The Mind’s Eye – what is in your swim scene?

The Mind’s eye. What does that mean to you? By definition it is the ability of the human brain to visualize; to conceive images or recollect scenes. These mental images are formed by accessing our memory, or created by modifying stored perceptions. It is an incredible function of the human mind, and a completely private event. Our scenes are not tangible nor available for anyone else to see.

Mental imagery has a role in many aspects of life – holding memories, planning, goals, dreams, decision making and motivation. In sports and swimming we can use mental imagery to develop skills, build on strengths and find weaknesses and of course to compete effectively.

Each persons ability to create mental imagery or visualize is unique. Not really a surprise as we all see real objects differently, and we all have our own bank of memories and perceptions. And for a small percent of the population they are unable to ‘see’ anything. In a recent chat amongst Fresh Freestyle co-authors, I asked them to share what they ‘see’ when they swim. Coach Celeste ‘sees’ in movies. When she is swimming, her visualization is displayed as a movie of herself in that swimming moment. Coach Suzanne prefers to ‘see’ visuals as either stills, or in motion, of others swimming with correct form for her to emulate. How about you? What do you ‘see’?

I usually begin a swim with a real time visual of what my mind sees me doing, then change to isolated stills when I am correcting form or feeling movements. These stills are sometimes of myself or swim figurines. I asked Coach Celeste to sketch an image of an example image I might see.

In this particular practice I began ‘seeing’ with a real time movie of myself swimming. As I ‘viewed’ this film and connected it to how I was feeling, the area of my stroke that needed attention became apparent. From here, I began to break it down into ‘seeing’ stills of swim figurines. The first one looked a little like this:

Find a long stable line through the spine

As I swam, I kept the image of the line running along my spine. I felt tall and stable. Then I added a focus. I wanted to find the low side edge of the body, and keep that line long and stable through the torso as I extended forward. My swim scene looked a little like this:

The right low side edge of the body is long to match the length of the spine

I was ‘seeing’ the length of the low side edge of the torso with each stroke. I was also feeling this low edge sit just beneath the line of the spine. Holding the length of the edge just a couple of inches below the spine. After some time swimming I added to the swim scene. I added the length and position of the high side edge of the torso. My visual looked a little like this:

The left high side edge of the torso is long and sits just higher than the spine

I felt stable and aligned through the torso. The angle of rotation was controlled by these long lines at around 30 degrees. Not a lot of rotation, just enough to remain balanced, streamlined and able to uncoil this angle to aid with propulsion. This brought me to the final scene. I visualized using just the right amount of core (oblique) activation to help rotate the core to switch from one long, stable hydrodynamic platform to the next. Ending each rotation by finding the lengths of previous swim scenes. The mental image looked a little like this:

Control the rotation from one long, stable, angled platform to the next

I felt connected and synchronized with the swim movements. My mental image then changed backed to a real time visual of myself swimming to reinforce the stability I had found.

Using mental imagery happens during most swims I do. Next time you are swimming, be aware of what you ‘see’, and ask yourself if you are able to find a useful swim scene. How is the quality of your picture? If you would like to improve your ability to visualize, go ahead and try these exercises. First on land:

1. Find a still image of someone swimming that you would like to swim like. Look at every detail on the image. Now close your eyes and try to recreate the picture. Try and find every detail in your mind. Open your eyes to get more details if you need to, then close your eyes and find them in your mental image. Repeat as often as you can. When you feel yourself get good at the recall, move to another image or go on with the next exercise. You may even use the first image from this post if you like.
2. Find a video of someone swimming efficiently. After watching, close your eyes and try to recall the image of the moving swimmer. Go into as much detail as you can about the swimmer and they way they move. Are you able to see this athlete in 3 dimensions?  Practice often, and view the mental scene from many angles. Here is a great video to watch.
3. Move on to this exercise when you feel ready. Find one of your favorite videos from exercise 2. Now in your mental scene, replace the swimmer with yourself.  After you feel good placing yourself in the scene, connect to the imagery with your senses. How does the swimming feel on your body and muscles? What is the water temperature? How does the water feel on your face and body? What can you hear? Smell? Add one challenge at a time to enhance your ability to visualize effectively. For an added challenge, repeat this exercise with  your eyes open. Can you do it?

After you have been strengthening your ability to create mental imagery on land, now take it to your swimming. Repeat the steps above progressively with your swim practices. What have you learned about yourself and your swimming?

Coach Dinah

Speed up the progress rate

Over the years many swimmers have come through the doors of the Discovery Aquatics studio. Each swimmer presents with their unique starting point – both physically and mentally – and each swimmer will learn at their own rate – physically, intellectually and emotionally. We are like learning snowflakes, no one is ever identical to another.

There is one thing, a very simple thing, that most certainly can accelerate an athletes rate of learning and progress.

Journaling. Those athletes who regularly journal or write about their swimming will progress faster in learning all aspects of swimming. It couldn’t get any easier – old fashioned pen and paper, a dedicated bound journal or a post-it note, your online blog or a journaling app – many ways to begin this fantastic habit. Choose your means of journaling and get started – don’t worry about grammar or spelling, just get going and start reflecting with words.

There is one swimmer in particular who has made tremendous progress. At age 59, an adult onset swimmer, he has reaped the benefits of journaling after each of his swims. Recently we talked about how he can use his notes to find a feeling he may have lost in his swims, and how he can trace back to swims where he had moments of feeling effortless and what had contributed to that sensation. Here is a brief video to show where this swimmer came from and his swimming now. Its not all about the physical practice, a large part of this progress is due to the consistent reflections.

Such a simple habit, such great results. Here is how journaling can speed up your swim progress:

1. By converting your thinking to writing, we can enhance the learning process. There are extra steps involved in the brain to get the words out, making learning more thorough and more sticky.
2. Journaling can help us recall feelings associated with movements. Swimming is largely about feel as we can’t rely on our sense of vision to dictate or confirm movements. Writing down how the movement felt in your own style (could be a creative reflection e.g. my core rotation felt like damp towel being twisted to get the water out, or a direct feeling of body parts moving e.g. my core rotation felt like my high hip was sliding over, down, and forward in the same direction my hand was going) will help you find this sensation in future practices.
3. Give your self-efficacy a boost. Documenting your successful swims will affirm that you can improve and achieve your goals. It will also give you confidence when you look back at all the progress you have made.
4. Keeping a journal may help you make connections in your swimming you may otherwise overlook. By taking a few moments to think about what happened in your swims and why, you might have some revelations e.g. a swim that had you continually drifting off to one side of the lane may be due to a lead arm that is veering off its track.
5. Journaling may help you put more effort into your swims. Knowing that the results will be documented may encourage you to be more consistent in your practices, and to make every practice meaningful. You will most likely become more focused too.
6. Using written reflections will help you identify practice habits that give you best results – could it be a certain time of day or day of the week that you have best swims?
7. You can use your journal to gain perspective. We all have bad days and bad swims. That does not mean we are bad athletes. On these days journal the results, but also take the time to read your other entries. Look at the bigger picture you have drawn about your swimming and yourself to keep things  in check.

I encourage you to get started and see what happens!

Coach Dinah