Being a swimmer means you love the grind. Swimming is not an easy sport. From the early morning practices to weekends away with your team, you have to love the sport of swimming to keep pursuing it. There will be times when you have had enough. Plateaus inevitably happen and remembering your why becomes very important. Let’s chat how to fix the times you’re bored at swim practice and how to make swimming fun again!
Let’s get started!
There’s plenty of blogs and newsletters out there that talk about mindset. How to shift your perspective when things aren’t going your way. Those tactics can definitely be helpful, but aren’t the one-size fits all solution to the times you’re bored at swim practice. Here’s 8 actionable steps you can take to make swimming fun again.
1.) Test Yourself Daily
Say you’re at swim practice and it’s a rather easy practice. Maybe it’s an aerobic set or something you’re already really good at – well, instead of just going through the motions: test yourself. Pick one aspect of the stroke’s technique, your underwaters, the turns, etc., that you want to get better on and work it. Give yourself a grade while swimming it. Audit yourself for a few tries and then, give yourself a few more.
The beauty of this is it shifts your concentration to what you’re now testing, versus, the set itself. It helps change your focus, so you can still get better – on even some of your best days.
Pro Tip: Pick one of your biggest weaknesses and work on that first.
2.) Change Up Your Lane Order
Once you’ve been swimming with the same group of people for a while, you will have a regular lane order. Maybe you go last, middle, or sometimes first – whatever it is, switch it up. Chase someone down today, or put yourself in a different heat against other swimmers. You’ll still be in the pool swimming the same set, but the shift in when you push off can also reignite your excitement for practice.
3.) Calculate Your Times
I can definitely tell you as a coach, it is great to have your athletes calculate their own times. This keeps them accountable and understanding where they really are for the day. Don’t focus on just finishing the set or rep – but getting a time you want that will help you make that day, a great day!
4.) Work on Your Technique After (Or Before) Practice
Give yourself an extra 10 minutes to work on some sculling drills or starts before or after practice. Find something you’re looking forward to working on and work it in into your schedule. We often write custom swim workouts for our swimmers here at Swim Like A. Fish and they can vary from full 2-hour practices to simple, quick sets that hone in on the technique issues that swimmer is addressing.
The beauty with our custom swim workouts is we create them after we analyze your stroke. They are tailored directly to what you need to work on and often that helps get a better buy in from the swimmer.
5.) Pick A New Stroke
A lot of times coaches will give you a chance to choose a stroke for specific drill or swim sets. This time, pick the stroke you would least likely to choose, or maybe number 3 of 4. Give yourself some time to work on your Butterfly or Breaststroke for the day, so you fixate on improving this stroke – versus your typical, primary stroke.
6.) Swim in a Different Lane
Just like changing up the order, it is always nice to swim with different people. Try another shift and switch lanes every few practices to make some new friends and get pushed by some others. This is always a fun and easy way to switch up the grind of training.
7.) Get a New Swim Suit or Goggles
Sometimes it’s honestly just plain fun to show up with a new pair of goggles. That feeling when you take the plastic wrap off – is the best. Save up some money (or allowance if it’s from your parents) and hit up your local swim shop or online store to find some new gear for you!
Get yourself a new pair of custom-made swim goggles from TheMagic5 Here. Use code: SwimLikeA.Fish for 10% off as well!
8.) Race
I read a quote the other day that was, ” Don’t just use practice to get good at training. Use it to get great at racing, too.” Harness your competitive spirit and bring it to practice. It will help you at your next meet too!
Conclusion:
It is often hard to always stay motivated, but there are actionable things you can do to make swimming fun again. I hope these 8 steps are ones you try and mix in to see what works the best for you.
Happy Training!
Abbie Fish
One Response
Excellent