2. the challenges . the fun . the worthy opponent . my teammates’ support and encouragement

. enhances my health keeps me toned and looking good

. the health benefits . setting goals

. Opportunity to pursue excellence

. the fun, excitement, and challenge of bringing to bear all of my power in my quest to reach my goals

. clean, wholesome sport

SOSNOMALID . simple, clear game with little room for anyone to cheat

. refreshing and invigorating nature of getting after it in

aos=

cool, clear water

. meet good people with similar goals and values : eiportenivies to travel skill 6 | develop and refine . chronic, immediate feedback about my performance . lends itself to clear, easy-to-understand, measurable goals . always higher standards to be reached . constantly get to play, not much sitting around awaiting my turn in practice . lifetime sport 20. anyone who does what it takes can do extremely well

. switn practice

sychological skills training . “zing” as a sign of biological growth . excellence . high standards . Opportunity

. embracing the moment . the mystery of the game

. acting different, better than normal . consistently making better choices than others . commitment, the freedom it gives, and the boost it gives to my quest

20. consistency

Date_2/3/98

LEVEL 3 1. opportunity to train in hot water Zs built stamina

3. 4,

got to train with my wife my decision to do more and better than anyone else

|DY=Yol k=}(0)a) |Drill|

. Decide to value competitive swimming passionately. . Decide to value performance excellence passionately. . Decide to value the pursuit of swimming excellence passionately. Decide to passionately value the fun in competitive swimming. . Decide to value every opportunity passionately. . Decide to passionately value acting differently and better than others. . Decide to value your responsibility passionately. . Decide to value fitness passionately. . Decide to value swimming practice passionately. OONMDARWN— . Decide to value your health passionately. . Decide to passionately value tough challenges. . Decide to value psychological skills passionately. . Decide to value high standards passionately. . Decide to value your goals passionately. . Decide to value The Swim To Win Playbook passionately.

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

25

Decne To Swiv To WIN

——_ VALUE-SWIMMING-EXCELLENCE Goals Inthe space provided below, write three goals for enhancing your value of competitive swimming.

1

Swit ING-E3 CELLENC. Sample Goals i SiH, day this eek before practice, to remind myself to value the fun and the benefits | derive from each day’s training. 2. At least once every day this week, to remind myself to appreciate and to value my competitive swimming lifestyle. 5. At least three times during practice this week to notice the value in my pursuit of

ewimming excellence and to comment aloud about it. (For example, “this is great,” “| love this,” or “how great is this?”)

Bei Mareel

1. 2. 3. 4.

Who is Whose Who is Whose

responsible for my swimming? responsibility is it to see to it that | swim faster? responsible for whether | win when | race? responsibility is it to see to it that | make goal-oriented decisions?

ALL THE RIGHT CHOICES Swimming excellence is not a matter of talent, predisposition, character, or destiny. It is a matter of choice. Swimming excellence doesn’t result from such traits as desire, dedication, discipline, tenacity, confidence, determination, or mental toughness. These traits are inferred from consistently deciding to take goal-oriented action. Swimming excellence is the result of many heart-felt, sometimes-tough, decisions. If you want to swim fast and if you want to win, you must decide that the pursuit of swimming excellence is worthwhile. You must decide to do what it takes. Then, you must repeatedly decide to act—now. Decide to excel at your swimming. Decide to make swimming excellence important. Decide to want it. Decide to want it passionately. Decide to go for it, to do what it takes. Decide not to let anyone or anything stand in your way. Then, do it—again and again—at every now.

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

26

THe Swim To WIN PLAYBOOK

On your Decizion Playsheet list at least 25 decisions you will face on the road to swimming excellence.

1. To play Decirio. at least once this week. 2. To add to my completed De Ce

Changing Habits “Take two strokes off the wall before breathing.” “Streamline.”

Old habits are hard to change. Habits are behaviors that are so well-learned and practiced that they occur almost automatically in certain situations. Changing habits requires interrupting what psychologists call this “automaticity of response.” When you intentionally give yourself instructions, your behavior becomes more conscious, interrupting the automaticity of response. Self-instructions give you more control over the old act and pave the way for change. In the space provided below, list at least 3 self-instructions you can use to change bad habits.

4:

-

Sandy’s

self-instructions for changing bad habits

. "High elbows.” . "Breathe forward.”

. “In & out — gol” . "Keep long.”

V1

. "Kick up."

SELF-TALK REPEAT

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

60

Tue Swim To WIN PLAYBOOK

Preparing For Performance “How do I want to take this race out?” — “Take it out loose and fast, then negative split it.” “How can I approach this race?” — “Swim it as ifyou are the world record holder.”

There is no substitute for good preparation. As such, the very purpose of training is to prepare to swim fast and to win in meets. Just as the better you train, the better you compete; the better you prepare to train, the better you prepare to compete. Superlative preparation for training makes for the best preparation for meets. The more clear you are on what you want to accomplish and how best to do it, the better you perform. Self-instructional thinking expedites this mental preparation. By asking yourself questions about the nature of the task before you and by answering the questions you pose to yourself; you tell yourself exactly what to do, when to do it, and how to do it. Then, when faced with your race or a training drill, you are prepared to do what it takes. In the space provided below, list at least 3 questions about the nature of the task and answers to those questions in the form of self-instructions you can use to prepare for performance.

;

de: :

ab =

3.

_

Sample questions and answers

for preparing for performance —

4

1. "How do | want to approach thio set?’ — "Build into it, but start your build at a decent pace, then

5

2. "What do | need to focus on here?"— "Drive into your turns.” 3. “How do | want to approach this race?"— "Make ft fun. Enjoy

blast it getting home.”

;

the challenge. Enjoy racing.’

SELF-TALK REPEAT

Guiding Performance “Drive into the turns.” “Use your arms going out and bring the legs in coming home.” “Elbows up.”

Self-instructions are powerful and effective tools for directing performance. The extent and complexity of self-instructions vary with your familiarity and proficiency with the task. If a situation or skill is new to you, you benefit from more detailed, explicit instructions. If you are used to the situation, and your skills and strategies are well-ingrained, short commands such as “let it happen,” “just have fun,” and “win this thing” or even simple cue words, such as, “3F” (First Finger on the Finish pad), or “calm,” will serve to put you on an

automatic pursuit of your goals. In the space provided below, list at least 3 self-instructions you can use to guide your swims.

qi

.

Josh’s

self-instructions for guiding your wail

GO) ps. IN

- "kick small”

"build & attack turns

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

61

THINK To WIN

SELF-TALK REPEAT

f-talk by transferring the self-instructions

nal

ELF-TALK ARSENAL. Please do so now. Initiating Action

“Go for it.”

“Make it fun.” “Cut it out.”

Sometimes just getting started is a challenge in itself. There are times when the prospect of overcoming inertia seems overwhelming. It is easy to get into a trance-like state where you don’t want to put out the effort to move. You must act to shift gears. The momentum and rhythm of swimming at a particular pace can make it just as hard to pick it up as does fatigue. Putting a timely stop to what you are doing often requires an emphatic act. So often, it seems easier to continue what you are doing than to change, even when the change is obviously for the better and the act itself is within your repertoire of skills. You often overeat, for example, because you get lost in the pleasure of the act, the t.v. you are watching, or the book you are reading while you eat. You need to jar yourself out of an act that has taken on a momentum of its own. Simple, emphatic self-instructions such as, “do it!” “go!” “pick it up!” “stop!” or “quit it!” will work to initiate action. You tend to respond quickly to imperatives. Consider how quickly you tend to react to commands such as these from a respected coach. Emphatic self-instructions often work just as well. In the space provided below, list at least 3 self-instructions you can use to initiate action.

45 Josh’s self-instructions to initiate action

m_

a

:

=

_

:

. "pick it up" iy

tt . ‘let's get ready to rumble!”

ae eee 1

SELF-TALK REPEAT

Sustaining Effort “Keep it up.” “Stay with it.” “Hold on.”

Overcoming inertia can be difficult. Because of the pleasure inherent in physical activity, however, once you get going, remaining active is often easy until fatigue, distraction, or inattention set in. On the other hand, some activities, such as fast swimming, require continual effort. Without continuing attention and intention to produce and sustain speed you slow down. Self-instructions such as, “Hold on to it!” “Keep it up” and “Stay with it!” keep your attention on intentionally putting forth the effort needed to sustain fast swimming. In the space provided below, list at least 3 self-instructions you can use to sustain effort. ‘.:

A

.

5 =

;

6.

_| _

Sandy’s self-instructions to sustain effort 1, ick it up”

2. “Gol” 3, “Hang in there”

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

62

Tue Swim To Win PLAYBOOK Nt

SELF-TALK REPEAT

Coping With Obstacles “Who cares what others may think? Relax.” “So you’re tired? What makes you think you can’t swim fast anyway.

Get after it.”

Swimming is replete with challenges. In many ways, it is the very challenge of overcoming obstacles that brings excitement, exhilaration, and intrigue to the sport, making swimming the rich, rewarding sport that it is. Part of the battle to overcome obstacles is played in the psychological arena. Inevitably, the psychological skills employed to overcome obstacles include self-instructions. In order to overcome obstacles successfully, you must assess the situation; value tackling the challenge; devise a plan of action; and then, with an eye toward your goals, initiate, guide, sustain, and redirect your performance with self-instructions. In the space provided below, list at least 3 self-instructions you can use to cope with obstacles. Sample self-instructions for coping with obstacles

"Im behind." — "Go get him." . "Pm zinging.’ — "So what? Pick it up."

"| can’t seem to improve." — "Do something different. Find a way. Make it happen.”

GUIDELINES

FOR

SELF-INSTRUCTION

Self-instructions should be:

peer oue tee Keep them relevant to the task at and. Positive. Tell yourself what to do, not what you don’t want to do.

Put before the act. Telling yourself what to do before you do it works much better than giving yourself self-instructions afterward. Forceful. Make your self-instructions commanding. Say them with feeling, importance, and immediacy. Personalized. Use explicit directions, phrases, or cue words that mean something to you.

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

THINK To WIN

63

20Mveo CENTER

ent

You are in charge of your fate. You are solely responsible for how fast you swim, whether you win, and how much you enjoy your swimming. As commander-in-chief of your personal armed forces you must direct the employment of all your resources toward performance excellence. 1. In the spaces provided in the Command Center Playsheet write at least five self-instructions for each category listed.

2. Copy the self-instructions you generated for the Command Cente, onto the appropriate spaces in your SELF-TALK ARSENAL. 3. Select at least three prepared self-instructions and intentionally say them to yourself during your next practice.

1. To play Command Center this week. 2. To generate and record at least 3 additional commands for at least three of the categories in the Commrnd Center Playsheet this week. 3. On at least three occasions, to internalize and emit as a self-instruction, a stroke correction or strategic instruction | receive in practice.

In the spaces provided below, write at least three self-instructions for TES CTT of behavior sted

LEARNING

-

NEW SKILLS

.

Skil.

CHANGING HABITS Old Habit

Self-instruction

—dDesired Change

Self-Instruction

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

ee ray

64

Tue Swit To WIN PLAyBooK

Self-Instruction —

GUIDING PERFORMANCE

INITIATING ACTION

SUSTAINING EFFORT ip

COPING WITH OBSTACLES Obstacle

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

Self-Instruction

65

THINK To WIN

pe streamlining streamlining streamlining flip turn racing dive

CHANGING HABITS

dt

2.

3.

2

a

Self-Instruction

“hands together” “implode” “etreamline past the flags “ball” “poke a hole in the water with your hands and put your whole body through the same hole.”

| |

dropping elbow dropping hips on breaststroke nervous before race

|

Conte, Sample Play

Commend

fs

sired Change Self-instruction high elbow on pull hips up

“elbow up” “look at spot on bottom”

eagerly anticipating

“make it fun”

opportunity to race

“How do | want to swim this race?” “How should | approach this set?” “How can | beat this guy.” “What can | do to get the most out of this set and enjoy doing it.”

“Take it out controlled and then descend 100s” “Count your strokes and hold pace.” “Get out in front and break him.” “Set some goals for the set.”

|

“Take it out loose and fast, then negative-split it.” “Build into it.” “Get after every repeat. Take them one at a time.” “Hold 1:02’s or better”

.

“Don’t worry about the outcome. Relax. what you are doing.” “Make him go early. Break his spirit.”

6.

e

“pick it up” “beat this guy” STAINING

. .

Think about

“make it fun” “enjoy yourself” GOstotite “stop it” cutit out.

EFFORT

“keep it up” “1:0 55” pull”

_COPING WITH OBSTACLES

+S

ae

E i =

b

mi:

VE

Others’ complaining Water in pool too hot

“Make it fun” “Get jump on everyone else.” 9 66 “This will make me tough” “Good opportunity to practice for the inevitable warm-water meet.”

Tough competition

“Make them prove they can beat me.”

COUNTERING “What makes me think I can’t?” “So what?”

“Ts this way of thinking useful?”

Some thoughts and images that interfere with good performance are quite resistant to change. In these instances, you may have to attack some underlying beliefs or perspectives that pervade negative thinking before you can overcome it with simple self-instructions.

One way of turning bad thinking around is called “countering.” Countering consists of actively fighting your negative thinking with facts and reasons or “counters.” Counters are your ammunition for shooting down the negative thoughts that hinder performance.

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

66

Tue Swit To WIN PLAvBooK Your way of thinking is not easily changed, especially those belief systems that are firmly rooted. The more evidence and logic with which you attack your negative thinking, the more likely that you will turn it around. Fortunately, the evidence is on your side. When your performance is subpar, it is a good bet that bad thinking lurks within: your self-talk is incorrect or it is not useful. Sometimes your self-talk has its facts wrong. Other times, it is illogical. Occasionally your self-talk is both incorrect and irrational. Challenge such negative thinking by questioning its accuracy. Ask yourself: “Ts this thinking correct?” “Does it conform with the rules of logic?” “Where is the evidence that ve “What makes me think that ‘i The “I can’ts” that stifle your effort and commitment, that weigh down your performance, that dampen your enthusiasm, and that shade your hope, for example, can be attacked with counters such as, “What makes me

think I can’t?” “Where is the evidence that I can’t?” and “I’ve previously done things I hadn’t ever done before, what makes me think I can’t do better now?” Similarly, the “what if's” that paralyze you with fear can be countered with “so what's.” Sometimes your negative self-talk is neither right nor wrong, it is non-verifiable. Then, challenge its usefulness. Ask yourself: “Ts this way of thinking useful?” “Ts it helping me reach my goals.” “Does this kind of thinking make me enjoy my swimming?” “Is my self-talk upsetting me?” “Do these thoughts get me nervous or anxious?” “T’m no good,” for example, is the kind of self-talk that will certainly make you feel bad as well as impede good performance. You cannot, however, prove you are not “no good.” That is impossible to prove. You may try to convince yourself that “I am too good,” but that would be equally impossible to prove. It is easy to demonstrate, however, that saying “I’m no good” to yourself only makes you feel lousy and does not help your swimming. Since negative thinking is often well-ingrained, you may need to attack it vigorously, repeatedly, and in depth; questioning its logic and utility, and forcefully debating your assertions. As you begin to understand the flaws in your old self-talk, you can be more direct and concise in your counters. With practice and understanding, counters such as, “Wrong!” “So what?” “Big deal!” “Why should I?” “Who says?” “That doesn’t help!” and “Why can’t I?” will work quite well.

-

Set your cross hairs on the negative thinking that ambushes your pursuit of excellence. Then, counterattack — blast the negative self-talk to smithereens. Render it helpless to block your path to success. Record your play on the Belief Attack Playsheet. You get one point for each negative thought you capture, ten points for devising counters that effectively destroy the negative message, and ten bonus points for coupling your counters with self-instructions to take goal-oriented action.

Se

1. To play Belie| Attack at least once this week, capturing at least three negative thoughts, countering them, and writing out appropriate self-instructions. 2. To score at least 63 points on Betice| Attack when | play it this week.

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

67

THINK To WIN

4. Playsheet CAPTURE THE _NEGATIVE THOUGHT

' ATTACK WITH COUNTERS |

CONQUER WITH COMMANDS

| TOTAL SCORE:

PTURE THE

ATIVE

THOUGHT __

“|can’t break 1:48”

“| don’t care.” “Vl never win.”

“What

ATTACK WITHCOUNTERS ——| : | — makes me think | can’t break 1:46? Where is the

CONQUER WITH 2 COMMANDS “Go for it!”

evidence that just because I’ve never gone that fast before that | can’t now? I’ve gone faster than ever before many times.” “Yes, you do. That's just your fatigue talking.” “Prove it!”

“Get after it!”

“Yeah, maybe you won't ever win with that attitude.

“Make it happen!”

“Pick it up!”

But such talk isn’t useful and doesn’t make you feel good. Maybe you ought to open yourself up to the idea that you can win and go about finding a way and then making it happen.” re: _Spts.

40pts.

4Opts.

TOTAL SCORE:

83pts.

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

68

Tue Swi To WIN PLAvBooK

SELF-TALK REPEAT

Countering Hidden Meanings “Tm tired.” (“I need to slow down.” )

In order to counter negative thinking successfully you need to know what you are countering. Sometimes negative thinking is easy to identify. Much of the meaning of what you say to yourself, however, is hidden and implied or is anchored by some underlying beliefs and perspectives that have to be countered if you are to affect meaningful change. For example, it is easy to respond to an “I’m tired” when the alarm goes off in the early morning by turning it off and going back to sleep. Certainly, it is hard to argue with your self-assessment that you are “tired” when you are indeed tired. Often implied in the “I’m tired,” however, is an underlying assumption that just because “T’m tired, I shouldn’t get up. I should sleep longer.” Hidden messages such as these can be attacked with counters such as, “What makes me think that the best thing I can do when I’m tired is to get more sleep? What makes me think that I can’t get up, go to practice, and train well even when I’m tired? I have before and I’ve been glad I did. Furthermore, if I sleep-in it will make it easier to sleep-in again the next time I feel tired, rather than getting in the habit of getting to bed earlier. Now, GET UP AND GO TO PRACTICE!” Flush out the hidden meanings implied in negative thoughts and counter them with facts and reason. Then, couple your counters with self-instructions, commanding that you take goal-oriented action.

Set your cross hairs on the seemingly harmless thoughts that ambush your pursuit of excellence. Remove their camouflage, exposing the enemy. Then, when you have flushed them out of hiding, counterattack—blast them to smithereens. Render them helpless to block your path to success. Record your play on the Betie/ Attack 2 Playsheet You get one point for each camouflaged negative thought you capture, five points for decoding the hidden message, ten points for devising counters that effectively destroy the camouflaged message, and ten bonus points for coupling your counters with self-instructions to take goal-oriented action.

Z

LO

DE

ES

i

SR

1. To play Beliel Attack 2 at least once this week, capturing at least three seemingly harmless negative thoughts, decoding their destructive hidden meanings, countering them, and writing out appropriate self-instructions. 2. To score at least 78 points on Belie] Attack 2 when | play this week.

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

THINK To WIN

CAPTURE SEE

THE

CONQUER WITH COMMANDS

ATTACK WITH COUNTERS

~ TOTAL SCORE: CONQUER © WITH COMMANDS

_ NEGATIVE THOUGH ’'m tired.

| shouldn’t go to practice.

What mace you think you ehoulare t go to practice just because you're tired?* It will do you good to go. You'll be glad you did.

Get up and go.

I’m tired.

| need to slow down.

What makes you think you need to slow down just| because you're tired?

Pick it up.

10 pte.

ad pts.

s0pte

|

TOTAL SCORE:

52 pte.

*Notice that these counters are rhetorical questions respectively meaning “You can benefit from practicing even though you are tired” and “You don’t have to slow down just because you are tired. You can go faster even when you feel tired and it will serve you well to do so.”

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

70

Tue Swim To Win PLAvBooK

SELF-TALK REPEAT

Countering Rhetorical Questions “What if?” (“It will be awful and I won’t be able to take it.’”) “Why am I doing this?” (“I don’t want to do this.”)

Rhetorical questions are statements disguised as questions. What appears to be a question looking for an answer is no such thing. While you search for an answer to the apparent question, the statement stealthily makes its effect. Statements in the form of rhetorical questions are extremely difficult to counter unless you recognize the implied statement. For example, if you thought to yourself, “What difference does it make if I skip one practice?” it would be a rhetorical question that really stated something like, “It won’t matter if I miss this one practice.” But, if you hear it as a question; you busy yourself exploring all of the possible ways it may or may not matter if you miss practice, instead of getting yourself to practice. Whereas, if you recognize the implied statement, “It won’t matter if I miss this one practice,” you can attack it with counters, such as, “Missing one may not matter, but I don’t want to take the chance. Anyway, if I choose to skip practice now, then I will be more likely to make similar decisions in the future.

Then, one will lead to twelve, which will certainly make a difference.

I want to

win. I want to excel. What happened to my commitment? GET TO PRACTICE!” Notice that in the example above, “What happened to my commitment?” is a rhetorical question, in this case implying, “I am committed to reaching my goals.” Appropriate rhetorical questions often make good counters, especially to rhetorical questions. Thus, for example, “So what?” is a good counter to “What if?” and “Why not?” can be a good counter to negative thinking such as “Why am I doing this?”; although in the latter case it doesn’t hurt to couple the counter, ““Why not?” with counters such as “I love it” and “I want to reach my goals” or “Why am I raising this issue, I’ve already committed myself to doing what it takes to reach my goals.” Flush out the hidden meanings in rhetorical questions. The implied statements are more readily countered. Rhetorical questions often hide the issues.

Set your cross hairs on the seemingly harmless rhetorical questions that ambush your pursuit of excellence. Remove their camouflage, exposing the enemy. Then, when you have flushed out the implied statements, counterattack — blast them to smithereens. Render them helpless to block your path to success. Record your play on your Beliel Attack 3 Playsheet. You get one point for each camouflaged rhetorical question you capture, five points for decoding the implied statement, ten points for devising counters that effectively destroy the camouflaged rhetorical question, and ten bonus points for coupling your counters with self-instructions to take goal-oriented action.

1. To play Belie/ Attack 3 at least once this week, capturing at least three seemingly harmless rhetorical questions, decoding their destructive implied statements, countering them, and writing out appropriate self-instructions. 2. To score at least 78 points on Bebie/ Attack 3 when | play it this week.

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

THINK To WIN

CAPTURE THE DECODE THE REE ORC AL HIDDEN ___MESSAGE

;

ATTACK WITH COUNTERS

CONQUER | WITH _ COMMANDS

TOTAL SCORE:

CAPTURE THE | DECODE THE RHETORICAL —SMHKIDDEN QUESTION | MESSAGE

CONQUER WITH COMMANDS

COUNTERS

What’s wrong with me?

’'m inadequate.

There’s nothing wrong with me. I’m just struggling in this situation at this particular time.

Get it together. Relax. Judge the act, not yourself. Pick it up.

What if?

It will be awful.

So what? What’s the worst thing that can happen? Would that really be so bad?

Relax. Have fun. This is the opportunity you've prepared for. Enjoy it.

Why am | doing this?

| don’t want to do this.

| do want to do this. | want to reach my goals. | This will help me get there.

_Do it well and make it fun.

Score: 3 pts. a _

=

30 pte.

oO

70 pts.

TOTAL SCORE

118 pte.

SELF-TALK REPEAT ted while playin do so now. Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

72

Tue Swim To Win PLAvBOoK

LABELING “That’s good.”

A label is a word or phrase descriptive of a person, thing, or event. Labels shape your actions and feelings. Labels carry strong connotations, especially “good” and “bad.” Few things influence your feelings and behavior more than attaching the labels “good” and “bad.” Particularly consequential are the labels you apply to people. Unfortunately, the consequences of labeling people, especially yourself, are not good. Labels are static. People are ever-changing. Labeling people inevitably involves overgeneralization, implies permanency, and creates self-fulfilling expectations. Labels are descriptive, not definitive. They describe a person, thing, or event. They don’t define it, but you tend to think they do. Thus, if you label yourself “lazy,” you expect that you will act in a lazy manner. You think that’s you: a “lazy” person. Labels describe a person, thing, or event. They don’t identify the cause of the events or behaviors, but you tend to think they do. Thus, if you label yourself “lazy,” you don’t assume responsibility for choosing not to train intensely. You think you can’t help it. You think you don’t train hard because you are “lazy” by nature, when, in fact, you only think you are “lazy” because you decided not to train hard or, at least, failed to decide to train hard. You can easily decide to train with intensity. Obviously, complimentary labels are better than disparaging ones, but you do better not to label yourself at all. Pejorative labels lead to hopelessness, despair, self-consciousness, and blaming. Even positive labels are dangerous. Though they may enhance confidence momentarily; sooner or later they bring about complacency, one-upmanship, and self-oriented, rather than performance-directed thinking. Moreover, being imperfect and ever-changing, sooner or later you will come face-to-face with evidence refuting your flattering label, then you will entertain the opposite notion. That, of course, is trouble. Be careful what and whom you choose to label and be careful how you decide to use labels. Things change. So do humans, including those that swim, and you in particular.

1. On the “Who Am |?” Playsheet list at least ten labels you have applied to yourself by completing the phrases “Lam ” and “lama ‘i 2. For each label you have used to describe yourself, record how you know that this trait fits you. 3. Then, in the “REALITY CHECKk” section, record specific acts, without overgeneralizing, that you have done or that you may readily accomplish that contradict that label. a) If the label is a negative one, then record at least three significant contradictory facts in the “REALITY CHECK” section. b) If the label is a positive one, then record at least one fact that will remind you to continue taking positive action in the

“REALITY CHECK” section. Stage 2. 1. On at least three days during the upcoming week, take note of any labels you apply to yourself. 2. Add the labels noted (or the acts that led to you to label yourself, if these labels have already been recorded) to the the “Who Am |?” Playsheet. Make sure that you complete the “REALITY CHECK” section for each label you used.

1. To play “Wo Aw 12” once this week. 2. To discard any labels that | catch myself applying to myself today and to replace them with action self-talk.

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

73

THINK To WIN

WHO AM I?

HOW DO |KNOW THIS IS WHO | AM?

"REALITY CHECK

x SE THIS IS WHO | AM? | am a winner.

| won some.

| may have won some, but that no more makes me a winner than does having lost some make me a loser. And, | don’t need to be a winner to win. | only need to swim faster than anyone else does in order to win. The race is up for grabs.

lam a loser.

| lost some.

| have lost some, but | also have won sometimes. The race |6 always up for grabs. Anyone can win. | have just as much right and opportunity to win as does anyone else. | won a race last week.

| often have taken

| often have taken the easy path, but sometimes | have embraced some challenges and | always have the option of accepting the challenge. Today | trained hard. | took 3 jump starts this week.

the easy path.

the useful self-talk you ‘ALK ARSENAL.

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

74

Tue Swim To WIN PLAYBOOK

RELABELING “Pain”

=

“Zing

”

“T hate that.” - “That’s good.” “Workout” - “Playing swimming”

Often you can improve your feelings or performance merely by changing the labels you apply to yourself, things, and events. Relabeling “nervousness” as “eager anticipation,” “work” as “play,” “workout” as “practice,” or “difficult” as “challenging” makes a huge difference in how you approach your swimming. Your values, decisions, enjoyment, and behavior are tremendously influenced by whether you label something as “bad” or “good.” Merely relabeling hard sets, long swims, and tough competition as “good,” will go a long way toward generating goal-oriented action.

Geod takes five days to play

PART 1. 2. 3. PART 1. 2. 3.

1, DAY 1 Review the last few days of practice and pick out some of the drills or sets that you failed to value. Record a description of the selected activities on the the Geed Playsheet. Write “that’s good” in the corresponding box. Then, write at least one reason why it is good, why you can feel good about that opportunity.

2, DAYS 2 &3 Monitor two days of practice, taking note of any opportunities that you fail to value. Record a description of the selected activities on the the Geed Playsheet. Write “that’s good” in the corresponding box. Then, write at least one reason why it is good, why you can feel good about that opportunity.

PART 3, DAY4& 5 1. At least twice during the next two days of practice label as “good” (by emphatically telling yourself “this is good” ) training opportunities that you may have failed to value in the past. 2. Reinforce your label of “good” with self-talk that provides reasons why you can feel good about that opportunity. NS:

SY

Sx

RS

SK

ee

1. To play Geed once this week.

2. To play Part 3 of Geed once this week.

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

75

THINK To WIN

Good Playsheet TRAINING

THAT’S GOOD

TRAINING 5 X 200 fly

WHAT MAKES IT GOOD

4Sampie Play. = THATSGOOD SWAT MAKESSITGOOD that’s good

makes me tough builds power and stamina | like it when others don’t

3000 swim

that’s good

|

builds stamina opportunity to improve psychological skills

others won't take as good advantage of it as | will competition is tough

that’s good

better challenge beating them means more better sign of where | am at and where | need to go

SELF-TALK REPEAT

AFFIRMATIONS “T race tough.” “T love to train.” “T take charge.”

Affirmations are assertions of facts. Although you want to avoid the overgeneralization inherent in labeling yourself, there often is value in affirming positive tendencies in your behavior. Affirming the positive, goal-oriented actions you tend to take directs your attention to notice the positive, thereby enhancing expectations of future positive action. Affirmations should refer to specific goal-oriented actions you often take. Use action words to make up your affirmations. In particular, avoid the words “am,” “never,” and “always.” Use of these words will produce overgeneralizations that you cannot possibly live up to and will render your affirmations useless or, even worse, problematic. Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

76

Tue Swim To WIN PLAyBooK

1. In the space provided on the Iytroduciion A Sel{-Alfinmation Game Playsheet introduce yourself to the world. Write at least twenty affirmations (at least 5 in each category provided). 2. For each affirmation you record think of at least two specific instances of recent acts that support that affirmation.

1. To play lnthodu.dion this week. 2. To add at least 3 affirmations to my completed [,tod.dion Playsheet. 3. To repeat to myself at least three of the affirmations | have written on my I,ted.ctior Playsheet at least 3 times per day this week. 4. To add at least one more category for affirmations and at least 3 affirmations to my completed |,trod.dion Playsheet and copy them onto my AFFIRMATION ARSENAL (stored in the Equipment BIN). 5. To read my ever-growing AFFIRMATION ARSENAL at least once per week.

| TRAIN WELL

— Wh oath AN

1 2

3

4 5:

6 74

8

| MAKE SWIMMING FUN

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

77

THINK To WIN

Ne tO eee)

| TRAIN WELL 1. | swim tough. ° 97 x 100¢, 1:11 on last one. * 6600 Barton Springs on my own. ¢ Fassed Max in tough part of set on dead dog meet day. 2. | find a way. ¢ Barton Springs on 2 degree day. | don’t let injuries stop me. | swim around them. Meander bandage and pende for foot. Friend’s pool or vertical kicking and sculling after surgery.)

3. | like to do more than others. ¢ Extra on easy interval ° Stayed in as training ° Did extra fly set. 4. | train more consistently ¢ Haven't missed a day

° McConica:

part of set. partners left.

than anyone. in the water since the 80's. “You were always there.”

| MAKE A GOOD CONTRIBUTION TO THE TEAM 1] ene teammates. ® Told Max good set. ¢ Complimented Larry on doing 65 x 100s. 2. | bring out the best in others. | challenge them. | help them to make good decisions. * Provide practices for training partners. ¢ Sateguarded time at practice. *¢ Provided challenge for Don and Chip in practice today.

3. | make training fun for me and for others who train with me. ¢ Talked about the fun. ° Provided training partners with a variety of interesting sets. ¢ Provided training partners with good challenges . yesterday. | MAKE SWIMMING FUN 1. | enjoy swimming ¢ Made all of my races fun at Zones. Loved swimming the 500 the way | did. ¢ Made Zones fun in spite of the hot water.

| like my swimming lifestyle. ¢ Went to swim day after Zones when everyone else took day “off?” ¢ Make a point of enjoying swimming part of day every day.

. | enjoy the challenges. | enjoy pressing urther and faster for longer than

the edges, going before.

* Set initial fast pace on radical descend set.

¢ Set tough pace on 600 pull. . | love the feel of getting after it. ¢ Still electric while warming down after 500. ° Loved getting up and going on last 5O of 200 fly @ Zones. : Hie joyfully tackle any challenge, especially when others will not. ¢ Steele: F400 fly.

* Opted for 97 x 100s on New Year's,

| COMPETE WELL

| . | pursue my goals relentlessly. ¢ Ran down Bill in 500.

| keep on coming back.

¢ Ran down guy next to me in 200 fly.

2 . | enjoy outperforming others.

¢ Loved running Dave down on free in 400 IM. ¢ Loved running Bill down on 500 at Zones. ¢ Relished taking 1st 500 out faster than Mark in 1000 when he was going for 500 time. 3 . | get home. ¢500 @ Zones. ¢ 200 fly @ Zones. ¢ 400 IM @ Zones. ° back half of 200 free @ Zones. 4. model good habits. * Took care of time yesterday. ¢ Talked about the fun. ¢ Accepted the challenge. 5 . lap proach my races with confidence. ¢| will do it. | will do it well. It’s going to be so good. ¢ Intentionally expanded “wa” for races at Zones.

AFFIRMATION REPEAT sd

while pla

do so now.

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

78

THe Swit To WIN PLAYBOOK

SELF-REINFORCEMENT “Way to go.” “That’s the way to think.” “Good swim.”

It is socially acceptable to criticize yourself, less so to compliment yourself. Too bad. Complimenting yourself helps you maintain good performance. Self-reinforcement builds confidence and expectations of doing well in the future; and it makes your swimming more fun. Others may find it obnoxious or they may label you as conceited if you go around complimenting yourself out loud; but then, doing the socially acceptable thing isn’t going to help you excel. You need to act different to swim great. You may choose not to go around talking about how great you are doing, but at least talk to yourself that way. Reinforcing self-talk, will do just that: “reinforce” good performance.

Stage 1 In the space provided on your Pa Yoursel] On The Back Playsheet write at least ten self-reinforcing statements. Enjoy identifying and writing out personalized statements that will make you feel good about what you do. The rules of the game require that you smile about your statements before writing them down. Stage 2 Armed with the self-reinforcing statements you produced for Stage 1, verbally pat yourself on the back at least 10 times in practice this week.

1. To play Pat Yoursel] On The Buck this week. 2. To add at least 3 self-reinforcing statements to my completed Paz Yoursel] O» The Back Playsheet. 3. To say at least three of the self-reinforcing statements | have written on my Pat Yoursel] On The Back Playsheet after good performances during each of at least three days’ practices this week.

In the space provided below list at least 10 self-reinforcing statements.

9. 10. 11. Pp 13. 14. 15. 16.

1. | did it!

5. Yeah!

2. Way to go!

6. You kept after it.

10. Good set!

3. Good swim! 4. Well-played!

7. Looking gooa! &. Yes!

il. That’s the way to think. 12. Yippee!

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

9. Nice going!

THINK To WIN

-MOOD-ELEVATING

79

SELF-STATEMENTS

“This is great.” “Smile!” “T like this.”

You swim better when you are in a better mood. If you pay attention to the fun, talk to yourself about your enjoyment, and label your activities as good and enjoyable; you will raise your mood, which will help you swim fast, which is more fun.

1. Generate at least 5 mood-elevating self-statements. 2. In the space provided on the Natural Higf Playsheet record the mood-elevating self-talk you have produced. 3. Say each of these statements to yourself at least once during practice this week.

1. To play Natural Hisg this week. 2. Toemit at least 3 mood-elevating self-statements, during at least 3 practices this week. 3. To add at least 3 mood-elevating statements to my SELF-TALK ARSENAL this week.

Giggle. Love being with my friends. | love swimming. Lookin’ good.

. .

There’s not much else I'd rather be doing right now. Smile! This is my favorite set. Cool music on during kick set.

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

Tue Swim To WIN PLAYBOOK

SELF-TALK REPEAT

BUILD AN ARSENAL

OF SELF-TALK

As you play your way through The Swim To WIN Playbook continue to add to your SELF-TALK ARSENAL. A large arsenal of self-talk from which to draw in order to practice and to apply good thinking skills is invaluable. Continue to pay attention to your self-talk. As you experience success with it, add any new, useful self-talk to your SELF-TALK ARSENAL. Make good use of your SELF-TALK ARSENAL. Draw self-statements from your SELF-TALK ARSENAL to employ in every aspect of your pursuit of swimming excellence.

SAY IT WELL What you say to yourself is critical to your performance.

EIGHT

CONSIDERATIONS

So is the way you say it.

FOR

GOOD

THINKING

Personalize Use phrases and words that have personal meaning. “hot” means “excellent” or “of high temperature.”

Only you know whether “bad” means “bad” or “good” and whether

Hear what you say Thinking the words without attending to what you are saying is ineffective.

Pay attention to your self-talk.

Use definite, specific, concrete language Vague, abstract, and indefinite thoughts will only confuse you. Use language that will enable you to know exactly what you are talking about.

. Use active rather than passive verbs Avoid the use of the various forms of the word “to be,” especially “am.” Use active verbs instead.

. Use positive language Tell yourself what to do rather than what not to do.

. Use negative thinking as signals to plug in positive thinking Obviously, you want to avoid negative thinking as much as possible, but you won’t ever totally eliminate it. So when you catch yourself saying bad things (thoughts that don’t make you feel good or aren’t useful) to yourself, use them as cues to draw from your SELF-TALK ARSENAL.

Minimize self-evaluative thoughts When you slip and think self-evaluative thoughts, use them as cues to emit self-instructions to take whatever action will improve your situation.

Use the appropriate tone Use emphatic language to initiate or support action. Talk softly to yourself to engender calm.

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

THINK To WIN

81

THINKING TO WIN PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR THOUGHTS TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR THOUGHTS

|

RESIST LABELING YOURSELF

:

USE ANY NEGATIVE THOUGHTS AS CUES TO PLUG IN GOOD SELF-TALK COUNTER ANY PERSISTENT NEGATIVE THINKING FLUSH OUT AND COUNTER ANY HIDDEN MEANINGS IN ANY NEGATIVE THINKING

.

FILL YOUR HEAD WITH GOOD THINKING DIRECT YOUR PERFORMANCE WITH SELF-INSTRUCTIONS COMPLIMENT YOUR GOOD PLAY BOOST YOUR EXPECTATIONS AND ENJOYMENT WITH AFFIRMATIONS BUILD AN ARSENAL OF POWERFUL SELF-TALK MAKE YOUR SELF-TALK PERSONALLY MEANINGFUL USE PERSONALLY MEANINGFUL CUE WORDS AND PHRASES

-WIN Goals In the space provided below, write three goals for winning thinking.

te

Goals — 1. To add at least 5 affirmations to my AFFIRMATION ARSENAL this week.

2. To think “jump starts” to myself at the start of at least 35 practices this week. 3. To review my SELF-TALK ARSENAL, to select at least 3 self-statements from it, and to practice employing each of them at least 3 times this week.

GOAL REPEAT arsenal ofgoals by transferring your THINK-T0-WIN goals onto

OAL ARSENAL. Please do so now.

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

|

82

1. Whose responsibility is it to see to it that | take advantage of opportunity? 2. Who is responsible for my dreams?

1. Decide to bring to bear all of your power to your pursuit of swimming excellence. 2. Decide to take control of your dreams. 3. Decide to use your imagination to practice your swimming at times and in ways you otherwise could not.

ALL YOU

HAVE

TO DO IS DREAM

Alter your world anyway you want.

With your imagination you are free of limits otherwise imposed by

time, habit, and the physical environment.

Take control. You decide what your competition does, how fast they swim, and how they swim their races. You decide who wins, with what time, and by how much. You make the event short course or long course. Start in the middle, if you like. Swim the race backwards. If you mess up in a world where there are no do-overs, do it over.

Speed up your desired performance by developing an automaticity of response through repeated practice. Interrupt the automaticity of response ingrained in bad habits. Change your stroke that you haven’t yet been able to change. Make the interval you haven’t yet made. Beat the opponent who has consistently beat you to the touch pad: Slow down time. Take a close, detailed look at your world as you encounter it in slow motion while maintaining the integrity of your experience. Change the world anyway you like. Make hot water feel cool or make cool water feel warm. Create waves in your opponents’ lanes. Generate a helpful current in your lane. Create games. Make a practice swim into a meet race. Make a morning swim into an evening swim. Create competition when you are way ahead. Transform a local meet into the Nationals. Turn a repeat in the middle of a long set into the finals of the Olympics. You can do whatever you want, whatever is useful, whatever is fun. You are in control. View your swimming from different perspectives. See, feel, hear, smell, and even taste the water as you swim however you want; step outside your body and watch yourself perform; or do both, see how your strokes, dives, and turns look while you experience how they feel. Create opportunity. Train when there is no opportunity to train. Race when there are no meets. Practice more frequently under battle conditions (big meets). Swim fast when you are too tired to swim fast. Swim shaved, at race pace, when you are unshaved. Compete at the site of your big meet before you ever get there. Reswim your best swims. Swim them again, only better. Preswim those great swims. Swim wherever you want, whenever you want, however you want. Okay, it’s not the same. There’s no substitute for the real thing. But your dreams have great value, if you use them well. Imagery approximates experience. Use your imagination to increase your opportunity to plan and to prepare. Imaginally practice all aspects of your swimming. Dream to win. Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

Deeaw To WIN —.

-

a

é ginationtopursue swimming excellence.

al llypracticegoodswimming Performance.

|

1. Plan your dream. Decide what it is you want to imaginally practice. 2. Get relaxed. Relaxation lends itself to the production of more clear, vivid images. When relaxed you get more absorbed in your dreams. 3. Imaginally practice the desired performance.

a) Dream in great detail. b) Employ all of your senses. c) Where appropriate, include self-talk. 4. Repeat as desired.

. To play Dan at least three times this week. . To imaginally practice Pryched (pg. 209) at least 3 times this week. . To imaginally practice making a variety of good training decisions at least 3 times at bedtime this week. rehearse my game plan for the upcoming meet.

PON . To imaginally

Plan: To practice making good decisions in the heat of battle when I'm tired and | don’t have much oxygen in my brain. Imagine that I’m swimming a 1500 at a National Team Trials. I've planned to build the last 100, sprinting the last 50. As | approach 200 to go, | see that at least one competitor will be impossible to catch. My only hope of making the team is to split close to my best 200 time on the last 200. If | start sprinting with 200 to go, | may crash and burn. | may end up swimming the last 100 so slowly that my 1500 time will end up slower than if | stay with my original plan. But this is a trials meet. What is most important to me is to make the team. So, | decide to blast the last 200. (Which | have practiced in training for just such a contingency.) | come off the wall with 200 to go as | would normally come off the last turn, driving my legs to power a

sprint. As often is the case with the last 50, I’m surprised at how fast | can go as fatigued as | feel. There is something about making the decision to go, breaking out of the pace, that shatters the sense of fatigue. | feel it, but it is qualitatively different. My body screams, but |just don’t care. | focus on the exhilaration and the speed, not the screams. The turn is tough. But | use the wall to boost my acceleration again. | take it one lap at a time. | experience the second lap of my sprint ag | did the first; treating it as if it were the last 50.

Again the turn is tough. Again | use the velocity generated by my push-off to boost my pace for the penultimate lap. The lap seems long. It gets increasingly tougher to keep it churning as | go. So, | focus on relaxed speed; on kicking fast, not hard; on throwing my arms loose and quickly on the recovery. ’'m gaining. | draw added energy from my competition. | suck up energy that has drained from him into the water and use it to chase him down. It lifts my spirit, my motivation, my thrill. | come off the last wall feeling wiped. But it doesn’t matter. I’m in another zone. It doesn’t feel like it’s there, but | find it. Somehow, | manage to keep up on the water and to turn it over.

| drive to the wall, touching out my opponent.

| smile with the joy of making the team.

The scene switches to the warm-up pool where | slowly, gently cool-down.

| pump my arm.

| smile as | swim, patting

myself on the pack for a game well-played, for having made a tough decision, and for having it pay off. | feel my body recover as | swim down. | stand in the warm shower once more glowing with the satisfaction of playing the game so hard and so well. | dry off. Then, | git on the bench in the locker room, tired, but pleased, enjoying my silent snatches of replay of the race.

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

ed

84

Tue Swi To WIN PLAYBOOK

DREAM

CONSIDERATIONS

Visualize or describe the scenario You may be more prone to think in words (self-description) or to think in pictures. Employ either or both in your imaginal practice.

Both work.

Use coping images Coping images (where you successfully manage to overcome obstacles and deficiencies) work better than mastery images (where your performance is flawless.)

When practicing coping, begin after the difficulty Don’t practice creating the problem.

Rehearse component parts of performance You may want to imaginally practice your entire swim for a sprint, but most often, and even for sprint events, you do well to rehearse the component parts. For example, imaginally practice your starts, your turns, your streamline, your break-out. Dream of building into your turn, making a move, descending your pace.

Attend to all aspects of the performance situation For example, rehearse ready room performance, warm-up, waving to the crowd, or looking confident.

Imaginally practice psychological skills as well as physical performance For example, rehearse feeling expansive, relaxing, enjoying the moment,

From time to time throughout the day, your thoughts will drift to your swimming. Rather than let them go where they will, take control. Use swimming worry, or unstructured swimming daydreams, as cues to plug in more purposeful imaginal practice.

1. Catch yourself when worrying about your swimming or engaging in swimming reverie. 2. Use your swimming reverie or worry as a cue to imaginally practice good swimming performance. 3. Take control of your swimming reverie or worry. Make it into practice of a good performance of whatever aspect of your swimming you were thinking about.

~

1. To play Daydream whenever | catch myself daydreaming about my swimming today. 2. To transform any worry about the results of my races in the upcoming meet to rehearsal of execution of my game plans for those races.

1. Decide to refuse to let your thoughts wander around in the swimming world without taking control and guiding them to productive use.

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

Dream To WIN

O DREAM ine the use of your imagination and video tape topursue

Watch a video of a desired technical skill (stroke, start, or turn, for example) or superlative performance. Imagine that your body has no substance, that you could walk through any solid barrier. Watch the video again, imaginally climbing inside the taped swimmer’s body with your hands inside his, your torso filling his, your legs inside his, your head inside his, and so on. RoNVs As you watch the film, go along for the ride inside the modeled swimmer’s body, being carried through the videoed swimmer’s movements. Imagine moving as the model moves. Experience how it feels to swim that way. Repeatedly watch the video, continuing to imagine you have climbed inside the videoed swimmer, helping the model along. With each viewing, imagine that you are increasingly responsible for controlling the skills demonstrated in the video until you feel as though you are watching yourself perform and feeling what it takes to do the skill or to swim that well. After each viewing, close your eyes and imaginally practice the performance.

1. Whose responsibility is it to see to it that my training is interesting? 2. Whose responsibility is it to see to it that | train productively?

2 To make the last lap of a designated set this week into a race to make the Olympic Team. 3. At least twice this week in practice, to make a move on my training partner as we swim together; simulating a move | would want to make on a competitor in a tight 1500, suddenly picking up the pace and breaking away when he is breathing to the other side.

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

86

Tue Swit To WIN PLAYBOOK See

A FOR

DREAMING TO WIN

PLAN YOUR DREAM _ GET RELAXED DREAM WITH A PURPOSE ‘DREAM IN GREAT DETAIL

EMPLOY ALL YOUR SENSES | _ REHEARSE COMPONENT PARTS OF PERFORMANCE USE COPING IMAGES

_ INGRAIN HABITS AND SPEED WITH REPEATED IMAGINAL PRACTICE a

ee ALL ASPECTS OF PERFORMANCE INCLUDING PSYCHOLOGICAL

INTEGRATE YOUR DREAMS WITH YOUR REALITY | TRANSFORM YOUR REALITY WITH DREAMS

_

_ TRANSFORM WORRY AND PURPOSELESS REVERIE INTO PURPOSEFUL PRACTICE

In the space provided below, write three goals for dreaming to win.

te

1. To play Pliy Dream at least 3 times per practice this week. 2. To imaginally practice at least 15D turns at least three times this week.

3. To imaginally practice Pryched at least three times this week.

GOAL REPEAT

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

87

1. Whose responsibility is it to see to it that | do what it takes to reach my goals? 2. Whose responsibility is it to see to it that | prepare better than others do? 3. Who is responsible for making my training fun? Whose responsibility is it to see to it that | train productively? Who is responsible for my regular attendance at swim practice? Whose responsibility is it to take charge of my swimming? Whose responsibility is it to see to it that | enjoy my training?

THE PURPOSE

OF TRAINING.

The purpose of training is to prepare to swim fast and to win in meets. Training is preparation for meets, not an end in and of itself. You do well to practice swimming fast in practice. So too, is your preparation for meets enhanced by racing and winning in practice. Speed and victory, however, are not always the highest training priorities. Sometimes, other aspects of your preparation need to be put first. For example, during stroke drills, technique is most often of greater immediate importance than is speed or victory. Training is preparation for future speed and victory, not solely an immediate test of speed and victory. There are times when you just don’t have it. You feel like “dead dog meat.” At these times, it is all too easy to throw up your hands, give up, and go through the motions of practice. On the other hand, if you are mindful of practice as preparation and if you have played Cookbook you know many of the ingredients of swimming fastest may be cultivated on even a “dead-dog-meat” day. Then, you can adjust your goals as necessary and make practice tremendously productive in spite of feeling like “dead dog meat.” Cookbook will go far toward providing direction for your training. An increase in your swimming knowledge will take you farther still. The more you know about how to get where you want to go from where you are, the better prepared you are to take advantage of training opportunities.

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

88

Tue Swim To Win PLAYBOOK

play Make use of a wide variety of resources to gain information on how to swim fast and win. 1. Talk with, and listen to, your coach. Pay attention to what he has to say to you and to the team. Make sure you understand. Don’t let anything fly over your head. Ask questions. The only stupid questions are the ones you fail to ask. Your coach is one of, if not the, most valuable of your resources. He is your hired, expert, resource person. Take advantage of his expertise. 2. Observe. Watch what the most successful swimmers do well. 3. Read. Take advantage of available swimming literature. There is much valuable written information that is easily obtained. Again, consult with your coach and rely on his advise as to what to read. There are many different roads to the same destination. You are traveling with your coach, down a certain path. . To play Investigation this week. As long as you travel with him, you do well to

buy into his program. 4. Talk with other successful swimmers. Ask them:

a) what they do well, b) what special things they do,

c) how they do what they do well, d) to what they attribute thelr success, and e) what advice they have for you. TRAIN

WITH

. To ask an Olympic champion or world record holder what he thinks he did to prepare better than others for his record and/or championship swims.

. To read one of Dr. Keith Bell’s books this month. . To ask coach what he wants me to do on a set if |

miss the interval (swim continuously through set, change interval, or wait for next repeat and get back into it.)

PURPOSE

Your purpose often gets lost in the shadow of your routine. You find yourself at swimming practice, not because you are on a mission, but because that’s what you do at that time of the day. Inattention is the enemy. You want to swim fast. You want to win. You want to enjoy the process. You know whose responsibility it is. Pay attention. Reminder |Drill,

Before every practice: 1. Remind yourself of 2. Remind yourself of 3. Remind yourself to pursuit of swimming pursuit of swimming

SET TRAINING

your mission. your goals, especially this week’s goals. make practice fun. (note: remind yourself to make the excellence fun, rather than to have fun at the expense of the excellence.)

GOALS

You cannot remind yourself of your training goals if you don’t have any. Make sure you regularly set training goals. The most important thing you can do for your training is to set at least three goals every week. Your training goals not only will provide you with games to play and incentive to play them and to play them well, but will serve to keep your attention focused on the mission-fulfilling task at hand. The Swim To Win Playbook is stocked with sample goals that you may adopt as your training goals. As you make your way through the Playbook you write your own goals. Fill your GOAL ARSENAL with an arsenal of goals from which you may select each week. Then make good use of your goals, selecting goals from

your ARSENAL for each week’s training. The goals you wrote for Grow The Ingredient, provide an especially useful collection of goals from which to select weekly goals. It is fine to use some of the same, or at least similar, goals repeatedly depending upon the particular goal. Certainly time goals, weight training goals, and the like can be employed many times over merely by raising their standards. You do well to employ repeatedly many of your goals, your self-talk goals and your team-player goals, for example, until you readily accomplish them out of habit. When you do, these goals are no longer useful. The specific behaviors to be performed haven’t lost their usefulness, but, once you do them out of habit, you no longer need goals to spur their performance. Of course, it matters which goals you set. What matters most of all, however, is that you set at least three training goals for each week. Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

TRAIN To WIN

89

. If you haven't already set at least three training goals for this week, set them now. Turn to your Weelly Goal Log (stored in the Equipment Bin) and record this week's date in the section provided for one week’s goals. Write at least three goals for this week in the space provided in that section. wo . At the end of the week (or at any time prior to the end of the week after attaining a goal), log whether your goal has been attained on your Welly Goal Log.

To write at least three training goals (one for each of three different ingredients) this week. To complete at least three playsheets in The Swim To Win Playbook this week. To hold 1:07.7s or better on at least three sets of at least 1600 during this week. af ROM At least 3 times per practice, during at least five practices this week, to set at least one goal for each repeat on a set or drill after learning what the drill is, but prior to pushing off on that repeat.

TAKE ADVANTAGE

OF OPPORTUNITY

Another of the few universal truths is that

opportunity is always limited.

Quiz

It’s there. Then it is gone, never to be recaptured. There may be additional, similar, future

1. Whose

responsibility

is it to see to it that |

opportunities; but they are not the same. There are no take advantage of opportunity? make-ups for lost opportunity. There are no do-overs. | 9. Whose responsibility is it to seize the You get only one chance. Once you let an opportunity moment and act now? pass, you have lost it forever. Take advantage of each opportunity. Seize the moment. Act now. Now is your only opportunity. There is no later. Later is a misnomer for a different now.

andsTHE MOMENT izedeacha

STAGE 1 1. Arm yourself with instructional self-talk.

Prepare to spur yourself to take advantage of opportunity with self-instructions to

¢ “go for it,” to “do it now,” to “grab it,” or to “take it” or with self-talk cues that imply such do-it-now, seize-the-moment,

¢ go-for-it, make-it-yours action such as “mine!” 2. Search for opportunity to act. 3. When you recognize an opportunity, take advantage of it. Approach each set, each drill, each repeat as if it were the only one you get to do. It is the only one you get to do now. Volunteer for public time trials and stroke demonstrations. There is something to be gained by watching them, but much more to be gained by doing them. Seek out difficult challenges. Ask for tougher intervals, longer swims, more repeats, and more fly. Squeeze every ounce of benefit out of each practice. If the opportunity is available to others as well as to you, race everyone for its possession. Grab it first. Make it yours.

STAGE 2 1. Log the noteworthy opportunities of which you took advantage each day in the spaces provided on your Seige the Moment LOG.

Sample Goals” 1246 pier Seize theime this week. 2. To log at east 5 moments seized this week. Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

90

Tue Swi To WIN PLAvBooK

In the spaces provided below, list at least one opportunity you grabbed each day in order to get a jump on the competition.

Week

of

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday —

Wednesday Py

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Week of: 3/18/97 Sunday Monday

Tuesday

iL 1. 2 3.

took advantage of opportunity to get in extra loosen up swim made excellent use of main swim set and pull set. grabbed only open weight bench in weight room to use for alternate dip/push-ups used one of training partner's “blow and go” as spur to pick up pace on fastest repeat of descend set. put in extra yardage while waiting for training partner to finish on three separate occasions.

. assertiveness practice: requested (and received) souvenir at movies from sponsor as he walked past where | was sitting Wednesday

Thursday Friday Saturday

. Took advantage of feeling like “dead dog meat” to practice swimming tough when exhausted. . used hole in schedule to get in unexpected training session . used the pace provided by Larry as a challenge . pulled 400s instead of the 300s the rest of my lane was doing on the 5:30

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

TRAIN To WIN

TAKE

THE

91

LEAD

Your coach prepares a well-designed, demanding training program. If you do what is asked of you, you will swim fast. But then, you already swim faster than more than 99% of the world’s population. Your training challenge is to find a way to swim faster than the remaining less than 1%: the other competitive swimmers. Most competitive swimmers are not that hard to beat if you will do what it takes. Most swimmers don’t do what it takes to win. As you move up the competitive ladder, however, you start competing against those that do. The tough competition trains hard. Every day, many of your competitors are executing well-planned practices well. They too are getting fast, increasingly faster all of the time. Even though everyone trains differently; coaches talk to each other, exchange ideas and sets, read much of the same materials, attend many of the same clinics, and listen to, and view, many of the same tapes. There likely

is a good deal of similarity between training opportunities offered to you and those offered to your competition. If you are to defeat the worthy opponent, you need to prepare more and better. You need to take better advantage of similar opportunities. Plan to take at least one extra step in practice each day. Ask yourself, “what you are going to do to get ahead of the competition?” Set your daily goals with an eye toward excellence: toward cultivating the ingredients required to swim fastest. Then, go a step farther. Actively search for opportunities to do special things. When you find one, jump on it. Take the lead.

Jump start:

an extra, special, goal-directed action that others are unlikely to take.

STAGE 1 1. Decide to do something more and better than anyone else each day. 2. Search for opportunity to take jump starts. 3. Take at least one jump start each day. STAGE 2 1. Log the jump starts you took each day in the spaces provided on your Wun, $t4a1 Log and onto your JUMP START

ARSENAL stored in the EQuiPMeNT BIN.

1. To play Jump Stat this week. 2. To come up with a list of at least 10 jump starts | might take this weekend to record them onto my JUMP START ARSENAL.

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

92

Tue Swim To WIN PLAYBOOK

In the spaces provided below, list at least one thing you did each day in order to get a jump on the competition.

Week of

Sunday

Monday

Friday

| Week of: 3/9/97 Sunday Monday

Tuesday Wednesday Thursday

Friday Saturday

. Stayed in to train at meet.

. Trained while others took day off. Ignored and resisted training partner’s comments and poor training that otherwise easily could have dragged me down. Used training partner's comments and poor training as cues to train well. . Extra tough on set of 15 x 200s. . Extra tough on sprint set, didn’t give in when others did. . Trained tough in spite of 88-90 degree water. Did full 6,000 practice in spite of 88-90 degree water. Made training fun in spite of 88-90 degree water.

. Kicked butt on pull set. . Did all fly on choice of stroke set. . Extra tough and fast on pull set. . did extra 1500 after practice.

a Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

93

TRAIN To WIN

1. Decide to do something more and better than anyone else each day.

Success

Guarantee Personal Inventory

If you knew that by really getting after the upcoming repeat with a well-paced, highly-effortful swim and good stroke technique you would be guaranteed to win the Olympics in world record time, would you do it? Yes No

If you knew that by really getting after the next two repeats with well-paced, highly-effortful swims and good stroke technique you would be guaranteed to win the Olympics in world record time, would you do it? Yes No If you knew that by really getting after the entire upcoming set with weli-paced, highly-effortful swims and good stroke technique you would be guaranteed to win the Olympics in world record time, would you do it? Yes No If you knew that by really getting after the next two sets with well-paced, highly-effortful swims and good stroke technique you would be guaranteed to win the Olympics in world record time, would you do it? Yes No If you knew that by really getting after the entire upcoming practice with well-paced, highly-effortful swims and good stroke technique you would be guaranteed to win the Olympics in world record time, would you do it? Yes No If you knew that by really getting after the next two practices with well-paced, highly-effortful swims and good stroke technique you would be guaranteed to win the Olympics in world record time, would you do it? Yes No If you knew that by really getting after the upcoming repeat with a well-paced, highly-effortful swim and good stroke technique you probably would win the Olympics in world record time, would you do it? Yes No If you knew that by really getting after the next two repeats with well-paced, highly-effortful swims and good stroke technique you probably would win the Olympics in world record time, would you do it? Yes No If you knew that by really getting after the entire upcoming set with well-paced, highly-effortful swims and good stroke technique you probably would win the Olympics in world record time if you would you do it? Yes No If you knew that by really getting after the next two sets with well-paced, highly-effortful swims and good stroke technique you probably would win the Olympics in world record time, would you do it? Yes No lf you knew that by really getting after the entire upcoming practice with well-paced, highly-effortful swims and good stroke technique you probably would win the Olympics in world record time if you would you do it? Yes: =.=. NO If you knew that by really getting after the next two practices with well-paced, highly-effortful swims and good stroke technique you probably would win the Olympics in world record time, would you do it? Yes No

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

Tue Swim To Win PLAYBOOK

THERE

ARE NO GUARANTEES OF SUCCESS

Life offers no promises. There is no guarantee that if you prepare consistently well for x number of years that you will win the Olympics and break a world record, let alone that if you do one repeat, one set, or one practice extremely well you will win the Olympics and break a world record. There are not even any assurances that you probably will win the Olympics and break a world record if you do all your repeats, sets and practices extremely well, let alone one repeat, one set, or one practice extremely well. All you can do is make your investment and hope it pays dividends. Superlative preparation does up the odds. The better you train, the more likely you are to succeed. But increasing the odds offers no guarantees.

CONNECT YOUR TRAINING WITH MEET PERFORMANCE One of the big challenges of training is that it is hard to see how training well is likely to pay off. The effects of good preparation are cumulative, gradual, collective, delayed, and uncertain. There isn’t a one-to-one correlation between any training activity and success, or even its contribution to success. Each thing you do in training interacts with other things you do, or don’t do, to have some delayed effect on any ever-growing, ever-changing state of preparation. You only do one repeat, one set, and one practice at a time. Your training is collectively made up of the individual repeats, sets, and practices that you do. Miss one repeat and it doesn’t seem to matter. Excel in your performance on one repeat and it doesn’t seem to matter. But with each repeat you miss or with each repeat at which you excel you exact a small, ever-growing effect on the collective effect on your training. One repeat, one set, one practice hardly matters in the scheme of your swimming career, but your preparation, which is made up solely from the cumulative effects of the entire collection of those seemingly-insignificant, individual training performances, makes all the difference in the world.

Each individual repeat, set, and practice count about as

much as every other one. Furthermore, the effect of cruising one repeat, getting sloppy on one set, or even missing one practice may not be large, but one leads to two and two leads to twelve. The habits you build are quite significant. Understand that the little things count. Consistency matters. Thus, your commitment: your big decision to make the little decisions to consistently take goal-oriented action.

At the beginning, your goal boat sits on top of an empty pool. Your challenge is to fill the pool with globules of water. higher the water level, the greater level of success on which your boat is likely to float.

The

Float Your Boat comes with a Float Your Boat Playsheet on which is a poo! full of lightly-outlined water globules. Support your goal boat by filling the pool with water globules. jump starts, seize moments, and attain your training goals.

To add water globules to your poo! complete swim practices, take

Color in the water globules as detailed below: a) For each practice you attend and complete, color one of the water globules with a light blue pencil or crayon. b) For each jump start you take, color one of the water globules with a dark blue pencil or crayon. c) For each moment you seize, color one of the water globules with an aqua pencil or crayon. d) For each training goal you reach, color one of the water globules with a cyan pencil or crayon.

1. To play Float Your Boat this week. 2. To add at least 25 water globules this week.

—_—Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

s

enbe = ued =

yy6y aniq = yep eniq =

eoyoed duin{ ueys

Peyejdwios juswow pezies Bururen jeo6 peyoeas

TRAIN To WIN

95

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

96

Tue Swim To Win PLAvBOOK

TRACK

YOUR

PERFORMANCE

Keep track of what, and how well, you are doing. Provide yourself with the information you need to set good goals. Information about your recent, your usual, and your best performances will provide you with standards for which to shoot, thereby spurring “more and better.” It will provide you with the knowledge you need to pat yourself on the back for doing well and to nudge yourself to do better. Take advantage of the Logs provided for you in the Playbook. At meets you have access to records of your performance. Most often the results are posted or mailed. Your practice performances are often not recorded. They are, however, usually available. Most of the time, all you need do to get a good reading on how well you did is to glance at the clock. It isn’t likely that you will keep a record of everything you do in practice. Nor would it necessarily be wise. At times it would be too obtrusive, interfering with the quality of your training. But you do well to do some tracking. Logging significant aspects of your performance immediately after practice, when you get home, or even occasionally at pre-set times during the week, will provide much useful information. Of course, time will distort your memory of what you did. The sooner you record your performance, the more likely the information you record will be correct.

Equipment:

Optional equipment:

1. Playbook 2. log sheets

1. logbook A grease pencil secured to a plastid sheet and placed at the end of 2. Grease pencil and plastic sheet —_ your lane provides an excellent means of recording practide times, significant sets, and yardage. Some sets lend themselves to

‘ ch

mp .

_

times after each repeat. Others do sheet and grease pencil at pool side provides one of the most

1. To play Track this week.

most convenient means of making ;

recording plastic inexpensive, re easily

transferred to log books and log sh

2. To track my yardage this season. 3. To set and record at least three personal training records this month.

:

:

| iit

Record various training performances on the Log Sheets

provided or tailor-make your own.

Recommended for tracking are:

1. BENCHMARK SETS In consultation with your coach, select some sets, or categories of sets, to record your performance as benchmarks for your progress. Naturally, these sets will not be perfect predictors of how you will perform in meets. Your performance on these sets will vary due to many factors, only some of which will relate to your developing skill, fitness, power, and strategy. Over time, however, your performance on these sets will provide some measure of your progress. If nothing else, tracking your performance on benchmark sets will help you to set good goals for future performance on these sets. Such self-monitoring will provide you with information that will help you create good games to play and motivate you to play them well.

og Set hour swim

L

Range of repeat 1:04 - 1:11

times

Total time/distance 5090 yds.

Avg. time 1:09

10 X 100 X 1:10 10 X 100 X 1:10 10 X 100 X 1:10

1:02 - 1:06 1:01 - 1:06 1:01 - 1:05

1:04.7 1:04.2 OAs

IO DOI a5 0) 10 X50 K X:50 10 X50 K X:50 6 X 100 X 6:00

31-34 31-35 30-32 54-55

3S 32 ro} Be

—

“

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

=

97

TRAIN To WIN

Total time

Average time

2. PERSONAL TRAINING RECORDS In the space provided on the PERSONAL RECORD BOARDS (stored in the Equvent BIN) record your personal best performances for swims, kicks, pulls, swims with fins, and kicks with fins at all training distances, for each stroke and I.M. Record each new personal best after notable practice swims.

3. KEEP

A RUNNING TOTAL AND GRAPH YOUR DISTANCE

On your DISTANCE CHART (stored in the EQuiPMENT cumulative total.

BIN) record each day’s total distance, each week’s distance, and your

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

98

Tue Swim To WIN PLAvBooK

TRAIN-TO-WIN

SELF-TALK

What you say to yourself before, during, and after training will play a large part in determining how well you train. Fill your head with train-to-win self-talk. Particularly effective train-to-win self-talk will be statements that direct your attention to what you are doing and to what you want to accomplish: self-talk that helps engage you in the pursuit of swimming excellence. Fill your thoughts with goal-oriented self-instructions.

STAGE 1 Add to your arsenal of train-to-win self-talk that you can employ during training to facilitate swimming excellence by writing one new train-to-win self-statement for each of the categories listed below. To:

a) exhibit a good attitude

b) get after it

c) handle doubts d) stay on track

e) learn new skills f) change habits

g) prepare for performance h) initiate action

i) guide performance

j) sustain effort

k) cope with obstacles

1) swim without pain m) enhance confidence n) swim without limits

0) make training fun p) assert yourself q) elevate your mood

r) persist when the going gets tough s) welcome, embrace, and meet challenges t) contribute to the team

u) value your training v) seize the moment

w) take jump starts

x) make good decisions y) honor your commitment to your swimming Z) pursue swimming excellence in practice in other ways

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

99

TRAIN To WIN

STAGE 2 Draw ammunition from your growing SELF-TALK ARSENAL. facilitate swimming excellence and record them below.

Select train-to-win self-talk that you can employ during training to

Gather at least one swim-to-win self-statement you can use to:

a) exhibit a good attitude

b) get after it c) handle doubts d) stay on track

e) learn new skills f) change habits g) prepare for performance

h) initiate action i) guide performance j) sustain effort k) cope with obstacles 1) swim without pain m) enhance confidence

n) swim without limits 0) make training fun p) assert yourself q) elevate your mood

r) persist when the going gets tough s) welcome, embrace, and meet challenges

t) contribute to the team u) value your training

v) seize the moment w) take jump starts x) make good decisions y) honor your commitment to your swimming Z) pursue swimming excellence in practice in other ways STAGE 3 Utilize each of the swim-to-win self-statements you identified in Stage 1 and 2 to promote good training as appropriate during your next practice.

To play Thain-To-Win Self-Tath today. To play Stage 3 of hain-To-Win Sel{-Tath at least 3 times this week. To add at least 5 train-to-win self-statements to my SELF-TALK ARSENAL. rapeTo remind myself to “make it fun” immediately before at least 3 practices and again at least 3 times during eee those practices this week.

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

100

THe Swit To WIN PLAYBOOK

exhibit a good attitude — “I like this set” get after it — “get after it” c) handle doubts — “what makes me think | can’t make this interval? Go for it.” d) stay on track — “1:01” e) learn new skills — “press down on your chest”

f) change habits — “take two strokes before you breathe” g) prepare for performance — “what do you want to do here?” h) initiate action — “go”

i) guide performance — “pick it up”

swim without limits Saree

make training fun — “this is fun 4 assert yourself — “go for ie ; elevate your mood — “this is fun persist when the going gets tough — “hang in there” welcome, embrace, and meet challenges — “make it fun”

contribute to the team — “encourage your teammates” u) value your training ee like tale set”

v) seize the moment — “go for it

w) take jump starts — “what can | do today to get a jump on the

j) sustain effort — “pick it up”

k) cope with obstacles — “the warm water will be good practice Soe when the waberie too warm in meets.” l) swim without “pain” — “feels good, building power” m) enhance confidence — “you can win this!”

EA PORDONE

55.

.

ny

:

x) make good decisions — “do what's going to le fale y) honor your commitment to your swimming — “do it” z) other ways to pursue swimming excellence in practice — “what can | do on this set in order to get the most out of it and have fun doing it?”

SELF-TALK REPEAT >

E WHEN

YO

RE THERE

You have had the experience of being at practice, but not being there. You went through the motions, but you were somewhere else. Make sure you are there when you’re there. Be there. Have your purpose in mind. Carry games to play (goals to pursue). Come prepared and ready to go. Before each practice take a moment to say goodbye to whatever else occupies your thoughts and prepare to dive into your training. Then, take yourself through the PRE-PRACTICE COGNITIVE CHECKLIST.

. . . . . .

Decide to make practice fun. Decide to be there when you are there. Decide to do more and better than others. Decide to take superlative advantage of training opportunities. Decide to do what it takes to reach your goals. Decide to approach all training activities in a goal-oriented manner with an eye toward excellence. . Decide to take at least one jump start every day . Decide to find a way to get it done. CON OahwoNn—

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

TRAIN To WIN

101

| A FORMULA FOR TRAINING TO WIN TRAIN VALUE MAKE KNOW

WITH PURPOSE YOUR TRAINING PRACTICE FUN WHAT TO DO TO PREPARE BEST TO EXCEL AT MEETS

Senne NING

THE GRADUAL, CUMULATIVE, AND COLLECTIVE NATURE OF

TRACK YOUR TRAINING PERFORMANCES SET PRACTICE GOALS FOR YOUR TRAINING — SET AT LEAST THREE TRAINING GOALS EACH WEEK

SEEK OUT, EMBRACE, AND ACCEPT CHALLENGES TRAIN WITHOUT PAIN TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OPPORTUNITY GET AJUMP ON THE COMPETITION CONNECT YOUR TRAINING WITH MEET SUCCESS FILL YOUR HEAD WITH TRAIN-TO-WIN SELF-TALK CREATE A SUPPORTIVE TRAINING ENVIRONMENT

In the space provided below, write three goals for training to win.

Je

1. To log at 2. To set at 3. To select practices

least ten jump starts this week. least two personal training records this week. and employ at least 3 train-to-win self-statements in each of at least 3 this week.

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

102

MAKE SWIMMING FUN 1. Whose responsibility is it to make the pursuit of swimming excellence fun? Decision

|Drill|

1. Decide to make training fun. 2. Decide to refuse to make playing swimming anything but fun.

PLAY SWIMMING The biggest difference between work and play is the way you view it. If you “workout,” training is more likely to be laborious than it is if you “play swimming.” Play intensely, but “play swimming.” Don’t “workout.”

“Play Swimming” |Drill| 1. This week, whenever you talk about going to practice, say that you are going to “play swimming.” 2. If you slip and say that you are going to “workout,” correct yourself and say you are going to “play swimming.”

PAY ATTENTION

TO THE FUN

You can find, or create, things about your swimming that you can choose not to like. You can decide,

intentionally or by default (by not deciding, but mimicking others’ nonsense instead), to discount the fun in swimming. Or, you can do the wise thing: enjoy intense training by paying attention to the fun. The fun is there. You just have to notice it.

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

Pur A Smite In Your Goaales

ee

LEVEL 1 Identify the things that you like about swimming. List at least fifteen “swimming likes” on your Swimming Likes Playsheet. LEVEL 2 As you notice that you enjoy various aspects of swimming

make note of them on your Swimming Likes. Playsheet. Log at least three entries the first time you play.

REEL

AREER

eae

Se

1. To play Swimming Likes this wee 2. To record at least 5 additional “swimming likes” on Level 2 of my Swimming Likes Playsheet this week, expanding my list of “swimming likes.”

3. To play Level 2 Of Swimming Likes at least 3 times this week.

LEVEL 1 In the space below list at least 15 things you like about competitive swimming.

LEVEL 2

In the space below record the date and log at least 3 things you enjoyed about your competitive swimming today.

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

104

Tue Swi To WIN PLAYBOOK

LEVEL 1 Swimming just plain feels good the aah smooth sensation of the water against your skin the aie cushion against gravity that the water supplies as it supports your body the

tlow of the water rushing past you as you power through the water

speed feels good

exertion is exhilarating The game is fun to play It’s fun to race It’s fun to tackle the challenges It’s fun to compete against others against the clock against myself There is always a game to play new competition to conquer faster speeds to challenge new techniques to master Exercising my being stressing my body challenging my decision making skills

exploring pace and strategy

LEVEL 2 2/18/97

the decision to make a move on my training partner a little before the halfway point on each repeat

on the pull set 2/6 2/6

the 4000 yd. set we did today weight training, especially the way | handled bench dip/push-ups

TALK ABOUT

THE

FUN

“This is fun.” “T like this set.” “Awesome.”

It is socially acceptable to complain. It is less socially acceptable to rejoice in what you are doing; but swimming sure is more fun when you do. When you talk about the fun, it calls everyone’s attention (including yours) to the enjoyable aspects of training. When you talk about the fun, you label aspects of training that you otherwise might not appreciate, or that you otherwise might think are bad, as good, fun things to do. When you talk about the fun, you commit yourself to enjoy your training When you talk about the fun, others label you as one who likes to swim: an image up to which you may feel compelled to live and one which others will now help you to maintain. Notice the fun. Appreciate the good things about swim practice. Then, comment out loud about how much you like them. Talk about how much fun you are having.




|.

NOTE

:

Be sureto make oxygen freely available in your imagined weightlessness.

1. Imagine that you floating in outer space free of gravity. 2. Freely float and drift into the chair (mat, floor, bed — wherever you are).

1. To play Weightlernen at least three times during quiet moments this week.

2. To play Weishtlernen at least once this week in response to nervousness.

SWIMMING RELAXED

LEARN AND PRACTICE RELAXATION/TENSION CONTRASTS LEARN AND PRACTICE RELAXATION WITHOUT TENSION _ LEARN AND PRACTICE QUICKIE RELAXATION TECHNIQUES

TELL YOURSELF TO RELAX

|

TELL YOURSELF TO SWIM RELAXED LET GO OF TENSION

USE RELAXING IMAGES Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

136

Tue Swi To Win PLAYBOOK

SS

eo

In the space pro

1:

Se

~

A

1. To practice at least three different rel axation induction techniques at least one time each this week.

2. To utilize relaxation before tests this week in school as practice for handling pre-race nervousness. 3. To relax behind the blocks before each race in the upcoming meet.

GOAL REPEAT

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

137

1. Whose responsibility is it to cope with my fear of “pain”? 2. Whose responsibility is it to see to it that | swim without pain?

1. Decide to swim without any fear of pain. 2. Decide to swim tougher than anyone else. 3. Decide to relish the sensations that accompany effortful performance.

GOOD

PAIN, BAD

PAIN

Pain is a signal of actual or impending biological damage. Pain is the body’s warning system. As such, it is an extremely adaptive mechanism: it protects the body from harm. You learned at a young age to heed the warnings of this alarm. You learned to retreat from the source of any pain and you learned to avoid any source of pain. These responses work well to minimize injury, but they don’t work well in swimming. You cannot retreat from the source of the pain in swimming (slow down) and swim fast. You cannot avoid the pain in swimming and excel. Fortunately, you don’t have to. The “pain” in swimming is not bad. You might view it as “good pain,” or, better yet, you might realize that what we call “pain” in swimming is not pain at all.

Feel The Difference

|Drill,

1. Reflect back upon your various experiences with different kinds of pain. Did it feel the same when you swam hard as it did when you got hit, got burned, or had tendonitis? Yesust ©) NOpoest i 2 Carefully observe your experience in the next few days. Note the difference between how it feels to swim hard and other kinds of pain. Are the feelings the same? Yes

No

3. If somehow you could not see, you could not hear, you could not taste, you could not smell, and you were disoriented as to what you were doing, but you could still feel sensations; could you tell the difference between the “pain” you feel when you swim hard and other kinds of pain?

Yes No 4. The so-called “pain” in swimming just plain feels different, doesn’t it?

Yes

NOW

ae. Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

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GOOD

PAIN

Stress your body and it does this wonderful, marvelous, amazing thing called “adaptation.” Stretch your speed limits, you learn to go faster; test your power limits, your body becomes more powerful; force your staying power, you build stamina: your body adapts. More power, stamina, and speed obviously facilitate fast swimming. That’s good. Understand that the sensations you have been calling “pain” and “hurt,” that you experience while swimming, do not signal actual or impending biological damage. They signal that adaptation is stimulated. In other words, they signal the opposite of biological damage. They signal biological growth. View the activities and the processes that lead to adaptation as “good.” They are. They just enhance your capabilities. Label these sensations as good. Tell yourself they are good. Consider them good feelings.

Every time, but at least three times during practice today: a) Notice when you experience the intense sensations that accompany hard swimming.

b) Tell yourself, “that’s good!” “It means I’m building power’ or, “It means I’m building stamina,” whichever fits the situation.

1. To play Good Pui, at least three times this week. 2. To comment out loud about how much | enjoyed a particularly tough challenge at least three times this week. 3. To seek out the sensations of effortful performance and to welcome them with a knowing-that’s-good smile at least three times this week.

WHAT

MAKES ME THINK | NEED TO SLOW DOWN?

The sensations that you feel when you get after it (the “pain’”) signal that your body is straining to meet your demands for speed and power; the end result of which is that your body will adapt, making you more powerful, faster, and more capable of sustaining faster speeds for longer periods of time. Eventually you will slow down as your body fails to handle the demands you make on it; but more often than not, as a result of learned reactions to “pain,” you slow down before you need to and more than you need to. Sometimes you manage to stay with it. Occasionally, you even push through it, go faster, and get to a place where you feel it, but you don’t care. You feel more exhilarated than “hurting.” That’s the place you want to strive to go: where you are swimming faster and experiencing the sensations as exhilaration rather than “hurt.” Staying with it often is a struggle. Picking it up may be a much more readily achieved, as well as much more desired, strategy. When you feel it, ask yourself, “what makes me think I need to slow down just because I’m feeling it? Tell yourself to “pick it up.” Then, pick up the pace.

Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

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Every time, a) b) c)

but at least three times during practice today: Notice when you experience the intense sensations that accompany hard swimming.

Tell yourself, “pick it up!” Use the self-instruction, “pick it up!” as a signal to pick up the pace.

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1. To play Pick {4 Us at least three times this week. 2. At least three times when I’m tired in practice this week, to remind myself that there is no reason to believe that just because I’m tired that | need to slow down. Instead, to tell myself to “pick it up.”

1. Decide to use the sensations that accompany effortful performance as signals to pick up your pace.

If you confuse the “pain” of swimming with true pain, you tend to fear it. Fear is one of the adaptive responses to pain you learned. Fear of pain alerts you to avoid anything you think may damage your body, anything that may “hurt” you. Of course, such fear doesn’t promote swimming excellence. Avoidance of effortful performance won’t get you to your goals. Moreover, one of the symptoms of fear is an increase in muscular tension. Excess tension impedes fast swimming. Maximum speed comes with optimal tension, not maximum tension. Relaxation is critical to fast swimming. Playing Good Pain will help eliminate your fear of pain. Playing Good Pain will help you feel good about the sensations you experience when you swim hard, will help you to welcome them, and will help you to seek them out.

Playing Pick ft Up and Relaed Speed will help you swim fast even when you feel the “pain.” AW

Every time, a) b) c)

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but at least three times during practice today: Notice when you experience the intense sensations that accompany hard swimming. Tell yourself, “relaxed speed!” Use the self-statement, “relaxed speed!” as a signal to relax away any excess tension as you pick up the pace.

1. To play Relsved Speed at least three times this week. 2. To play a combined version of Pick ft Up and Relaxed Speed at least three days this week. 3. To practice Relacation/Tenrion Conair at least three times this week.

NOW

SENSATIONS

You often have little trouble with what you are feeling while you swim. you worry about how much longer you will be able to take it. Deal with the immediate feelings.

Swim in the present.

More often problems arise when

Don’t swim future strokes, future laps, future

repeats, or future sets. Experience the now. Copyright © 1998 by Dr. Keith Bell

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1. Pick out one set in which to make the only goal to swim it in the now. 2. When you swim the designated set, get absorbed in the now. Stay in the now with repeated instructions that force you to focus on action toward some goal, ones that keep you in the present. Watch the clock for splits. Count your strokes. Tell yourself to relax. Tell yourself to pick it up.

1. To play Here Ard Now at least three times this week. 2. To use thoughts that have me swimming in the future, should they occur in practice today, as cues to plug in self-instructions that will get me back to swimming in the now.

NO PAIN TALK The less you act as if you are bothered by pain, the tougher you seem. The less you talk about "hurting," the tougher you seem. Seeming tougher gives you a competitive advantage. The less you think about and talk about “hurting,” the less attention you pay to needless fears. If you do not focus on “hurting,” you swim tougher and you enjoy your swimming more.