The Inglorious Truth About the First Week Back at Practice
Nothing is quite as humbling as that first week back at swim practice. After weeks of relaxing, traveling, and enjoying life out of the pool, going back to practice can be painful.
You walk onto the pool deck, mesh bag in hand, and the familiar smell of the chlorine hits you instantly. Water splashes against the walls as you walk toward the rest of your teammates. You are eager to get in. You stretch the cap over your head, adjust your goggles, and wait for the moment you have been both anticipating and dreading.
Then it is time to dive in.
There is something about that first dive into the water after a break. It is hard to replace. You launch off the block, arms stretched in front of you, squeezing your ears between your shoulders. Your fingertips slice the cold water, followed by the rest of your body. A few dolphin kicks bring you to the surface of the water.
And then comes the first stroke.
The first few laps are almost nostalgic. You remember your pacing, your breathing pattern, and how it feels to move through the water. Then it is time for the main set. Suddenly, your arms feel heavier than you remember, and it feels like you are trying to drag yourself through mud. A set that would have felt completely fine a month ago feels impossible now, and you start doubting yourself.
That is the strange part about coming back: The hardest part is not diving into the water but rather shaping your mindset. So why is that so hard? And what can a swimmer do to make this switch easier?
Rebuilding Confidence
The answer starts with knowing what happens when you step away from the pool. It is not just a break from flip turns and dives, it is a break from a competitive and disciplined routine. Now you have to push through difficult sets and while your body may or may not be ready, your mind needs time to get back into the routine as well.
So how can you make this transition easier?
One of the simplest tools I have learned is setting goals. Instead of walking into that first practice expecting to immediately feel as strong as you did at the end of last season, focus on something you can control. Even something as small as having a tight kick or not breathing on your first stroke off the wall can be a good goal. The point is to give your mind something else to consider rather than focusing on how far away you feel from your best.
Setting goals has been proven time and time again to improve motivation and performance. For example, Locke and Latham’s research found that setting specific and challenging goals gave people more motivation to work toward their goals and ultimately improved their performance (Locke and Latham).
Remember Why
When you arrive at that first practice back, remember why you swim in the first place.
After a break, it is easy to focus only on the hard parts like the difficult sets, the soreness, early mornings, or long practices. But swimming is so much more than this. Maybe you love swimming because you love to race, maybe you love being on a team, or maybe you simply love being in the water. Whatever your reason, focusing on it can help make the transition back much easier.
Speaking from experience, during my first week back, I felt the overwhelming sense of “This is so hard. How am I going to make it through the whole season?”
But my first week back also reminded me a lot about why I swim.
It is always the small things that fuel my love for the sport from trying to get teammates to dance in between sets, coming up with silly inside jokes while resting on the walls, or drylands where we huddle around and tell our coach all the “tea” while stretching. These moments are easy to overlook when you are staring at the clock wondering how many laps are left. But sometimes they are exactly what get you through the worst practices.
Practices will be hard, you will be sore, and you will probably still complain about the sets. But eventually, somewhere between the brutal sets and the laughter on the pool deck, your mindset will start to shift and using these tips can only make that transition easier. You stop thinking about how hard it is to be back and start realizing that you are ready for the season.
Works Cited
Locke, Edwin A., and Gary P. Latham. “Building a Practically Useful Theory of Goal Setting and Task Motivation: A 35-Year Odyssey.” American Psychologist, vol. 57, no. 9, 2002, pp. 705–717. https://med.stanford.edu/content/dam/sm/s-spire/documents/PD.locke-and-latham-retrospective_Paper.pdf.