Hi again. Today I want to talk about sport and bad habits. No, I’m not gonna explain that smoking or drinking is bad and especially for those going in for sport. I shall talk about addictions and how it influences not only our body but our internal world and the whole life as well. Nowadays many people have bad habits such as alcohol or cigarettes. It’s no wonder that a lot of sportsmen have them as well, even professionals. And not every sportsman is capable of overcoming this or that addiction. This leads him to losing everything he gained during his career and may ruin his whole life. Why do they start using drugs or drinking? If we are talking about boxing, most professionals are from poor families and they are not used to having much money. They have a very vague idea about managing it. Now that they are rich these people want to try all sorts of things not all of which are safe to get used to. Sadly, in professional sport there is a very short distance between such tries and career catastrophes. And what is the career crush for a sportsman? His sport – it’s all he can do. It’s his only way to get money. Without it he sees no safe future before him and, more than often, sinks right to the bottom. What is to be done to secure oneself? First of all, everything depends on us, and if we do not want to get problems and be kicked away from our carrier, we have to understand that we are in no way different from most people. The idea “I’ll do it only one time just to see what it’s all about” doesn’t work. All addicts begin their new way of life with exactly those words. Don’t try to dupe yourself. Secondly, each professional has his own team with a coach, doctors, psychologist, etc. It’s up to them too to notice that their sportsman got some addiction. No one wants to acknowledge that he can’t live without drugs, so this person must be saved by the people who surround with him daily. Otherwise it’s not the best team to work with. Take Tyson Fury, a boxer from Great Britain, who began struggling with his mental health following his sensational victory over Wladimir Klitschko in November 2015. Apart from other things he became a terrible glutton. He said:” There are 500 calories in a pint of lager and I would go out and drink 18 of them followed by whisky and vodka, then I’d stop off on the way home and eat pizzas and kebabs.“ In 2015 he had 150lb, between 2015 and 2018 he had 400lb. It seemed there was no way for him to control himself. Anyway, he did not give up and now he is even better than he was before. But what easier his life would have been for him in those years if he didn’t plunge into that addiction?! Everything is up to us. One should be careful about his habits to notice something is wrong and start working on it immediately. It’s a dangerous idea to consider himself to be an exception in this or that way and different from other people. One should realize that psychologically we are made in the same way and are subject to the same weaknesses. Everybody should be conscious of the fact that it’s cleverer to keep away from dangerous addictions capable of destroying his career and life than to get rid off them.

So, today I have asked one person to share with us some information about professional swimming. By the way, she’s an ex-professional swimmer and from what she told me you will see that sometimes professional sportsmen have the same psychological problems as the beginners.

1. What did it feel like at the beginning? Did you have any problems or difficulties?

When I started to swim with my dad it was like it is for everyone who starts swimming, very difficult to stay on water. But I didn’t give up. My dad and I were persistant and tried everyday until I got the hang of it. When I was able to swim on my own, I started training in the swim club and learned the basics, like how to float on my back and swim other strokes. Of course when starting a new stroke it’s hard, but it takes time and effort to get better.

2. Was there any finance motivation in your sport that helped you to overcome the moments of  discouragement ?

Regarding the difference to other sports, let’s take soccer for instance. Besides skiing its the most popular sport in Austria. I know a lot of soccer players who play professionally and get a lot of money from it every month. Some even get money from it just to show up to training. Well of course everyone who plays soccer has money as motivation, which I find is ridiculous. What I find is more ridiculous is that they train 4-5 times a week, whereas swimmers have to train around 9 times a week and then comes all the training in the fitness center, where we then come up to 12-13 times a week. Yes a week only has 7 days, that means we had to train more times a day. And no we don’t have money as motivation, because we don’t get any from the state like the soccer players. Some soccer players even have a break the whole winter whereas swimmers train the whole year long. But from this example you can see that swimmers swim because they want to be achieve something internationally and are not out for the money even though I find we deserve it more.

3. Can you give some pieces of advice to people who feel discouraged? 

If I have to be completely honest, its very hard to become a “good” sports person at an older age. The golden age to learn to swim is 4 or 5 years old and then stay persistent over the years. Its very unlikely for someone to become good at an older age (10 years and up). Of course there are some exceptions but like I said its very unlikely. But to all who want to start a sport I guess I have to say that you need to stay persistent, start in a club to have friends motivate you and have fun with it. Also start now could be that you will regret it later for not starting.

As you can notice, even professionals have some problems at the beginning and even during all their career, but the main thing is to overcome it and continue your way.

Dear friends, if you are reading this blog, you are doubtlessly interested in sport and in everything that has to do with it. Both you and me know how good going in for sport is and what a good thing is to master something that make us healthier and can be of use in everyday life. I was a sports swimmer in my early school years and now, since 2010 I’ve been going in for boxing. I am in no way an outstanding sportsman and I can’t say that I have lived through much in sport but there is one problem I came across that, I believe, is familiar to some of you, dear readers.

I speak about the situation when you are not at all satisfied with your own progress. You follow the instructions of your trainer, you do your best but the results are by far lower than you expect them to be. No wonder, you are discouraged. And that’s a real problem because it’s at this very stage that many people stop their training. Is there a way to overcome it or, I could even say, to overcome oneself?

I am sure the chance exists. First of all, try looking critically at the situation. How long have you been training? Three months? Isn’t it possible that your low mood comes from your comparing yourself with much more experienced sportsmen? Be realistic. If you talk to these guys, most of them will surely tell you that at this stage they were not at all better than you are now. Tell yourself that there is no way to master whatever it is without being disappointed from time to time, that the process of overcoming yourself is as good for strengthening your psychological state as muscular exercises are good for your body.

Tell yourself that if, after all, you are not destined to become a world champion, with this training you will box, swim (or whatever you are doing) much better than most people you see around you. And much healthier at that. Isn’t it enough for you? Isn’t it a good reason to continue with your favorite sport and become, let it be by little steps, healthier, stronger and more confident of yourself?