(An invited presentation at the US Swimming's National Team Coaches' Conference at Colorado Springs, Colorado, May, 1994) On how the athlete can develop the b´necessary mental skills, which exercises are to be used in practise? Closure: Psychological test results from the 1993 World Short Course Championships and National A Teams indicated that: (a) females had fewer established desirable behaviors than the men; (b) there were sufficient differences between the men's and women's teams to warrant their separate coaching and handling; and (c) that neither team exhibited a substantial majority of the characteristics which separate world champions and record-holders from lesser performers. [These results were published in American Swimming, ebruary-march, 1995.] Based on the results of the psychological testing, it was proposed that mental skills programs could be implemented to advance the quality of mental control and psychological skills of those national team members. A brief description of how that could be done was discussed. Since national team coaches usually are associated only with selected swimmers through the critical stage of tapering and competitions, two useful tools were briefly described. The Daily Analyses of Life Demands for Athletes (Rushall, 1990, 1992a) was proposed as the assessment procedure for monitoring day-to-day progress in tapering. The Sport Pressure Checklist, (Rushall & Sherman, 1987, 1992a) provides the opportunity for a coaching staff to monitor the daily reactions of athletes to the pressures of impending serious competitions. Its results allow coaches to make daily adjustments to coaching strategies and athlete experiences so that a competitive performance will be approached with a desirable perception of preparation, self-efficacy, and beneficial pressure. The central theme of this presentation was that these three considerations are important for national team coaching and are likely to enhance the quality of coaching decisions which, in turn, should affect the quality of swimmers' performances at serious competitions.