If you have seen any swimming competition on television, perhaps just in recent days during the European short course championships which took place in Lublinin Poland, with a great performance by our national team, winner of the medal table, you will have noticed that very often the athletes they beat their chestarms or legs just before entering the water. It may seem like a routine or superstitious gesture, useful for energizing yourself and concentrating before the dive, but in reality it has to do with physiologyThe heatingthemuscle activation and the psychology.
Muscle warming and “aquatics”
What you see our Thomas Ceccon or Nicolò Martinenghi doing just before getting onto the starting blocks is not a sort of battle ritual before diving in and challenging opponents from nearby lanes. Percussion of the chest and limbs is one way to stimulate circulation sanguine and activate the muscles intended for effort, especially those who they will hear the water shortly after and will be fundamental for the athlete to better perceive his own movements inside the tub. It is no coincidence that we often see them too rub your handsin order to stimulate the extremities of your body, which play a fundamental role in aquatic disciplines. Greater sensitivity during the swim allows the athlete to better perceive every small sensation and regulate the pace and intensity stroke after stroke.
Furthermore, it should be considered that several minutes may pass between the end of the warm-up and the start of the race, which are spent in the call room, in which the athlete tries to maintain his body as much as possible in the heat. Once you enter the pool to compete in your race, hitting your muscles can be a good way to awaken them and make them reactive before the effort. A muscular activation that ensures maximum blood flow to the parts of the body involved in the effort in the water.
Mental preparation and tension management
The gesture also has great psychological value, sort of mental reset to concentrate body and mind on the upcoming performance. It becomes a small pre-race ritual that guarantees familiarity and a feeling of control of your bodyvery important in high pressure situations such as the moments before an important race.
However, it should be underlined that there is no scientific literature that unequivocally demonstrates that slapping yourself before the start confers a real advantage in performance. The gesture is certainly an excellent one mental and muscular weaponconsidered useful by many agonists, but its effectiveness probably depends more on individual psychology than on a truly measurable benefit.
