Social Skills and How it Relates to Competitive Swimming

Social skills are an essential part of communication. These skills let us not only to become more effective communicators, but also help us to better socialize with others. While verbal communication is usually the first thing to come to mind, there are also ways we offer nonverbal communication. A lot of these skills come from the people we surround ourselves with and the society that we are in.

An example of verbal social skills are knowing what to say and when to say it. The way we speak our words, the tone we use, and saying the appropriate thing are all examples of these verbal social skills. People expect us to be courteous, friendly, and educated when we speak to each other. A clear voice makes understanding us easier.

With competitive swimming, you work together as a team with others. This requires you to speak to each other and to clearly communicate your plan of execution and how you want to progress through the team. A friendly and courteous tone can help to ensure that everyone is welcoming the thoughts and ideas that are there and remain on the same page.

Social Skills for the Swim team

Teamwork is another one of those social skills that is important. In order for us to achieve great things, we must understand how to work together. This means we must be able to communicate, coordinate, and work together towards a common goal. In competitive swimming as a team event, you must be able to swim a course together and work together to cross the finish line first. This working together as on a college team will translate into the office and other aspects of life where it is important.

Confidence

Confidence is another important aspect that impacts us in a social setting. Those who lack confidence tend to be left behind and struggle in life. A person who walks in and shows that they are strong, belong, and are a leader will naturally gain the respect of others. If you don’t believe in yourself, you tend to stick to the shadows and avoid people noticing you, as you fear what they might think about you. In competitive swimming, your success and little wins will ultimately help to boost your confidence. Each time you improve your time, or score a position higher, even win a race, you’ll have a jolt to your confidence and this can help to carry over to other areas of your social life.

Unspoken Rules

Following the rules is important in order for any of us to succeed. There are ways things must be done in life and when we adhere to these rules, we are able to remain social with others and to avoid potential legal woes. In competitive swimming, we are taught the importance of rules and how they can impact our lives. In fact, if you want to convince a young person that is struggling with the rules, this is a great approach to take.

Commitment and focus are also important. If you are committed to something and focused on results, you’ll ultimately succeed. What better way to learn about this than to take up competitive swimming. When you get in the zone you understand about the power of being focused towards a specific goal, as you begin to swim more regularly, your commitment translates into results. This translates into other areas of life where you can also sit down and build up education and work ethic with these same social skills.

Good sportsmanship is also important in life. You can’t always win, but you can always congratulate a winner. In competitive swimming, you can make sure you congratulate everyone, regardless of where they place. This is a great way to impress others and to appear more approachable, which is another one of the important social skills out there.

Having Fun

In order to be fun around, you also need to be a fun person. With competitive swimming, you can let loose and embrace life. Find a passion and be a positive force that people want to spend more time around. You can even take things a step further and create memories with your peers and this can help to build a stronger social bond between everyone in the group.

As you can see, the best way to introduce yourself to social skills you’ll use in life, is through competitive swimming. Take the time to begin practicing in your local pool and strive to improve who you are. That way, you set yourself up for success. You’ll find that this ultimately changes your life for the better.

Today’s Swimming Workout

Warm-up: 500 choice of swim strokes, alternating relaxed and tai-chi style

Kick:  8x50 porpoising and flutter with swim fins

Drill: 4x100

12x75 alternating freestyle and backstroke

4x200 alternating Individual Medley (50 butterfly, 50 backstroke, 50 breaststroke, 50 freestyle) and freestyle

100 easy

Kick 200 choice hard

Pull with hand paddles 400

Swim 200

Cool down:  200 tai-chi perfect technique style

Total:  4100 meters or yards depending on the length of your pool


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