How
To
Stop
Worrying
About
Uncontrolables
I
received
an
email
from
a
coach
in
the
States
recently
asking
how
to
stop
swimmers
from
worrying
and
reacting
to uncontrollables
in
races,
those
things
which
we
simply
have
no
control
over
in a
race
whatsoever.
She
gave
examples
of
when
her
swimmers
would:
not
the
like
temperature
of
the
water,
or
think
there
were
too
many
people
in
the
warm-up
pool,
or
they
would
not
like
the
lane
they
were
assigned.
She
said
they
would
get
stuck
on
these
small
problems
and
they
would
put
in a
bad
performance.
These
were
all
just
very
minor
details
which
their
mind
would
often
focus
upon
to
use
as a
ready
excuse
in
case
they
didn't
swim
well
in
the
meet.
The
best
way
to
overcome
'uncontrolables'
in a
race
is by
knowing
this:
"What
You
Focus
Upon,
Expands".
This
means
that
if
you
constantly
worry
about
something
going
wrong,
it
will
actually
program
your
mind
for
it to
happen!
For
instance,
if
you
worry
too
much
about
not
hitting
the
touchpad
properly
at
the
end
of
the
race,
sure
enough,
that
is
exactly
what
WILL
happen
- unless
you
can
take
your
focus
OFF
that
negative
thought,
and
focus
on
something
more
positive
(such
as
hitting
that
touchpad
perfectly).
What
we
focus
upon,
expands.
It's
that
simple.
So
what
you
must
do in
this
situation
is
say
to
yourself:
"I'm
not
going
to
worry
about
that,
because
I
refuse
to
let
it
affect
me. I
am
only
going
to
focus
on
what
I want,
not
on
what
I don't
want.
This
will
keep
my
mind
focused
on
the
goal,
not
the
obstacles".
It
is
important
to
know
that
there
will always
be
obstacles
in
the
path
of
your
goal.
That's
what
makes
goals
worth
achieving
-
otherwise
they
would
be
boring
and
not
worth
achieving.
There
will
always
be
other
competitors
to
compete
against,
but
there
may also
be
other
variables
-
such
as
slow
pools,
tiredness,
bad
weeks
in
training,
ill
health
and
many
other
uncontrollables,
which
there
is no
point
worrying
about.
You
see,
it is
not
the
obstacles
which
are
important,
it is
how
you treat
those
obstacles
which
makes
all
the
difference.
So
your
choice
becomes:
do I
choose
to
give
these
obstacles
power
by
focusing
upon
them,
or do
I
choose
to blow
them
away
by
focusing
on my
goal?
As
soon
as
you
take
your
focus
off
the
'negative',
it
won't
bother
you
again.
It's
only
when
you
gives
these
negative
thoughts
lots
of
attention
that
you
have
to really
worry!
This
brings
us to
the
subject
of tunnel
vision.
Tunnel
vision
means
being
able
to
focus
upon
your
goal so
completely
that
you
cannot
see
any
obstacles
getting
in
your
way.
Try
this
exercise
for a
moment:
Imagine
that
you
are
looking
through
a
narrow
tunnel,
directly
at
your
goal
(try
making
a
'tunnel'
with
your
hand
and
look
through
it at
something
on
the
other
side
of
the
room)
and
you'll
notice
that
this
'goal'
is
all
you
can
see,
because
the
tunnel
stops
you
from
seeing
anything
else
-
right?
So
this
means
that
the
goal
is all
you
can
focus
upon,
because
there's
absolutely
no
distractions
or
uncontrollables
for
you
to
see. This
is
tunnel
vision,
which
is
the
best
way
to
achieve
a
goal,
and
this
is
what
most
champions
use.
Now,
imagine
that
this
tunnel
is
becoming
wider
and
wider
(open
your
hand
out
more
and
more
until
the
whole
room
is in
view),
and
suddenly
you'll
see
there
are
lots
more
distractions
going
on to
stop
you
focusing
on
your
goal,
and
these
are
the
obstacles
that
get
in
your
way
before
races.
I'm
sure
you
can
see
that
it's
definitely
better
to
see 'just
the
goal',
than
to
try
and
focus
on everything
at
once.
So
the
choice
is
obvious
- if
you
use tunnel
vision,
you
simply
won't
'see'
the
distractions
or
uncontrollables
anymore,
they'll
disappear
and
you
will
not
have
to
worry
about
them.
Try
this
at
your
next
meet
and
see
what
a
difference
it
makes.
"The
Mind
controls
the
body,
and
the
mind
is
unlimited".
The
best
of
success,
Craig
Townsend
"These
'Mind
Training
for
Swimmers'
tips
are
written
by
Craig
Townsend
from
It's
Mind
over
Matter,
who
runs
mental
training
programs
from
Sydney,
Australia.
You
can
subscribe
to
his
free
swim
tips
at
his
website
http://www.swimpsychology.com
or
send
an
email
to
subscribe@swimpsychology.com
Each
tip
is
Copyright
©
Craig
Townsend
and
is
fully
protected
by
Australian
and
International
Copyright
Laws."