Do you feel a tremor of desperation go through your mind when a competitor boat passes you in a race? Do you mentally give up the fight and think that it is impossible to overtake your opponent?
Believe it or not, even when you feel like you are about to die from fatigue and pain during a race, you still have the capacity to find power and energy that you do not even know you possess!
This is because your mind has the amazing capacity to release power-laden adrenalin into your system, which is a bit like a fuel injection for a car. This huge energy-source is available to you during those times when you feel like you will not be able to paddle another stroke, or when a competitor boat passes your boat and you're wondering if you will be able to keep up with them.
The first point is not to panic when a competitor passes you. Panicking will only make you try too hard, and you can lose your stroking rhythm this way. Simply relax and know you have this energy-source available to you to power up and pass them when the time is right.
Now, the next thing to do is to get your mind to release that extra boost of adrenalin into your body. This is done in two steps -
1. When someone passes you (and you need extra energy), the first thing to do is to imagine or visualize your body becoming energized with power. It doesn't matter whether you actually feel this power or not, just pretend you do. Feel this power coursing through your veins, and flowing though your body.
2. Next, imagine that you can feel this energy transferring into your strokes, which are becoming more and more powerful with each stroke, beginning to move your boat through the water faster and faster. That's the two-step plan for accessing your natural adrenalin - by firstly feeling your body energized with power, and then imagining that energy is injecting power and speed into your paddling. This process commands to your subconscious mind to release adrenalin into your body, which will provide that extra energy you didn't know you had - and this will happen very quickly once you get the hang of it.
So when you need an extra boost of power, you'll need to fire up your imagination, because the secret is to 'feel' your body becoming stronger, before it actually is! Your imagination has to be able to create a sensation that isn't even there yet! This provides the mental trigger which activates your body's adrenalin and gives you a boost of energy. This is a fact of human physiology, so don't doubt this.
Do not underestimate its ability to turn around your results. The key to being able to 'feel' energy lies in your imagination - and when you've mastered this, you'll have energy every time you need it. So how do you feel energy that isn't there yet? Practice it in training, until you have it mastered for the actual races. Once you've mastered this, your competitors will begin to feel more uneasy when they're ahead of you than they are behind you! Soon you will begin to feel like you can turn around any race. Nothing will seem impossible anymore in the competition arena, because you will be capable of things you'd not imagined before.
Eventually you might even begin to see an overtaking competitor as a welcome challenge instead of a threat. These opponents will force you to paddle an even better time than you'd have normally done without them. Turn everything into a positive. If they don't pass you, great! This means you're out in front, without a problem. And if they do pass you, even better! This will bring out the absolute best in you. Know that you and your team-mates will rise to the challenge, in times where the others would sink from view.
The key lies in your mind, and your imagination. Begin working with them today in training, and turn them into powerful allies in your sporting life.
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