Drills, Brain and Being Smart

We all know that swimming drills help improve your technique and make you an efficient swimmer. But did you know that incorporating new drills into your swimming routine will also keep you mentally fit?

When you start working on a new drill, your brain is presented with a non-routine experience which “stimulates patterns of neural activity that creates more connections between different brain areas and causes nerve cells to produce natural brain nutrients” (Keep Your Brain Alive by L. Katz and M.Rubin).

Introducing a non-routine experience also forces your brain to create new associations. What’s interesting is that once new associations are created, they stay with us a long-term memory. The more associations you create in life (in other words the more you engage your brain in non-routine activities), the better it is for your overall mental health.

Now you have an excuse to introduce new drills in your training: not only will you become a better swimmer, you will also get smarter!