Training for swimming competition can be rough, hard, strenuous physical work on an athlete. Most people and athletes don't' realize the psychological training that an athletes mind needs to focus on the game. There are various techniques of mental practice that have been examined on their effectiveness and performance on swimming athletes.
             Mental practice is the rehearsal of a skill in imagination rather than by overt physical activity, visualizing the race. Mental training can be almost as effective as overt practice and it is sometimes very much more convenient. All mental practice involves some kind of imagery employing various techniques. These methods include
             4. Employing Various audio-visual techniques
             Lots of athletes are skeptical, even afraid, of the value of such mental training. It may sound like hocus-pocus, but it isn't. Research and the experiences of swimmers has proved that visualization works, and while it may take some time to master the technique, it's something most athletes can learn to do because most are doing it already, whether they know it or not.
             Thoughts are always accompanied by images, so in a sense visualization occurs all the time with people. The trick for improved performance is to make it more formal, not just daydreaming. There are few basic steps to follow in using visualization to improve training and race performance.
             Visualization has been described as "running a movie in your mind's eye." Every good flick starts with a good story. In this case, a good story equals a goal. Be as detailed as possible, and use as many senses as possible-the sounds, the smells, even the sting of chlorine in your eyes. Find a quiet place, lie back, and take a deep breath. Breathing is the most important component of getting prepared to do any sort of mental practice. Breath deep
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