Pre-Race Routines

BY JENNY SUSSER, PhD//Special Correspondent

Pre-race routines are valuable tools for swimmers that can help with pre-race jitters. A pre-race routine is what you do once you’ve arrived behind the blocks and before the gun goes off. Think about your favorite swimmer right now and try to remember what they do behind the blocks before a race. You might realize that it’s the same each time, race after race. Even Tiger Woods has a “pre-shot” routine!

Pre-race routines are important for several reasons. One is consistency. When you go to a meet, certain things will always vary: the pool, the blocks, the lane lines, the bathrooms, the officials and your competitors. Your pre-race routine will not vary, and that you can count on.

A second reason pre-race routines are important is that they can help “ground” you and make you feel more comfortable. Whether you are at home or away, it can help manage distractions by always giving you something to focus on. As you know, focus is key to swimming fast and when you get nervous, your focus unfortunately tends to go to how nervous you are and not your race or technical strategies.

To create a pre-race routine, think about the best race you’ve ever had and try to remember what you did behind the blocks. If you can’t remember exactly, it doesn’t matter, you just want to get the feel of it. Come up with a short pattern that you like, write it down, rehearse it for a few days until it feels natural, and voila!

Now, the most important part of the routine is not what you are doing physically, but what you are doing mentally during your pre-race routine. Come up with 2-3 positive thoughts to repeat in your mind and combine them with the physical pattern. That way you have a “job” for your body (something to do with the nervous energy) and a “plan” for you mind (something positive and supportive to focus on).

Jenny Susser is a sport psychologist with a PhD in Clinical Health Psychology. She works at the Women’s Sports Medicine Center at the Hospital for special Surgery in Manhattan.