Ten training sessions that mixed mental preparation with thinking tasks helped young swimmers respond faster, make fewer attention errors and enjoy practice more. Heart rate, blood lactate and reported effort stayed broadly similar across the training groups, suggesting that the mental work added little extra physical strain.
The findings come from a randomized controlled trial involving 48 male adolescent competitive swimmers between ages 12 and 14. Published in the journal Children, the research examined whether motivational routines and sport-based cognitive exercises could improve focus while athletes were training in the pool.
The study highlights reported that “Integrating psyching-up and cognitive challenges in swimming training improved cognitive performance, mood regulation and exercise enjoyment in adolescent swimmers.” The results offer coaches a possible way to train attention during ordinary practice, although the small and narrowly defined group leaves important questions about wider use.
How the randomized swimming trial worked
Researchers recruited swimmers from three regional clubs. Each participant had at least one year of competitive experience and normally trained three or more times per week. The study enrolled only boys, with an average age close to 13, as the team sought to limit variation linked to adolescent development.
The swimmers were divided into three groups of 16. One group received mental preparation and cognitive swimming tasks. A second completed the same cognitive tasks without the mental preparation. The control group continued traditional training based on stroke drills, endurance work and technique practice. Random assignment was organized by age and swimming experience so that the groups began with broadly comparable backgrounds.
Researchers from the University of La Manouba and the University of Salento conducted the work. The study’s PubMed record lists Yasmine Dhaouadi, Riadh Khalifa and Antonella Muscella as the authors. Assessors and data analysts were kept unaware of group assignments, although coaches and swimmers knew which kind of training they received.
Training took place twice a week for five weeks, producing 10 sessions in total. Cognitive tests were given before the program, after session five and after session 10. Researchers also tracked physical effort during the sessions and asked the swimmers about mood, enjoyment and perceived exertion.
Mental preparation before entering the pool
Psyching-up techniques are short routines used to raise readiness before physical activity. In the study, swimmers practiced positive self-talk, mental rehearsal, fast breathing, motivational music and energizing movements. Some sessions also included encouragement from teammates or a speech from the coach.
The mental phase lasted about 30 minutes and took place in a quiet room near the pool. A sports psychologist and mental trainer supervised the exercises. The goal was to help swimmers enter the water feeling alert, motivated and ready to focus on changing instructions.
Each session used a different preparation method. Before one freestyle exercise, swimmers repeated the phrase “I am focused.” Another session paired fast breathing with a victory-style posture before backstroke kicking. Later sessions used mental images of a successful underwater glide, an energetic countdown before a dive and silent rehearsal before a mixed-stroke challenge.
Such routines may help athletes direct their attention toward the task ahead. Self-talk can provide a simple cue during a demanding activity, while mental rehearsal lets an athlete practice a sequence in the mind. The trial measured the practical results of these routines through cognitive tests and mood surveys. It did not directly measure brain activity or changes in brain structure.
Cognitive challenges built into swimming drills
The two cognitive-training groups completed cognitive challenges while swimming. Coaches placed attention tasks inside normal pool drills, requiring the athletes to notice a signal and respond while their bodies were already working.
During exercises for visual attention, swimmers identified colored cones, watched for lights at the pool edge, counted fingers shown underwater, or recognized a shape during a lap. One dive exercise required them to remember a sequence of visual cards presented shortly before entering the water.
Tasks for auditory attention used whistles, buzzers, spoken commands and changes in rhythm. A high whistle could signal the swimmer to continue, while a lower sound called for a stop. In another drill, swimmers changed direction after an unexpected buzzer. Later exercises required them to remember several spoken instructions while completing mixed strokes.
Many of the drills placed two demands on the swimmer at once. The athlete had to maintain stroke form while watching, listening, remembering, or stopping a planned response. Competition can create similar demands when swimmers follow race signals, manage pace and react to events around them. The pool exercises allowed those skills to be practiced under controlled conditions.
Attention and impulse control improved
The combined mental and cognitive group produced the strongest gains on several tests. On the Bells Test, swimmers searched a page filled with small pictures and circled every bell they could find. Faster completion and fewer missed bells indicated stronger visual scanning and selective attention.
Researchers also used the Trail Making Test. Part A required participants to connect numbered circles in order. Part B asked them to switch between numbers and letters, such as 1-A-2-B. The combined group completed both parts faster after training, with reported statistical results favoring that group over the other conditions.
A computerized Go/No-Go auditory task tested listening and impulse control. Swimmers pressed a key after hearing a high tone and held back their response after a low tone. The combined group improved its reaction time and correct-response rate while reducing false alarms. Such changes suggest greater control over the choice to act or wait.
Cognitive practice alone also produced some improvement, while the combined group generally showed larger changes. Mental preparation may have helped swimmers engage more fully with the drills by increasing readiness and sustaining attention. The study design supports an association between the combined program and better test performance over five weeks, although it cannot reveal which individual mental routine supplied the greatest benefit.
Enjoyment rose while physical strain stayed stable
Mood and enjoyment followed a similar pattern. The combined group reported the largest decline in total mood disturbance, a score built from feelings such as tension, fatigue, anger and confusion, with vigor included as a positive state. Improvements became more visible as the sessions continued.
Swimmers also completed the Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale after training. Scores increased most strongly in the group that received psyching-up and cognitive exercises. Greater enjoyment could help young athletes remain engaged with demanding practice, though the trial did not track participation after the five-week program ended.
Heart rate was recorded with Polar H10 chest sensors. Researchers measured blood lactate after swimming and collected ratings of perceived exertion. Lactate offers a rough view of how strongly the muscles relied on high-intensity energy production, while heart rate provides another measure of the body’s workload.
Across the three groups, heart rate, lactate and perceived effort showed stable or broadly similar patterns. The cognitive and motivational exercises therefore accompanied better test scores and mood without a clear rise in measured physical stress. The finding is useful for coaches who need to add mental training without greatly increasing the exercise load already placed on developing athletes.
Limits of a short, all-male study
The trial included 48 swimmers and lasted five weeks. A study of that size can identify promising patterns, yet larger trials are needed to provide firmer estimates. Follow-up testing would also show whether gains in attention and mood remain after the special training ends.
Every participant was a male competitive swimmer between 12 and 14 years old. Results may differ among girls, younger children, older athletes, recreational swimmers and people involved in land-based sports. Training culture, coaching methods and the athlete’s existing skill level could also influence how well the program performs.
The research measured cognitive test results, mood reports, enjoyment, heart rate, lactate and perceived effort. It included no brain imaging, electrical brain recordings, or direct hormone measurements. Proposed explanations involving particular brain regions and chemical signals therefore remain ideas for future testing rather than observed biological changes.
Some psychological measurements also depended on translated questionnaires and self-reports. Participants knew which training group they had joined, which could affect expectations and reported enjoyment. Blinded assessors reduced one source of possible bias, while the nature of the pool exercises prevented full masking of athletes and coaches.
The authors called for studies across other sports and developmental stages. The complete article is available through PubMed Central, while the University of Salento repository provides an institutional research record. Future trials could compare specific psyching-up methods, test longer programs and examine whether stronger attention during practice leads to better race performance.
