A.T. – what does it stand for?

Anaerobic Threshold? Yep – for senior athletes, elite swimmers, swimmers 13 years of age and older – absolutely.

For swimmers 12 and under what does A.T. stand for? A Total waste of time.

We’ve all heard the old swimming cliches about kids and training:

“You’ve got to get the miles into the kids.”

“Kids recover fast so you can push them harder more often.”

“Training kids is all about volume – you have do a lot of work.”

The volume of training appropriate for kids 12 years and under is not for debate here (and let’s be honest, no one really knows the answer to that one anyway) – it’s all about intensity – and by and large, we are pushing young swimmers too hard too often: we are pushing them at or around A.T. for no logical or rational reason.

Whilst the evidence for including some quantity of A.T. work in the training programs of senior swimmers is hard to question, the role of A.T. in the training and development of young swimmers is uncertain at the very least.

Here’s the case for pushing kids 12 and under at A.T. pace for extended periods during swimming training:

1. It looks like they are training hard so everyone feels good about the workout;
2. It keeps the noisy and disruptive kids quiet.
3. Their parents like it because the kids are too tired to argue with them, and they sleep!

Now here’s the case against pushing kids 12 and under at A.T. pace for extended periods during swimming training:

1. They don’t produce a lot of lactate but what they do produce (i.e. by swimming at or above A.T.) they don’t deal with very well;
2. They don’t race over distances requiring high level A.T. adaptation abilities, i.e. most 12 and under swimmers race 50s and 100s;
3. Most of the events they race over are approximately 50% dives, turns, underwater swimming and finishes - i.e. skills based – with only around 50% of race distance being free swimming;
4. Pushing them hard at A.T. for long periods leaves them fatigued and impacts on their ability to swim at max or near speeds in training during speed development training;
5. A.T. is the proverbial metabolic “no man’s land” for swimmers aged 12 and under. It has the effect of young swimmers doing their slow work too fast and their fast work too slow – developing neither endurance or speed and largely wasting their all too valuable water time.

So why do so many coaches spend so much time bashing and belting young swimmers up and down the pool in the A.T. “no man’s land”?

Because it is easy to do!

The easiest way to coach a large team of young swimmers is to push them as hard as possible as often as possible. It keeps them under control. It keeps them working hard. It makes parents think they are getting fitter and stronger. And…just occasionally, a few swimmers get a good result from the too hard / too often approach if they manage to get a lot of rest during their taper and have some underlying sprinting abilities.

This is of course the old “broken-egg” coaching approach. Throw enough eggs against a wall and maybe, just maybe one or two out of a thousand will survive the impact.

Instead of the other 998 eggs lying broken on the ground…. think!! - is this really good coaching????? And we wonder why so many kids drop out of the sport at 13, 14 and 15 years of age…. they just got sick of being made into omelettes!

So weigh it up in your own mind.

Old way – push the kids as hard as possible at or above A.T. in every workout for a few months, taper them for a few days and hope it all comes together on race day or……

New way – adopt a common sense, practical, sensible approach that helps develop the swimmers’ physical, mental, technical and tactical abilities in a way which is relevant and appropriate to their competition goals.

Hmmmmmm – difficult choice!

Summary and Practical Coaching Tips:

1. When coaching swimmers 12 years of age and under, stick to the simplicity and practicality of the P.A.C.E. model;
2. If in doubt, either work very slow (60-70% speed, very aerobically, great technique) or very very fast (100% speed, short distances, great technique, lots of recovery) – and always work in an integrated way – i.e. managing training speed plus mental factors plus technique plus skills;
3. Break your old habits! The old “let’s push the kids every workout so their faces are red, their shoulders sore and they are out of breath” days are over! Effective training is about balance, adopting an integrated approach and including physical, mental, technical, tactical development activities in every session.

Wayne Goldsmith

© 2010, Swim Coaching Brain. All rights reserved. This post can not be reproduced in full or in part without the expressed consent of the author Wayne Goldsmith.

Related posts:

1. The Engagement Factor – the essential element in designing training sets and swimming workouts.
2. Speed development workouts – five of the best speed workout sets to have you burning up the lanes!
3. The P.A.C.E. System of Managing Swimming Training Intensity.

Now, let’s build on the P.A.C.E. system by introducing the Engagement Factor: the first training prescription system which incorporates a mental skills focus in swimming workout design.

Everyone talks about the importance of the mental side of swimming and how important it is for swimmers to train both their bodies and minds in training and preparation.

Talking about it is one thing.

The next step for coaches is to make mental skills and the integration of the mind into every session and the way to achieve this is to incorporate mental skills in the workout design itself.

Introducing the Engagement Factor.We all know that optimal performance comes from the integration – or harmony if you like – of body and mind. When the body and mind come together to collaborate in competition anything is possible.

The problem is that at the moment, for the most part, we train the mind and body separately.

When we design swimming workouts, it is always done from a physical (volume and intensity), technical (stroke technique and skills) and tactical (stroke mechanics, pacing etc) perspective. Then, we train the mind quite separately by organising motivation talks, personal development sessions and mental skills workshops.

For example, a training set like 5 x 200 metres is typically written:

5 x 200 (volume) at a pace of 75% maximum speed (intensity) on a 3:30 cycle (intensity) – which are all physical variables.

We might add in some technical and tactical elements, for example:

5 x 200 on 3:30 holding 75% maximum speed / stroke count of ABC and stroke rate of DEF.

But again, our instructions to the swimmers are based on the execution of physical performance elements.

The challenge is how can we incorporate mental skills as an integral, core aspect of workout design?

The effectiveness of training programs and workout designs are dependent on how engaged the athlete is in the activities.

A brilliantly designed workout, with skilfully crafted sets and repeat times is of little value to swimmers who are not interested, not concentrating, not focused and not engaged in the workout.

As engagement is such a critical factor in the effectiveness of workout design, it makes very good sense to incorporate a measure or level of required engagement in the workout design itself: hence the Engagement Factor.

The primary goal of incorporating and integrating a mental component into workout design is to have swimmers go “on line” – to engage their brains and switch on mentally when completing important sets and repeats.

As a general principle, the Engagement Factor aims to help swimmers increase their level of engagement as the need for greater levels of technical excellence and higher speeds are required by the coach – or as the demand for excellence in technical execution and speed increases, so too does engagement level.

So,why do this? Why do we need an Engagement Factor?

Remember that the P.A.C.E. system is targeted at young age group swimmers.

Similarly the Engagement Factor is targeting young age group swimmers (aged 8-12 years) and is designed to help coaches working with young swimmers to better “train the brain”.

We have all heard the rhetoric about how “every lap is important” but the reality is young kids can not concentrate or focus for the full 45-60 minutes of an average age group swimming training session.

Our response to their lack of concentration or focus has been to yell and scream and pull our hair out. The Engagement Factor overcomes this frustration by clearly instructing swimmers when to “switch on” and when to “switch off”.

In the same way we instruct swimmers when to speed up and when to slow down their swimming pace using repeat times and goals speed, the Engagement Factor helps swimmers to learn how to control the “speed” of their brains during a training session.

To summarise the Engagement Factor:

• Engagement Factor 1: Warm up (early stages) / swim down / recovery: Focus on relaxation, ease of movement and slow, steady breathing;
• Engagement Factor 2: Warm up (later stages) / long endurance work: Focus on relaxation, flow, “switching on” to the workout;
• Engagement Factor 3: Most conditioning work: Combination of relaxation and rhythm whilst focusing on skills execution and technique;
• Engagement Factor 4: Drills and skills work. Focus on attention to detail, purposeful movements, quality in execution;
• Engagement Factor 5: Competition preparation work and speed development – i.e. total concentration and focus to stimulate neural adaptation mechanisms and simulate competition conditions.

For example:

Traditional methods of swimming workout design using Physiological variables only (i.e. volume / intensity – P.A.C.E. system):

• Warm up – PACE 1 (see table above ): Easy 400 freestyle on 6:30 / 8 x 50 Back kick in streamline on 1:30
• Drills and skills – PACE 1 (see table above) 8 x 25 lateral freestyle kicking drill on 45 / 8 x 25 lateral 6 x 6 freestyle drill on 40.
• Main set – PACE 2 (see table above ) 8 x 200 metres freestyle on 3:15.
• Sprint development –  6 x 50 metres as  (20 metres best stroke at maximum speed PACE 4 / 30 metres recovery freestyle PACE 1)
• Swim down – PACE 1 (see  table above) 400 as alternate 25s backstroke / freestyle

Now look at the same workout using the new concept incorporating the Engagement Factor, i.e. Mind and body incorporated into swimming workout design:

• Warm up – PACE 1 (see table above ): Easy 400 freestyle on 6:30 / 8 x 50 Back kick in streamline on 1:30 – Engagement Factor 1-2.
• Drills and skills – PACE 1 (see table above ) 8 x 25 lateral freestyle kicking drill on 45 / 8 x 25 lateral 6 x 6 freestyle drill on 40 – Engagement Factor 4.
• Main set – PACE 2 (see table above ) 8 x 200 metres freestyle on 3:15 – Engagement Factor 2-3.
• Sprint development –  6 x 50 metres as  (20 metres best stroke at maximum speed PACE 4 / 30 metres recovery freestyle PACE 1) – Engagement Factor 5 on sprints / Engagement Factor 1 on recovery.
• Swim down – PACE 1 (see table above ) 400 as alternate 25s backstroke / freestyle – Engagement Factor 1.

Or in swimming workout design “shorthand”, the shift in thinking means writing workouts this way:

Old method: 12 x 100 metres on 1:45 holding the target intensity level for example PACE 2:

New method: 12 x 100 metres on 1:45 holding the target intensity level of PACE 2 at an Engagement factor of 3 – or 12 x 100 on 1:45 P2 E3.

The philosophy behind the Engagement Factor is simple: it is an easy, practical way to incorporate a focus on mental skills into swimming workouts and thereby make workouts more efficient and effective.

When combined with the P.A.C.E. system of managing training intensity, the Engagement Factor provides a simple, practical way for young swimmers and their coaches to ensure the optimal stimulation and integration of physiological and psychological factors in training and preparation.

Let me know what you think.

Wayne Goldsmith

© 2010, Swim Coaching Brain. All rights reserved. This post can not be reproduced in full or in part without the expressed consent of the author Wayne Goldsmith.

Related posts:

1. Speed development workouts – five of the best speed workout sets to have you burning up the lanes!
2. Mental Skills Training in Swimming – a new approach.
3. The P.A.C.E. System of Managing Swimming Training Intensity.

Coaches – ever wanted to know how you rate as a coach?

Swimmers – ever wanted to know how your coach rates as a coach?

Swimming Parents – ever wanted to know how your kid’s coach rates as a coach?

Then look no further than….the Swimming Coach Score Card.

This score card is a little different. Instead of being awarded points, you lose points for poor coaching standards and mediocre coaching behaviours.

Are you ready?

OK – your starting score is 100 CCs – that is 100 coaching credits.

1. Take off 5 CCs if you have been late to training in the past month;
2. Take off 10 CCs if you coach from one end of the pool all the time and another 5 CCs if you ever sit down during workouts;
3. Take off 5 CCS if you have not given each swimmer in your team one on one quality coaching in the past week;
4. Take off 20 CCs if you have used a mobile phone during workouts while on deck in the past year (except in emergencies);
5. Take off 5 CCs if you allow swimmers to breathe inside the flags in free and fly;
6. Take off 5 CCs if you allow swimmers to finish poorly on the wall at the end of fly and breast;
7. Take off 10 CCs if you talk to parents, swim club committee, non swimming swimmers and pool staff during workouts;
8. Take off 20 CCs if you don’t take time to write down the work the swimmers actually completed during the session, i.e. as opposed to what was scheduled to be done;
9. Take off 10 CCs if you made up the workout on deck as the swimmers walked in to the pool;
10. Take off 5 CCs if you didn’t give each swimmer in your team at least five quality instructions and / or pieces of feedback during your most recent session;
11. Take off 100 CCs if you still throw kickboards, fins or pull buoys at swimmers to get their attention;
12. Take off 20 CCs if you don’t give each swimmer one on one feedback after each race they swim at Meets;
13. Take off 10 CCs if you don’t wear team gear to training and / or competitions;
14. Take off 5 CCs if you don’t attend Club Nights;
15. Take off 15 CCs if you don’t know the first name of each of your swimmers within 2 sessions of them starting training with you;
16. Take off 50 CCs if you don’t have an individualised plan for each swimmer in your team for the next two seasons;
17. Take off 10 CCs if you have never scheduled time to meet with the parents of each of the swimmers in your team (i.e. away from the pool deck and outside of training times);
18. Take off 30 CCs if you have not completed at least 50 hours of professional development, learning and personal improvement in the past year;
19. Take off 5 CCs if you don’t ask swimmers “how did that feel” (and really listen to their views) after they try new skills;
20. Take off 30 CCs if you don’t have an outstanding dryland program which engages the total commitment of every swimmer in your team;
21. Take off 10 CCs if you don’t include mental skills development activities in every session;
22. Take off 5 CCs if you didn’t smile at least ten times during the team’s last workout;
23. Take off 50 CCs if you smoke and or / drink alcohol in front of the swim team (i.e. junior swimmers);
24. Take off 20 CCs if you don’t regularly practice “performance under pressure” – i.e. making training more challenging and more demanding than any competition could be;
25. Take off 20 CCs if you don’t encourage and embrace recovery during and after every workout.

So, how did you do?

Swimming Coaches Scorecard key:

90-100 CCs: Wow – Amazing. Please stop reading this blog and my articles. Start writing your own – I want to learn from you O Coaching Master.

80-89 CCs: Outstanding work. Do they call you SUPER COACH? If not, they should!

70-79 CCs: Great stuff. Some things to work on but generally you coach like a basketball – plenty of bounce and well rounded.

60-69 CCs: Not bad. Keep working on the little things….the funny thing is that when it comes to poor coaching and the little things…there are no little things.

50-59 CCs: Danger – danger – warning – warning. You need to improve and fast.

40-49 CCs: How did you find this site? Were you looking for help to save your job? Or were you looking for Coaches Anonymous?

30-39 CCs: Have you thought about taking up football coaching? It’s still challenging coaching but at least there is no danger of people drowning.

20-29 CCs: Have you thought about another career? Something not too brain taxing where your unique skills will be appreciated - maybe an Economist at Wall Street? A Government Advisor on the Environment?

10-19 CCs: I think I need to type slower so you can read this….S.T.O.P. C.O.A.C.H.I.N.G!!!!

1-9 CCs: The only job for you I can think of for you is something that requires no skill, no brain power and no effort…Congratulations Congressman!

Zero (or less) CCs: Please return your coaching card to your national swimming authority. Do not go anywhere near water…ever. Stop bathing. Stop shaving. Ask for help when drinking a glass of water. The further you keep away from water the better for all of us.

Wayne Goldsmith

© 2010, Swim Coaching Brain. All rights reserved. This post can not be reproduced in full or in part without the expressed consent of the author Wayne Goldsmith.

Related posts:

1. Five Breaststroke Essentials for all Swimmers and Coaches
2. Questions you always wanted to ask your coach but were afraid to ask.
3. Creating a Winning Swimming Club Culture – excellence, environment, everything, everyday, everybody.

Every swimming team has a unique culture.

Some teams have a culture of fun, enjoyment, family and friends.

Some teams have a culture of hard work, discipline, dedication and training.

Some teams are based at schools, colleges and universities and their culture is a reflection of the culture of the institution.

The culture of some teams comes from their location, the ethnic background of the people in the team, the climate or the city they live and train in.

Every team is unique and every culture is special.

But for many teams, there comes a time when the coaches, swimmers, families and supporters decide they want to become a winning team. They decide to set some serious competitive goals and work together as a team to achieve them.

And to become a winning team requires the development of a winning culture.

What is a winning culture?

It’s about environment and opportunity.

A winning culture is one where everyone in the team – coaches, swimmers, families, staff – everyone – is committed to creating a performance focused environment. A performance focused environment provides the opportunity for the team and every individual on the team – to win.

Developing a winning culture doesn’t mean you stop having fun. It doesn’t mean that swimming isn’t enjoyable. It doesn’t mean that people can’t hang out and be friends.

It means that the primary goal of the team and everyone associated with it is the development of an environment of excellence for everyone.

How do you develop a winning culture?

Empowerment and ownership: culture comes from within:

A winning culture grows from within. It cannot be imposed from the outside. The culture of the team is something which comes from the team members: you own it: it is part of you.

With many clubs, particularly those older established clubs with long traditions, there can be an attitude of “this is the way we do it here” or “that new idea will not work here because we’re different”.

In developing a winning club culture these barriers to success must be broken down. The swimmers, coaches, officials and families need to embrace change and to seek to be the best of the best in all aspects of swimming. Everyone needs to be committed to improving and accelerating team progress – at the same rate and in the same direction.

Respect the history and tradition of the club.

Respect and remember the great performances of the teams and swimmers of the past. But also strive to progress and improve on them. The greatest honor you can do for any club is to make it successful.

Practical Tip One: Before the beginning of the season, bring everyone in the team together for a day of sharing ideas and opinions. Give everyone a chance to speak and share their views. Provide the opportunity for everyone to be heard with respect and dignity. Allow the current team members to feel their views matter and the club is theirs – they are the current custodians of the club – and they are the people who will lead the club into a successful future.

Winning vision – a statement of success:

“if you don’t stand for something – you will fall for anything”.

A Team Vision is a statement which represents the views and opinions of the team which clearly states “this is who we are, what we want to do, where we are going and what we want to achieve as a team”. It is your team’s trademark!

For example:

“our vision is to work hard together and to strive to provide every swimmer the best possible opportunity to achieve their best”.

or

“our vision is to be the leading swim team in the state by consistently working hard, encouraging and supporting each other and doing everything possible to ensure all swimmers in the team have the opportunity to achieve success”.

Practical Tip Two: Once the team comes up with a team vision, write it up on the team room wall. Have every swimmer write it down in their training diary. Get it printed on t-shirts. The closer you stay in touch with this vision, the more the vision comes to life. The most successful teams in world sport are frequently those who compromised the least on making their vision become a reality.

Winning culture values:

Having a great vision is one thing: bringing it to life is another.

Values are a set of words that team members develop to provide a guide on how to act and live and which help you and your team realize your vision.

For example:

Team vision: our vision is to work hard together and to strive to provide every swimmer the best possible opportunity to achieve their best.

Values to support the Team vision:

• hard work (“work hard” from the team vision);
• passion (“strive” from the team vision);
• team spirit (“together” from the team vision);
• unity (“every swimmer” from the team vision);
• respect (“every swimmer” from the team vision);
• excellence (“best possible” and “best” from the team vision).

These six words become the themes for the team for the season and the guidelines for everything the team does.

Practical Tip Three: Use the values as “code words” for team practices. For example, when things get tough towards the end of a hard set, team members can use words like “passion” and “spirit” to encourage and motivate each other. Living the vision means living the dream.

Winning culture behaviours and standards:

In a perfect world, everyone would live the team values, everyday. However, just as there are “road regulations” to provide a set of rules for people to drive cars and “laws” to provide a set of rules for how to live as part of society, swim teams need to have a set of team rules to provide a framework for how to act and behave at training, competition and other team activities.

Team rules or behavior standards need to be developed and enforced by the people the rules and standards apply to:

The swimmers: team rules should grow from the team vision and team values and be a practical set of guidelines for how the team will behave in a range of situations and circumstances.

For example:

Team value: unity.

Team rule: all swimmers will have equal opportunity to train and compete.

Team value: hard work.

Team rule: all swimmers who have committed to swimming at national championships next season must complete a minimum of seven sessions per week.

In addition to team rules, a set of consequences for breaking team rules should be developed by the team. These are a set of clear, fair, just, reasonable and equitable “laws” which the swimmers in the team believe best represent how they want to be judged and punished for breaking team rules.

For example:

Team value: respect

Team rule: all swimmers will show respect for each other as people and for each other’s property.

Consequence for breaking team rule: team room cleaning duties for two weeks.

Practical Tip Four: Form a leadership group from team members which can be elected by team members or selected by a panel of team members and coaches. The leadership group should consist of swimmers of varying ages and levels of ability so that the views of everyone are listened to, respected and represented. The leadership group needs to be empowered to make decisions, to implement team rules and to administer the consequences of breaches of team standards of behaviours. From leadership comes culture….from culture comes performance.

Living excellence – “not every four years……..everyday” (US olympic training centre motto):

Lots of teams come up with great slogans, team visions and cool team rules. But very, very few teams actually develop winning cultures. Why? Because words which say excellence are easy to come up with – what makes the difference is living excellence.

Practical Tip Five: Develop a team war cry or song which is based on the team values and triggers everyone to start thinking and acting like a winning team.

At the start of every training session, someone in the team should lead the team war cry and everyone joins in signaling the start of training and the commitment the team has made to each other and to excellence.

Keep it relevant – continuous improvement:

Winning once is tough. But a winning culture means you are working to ensure that winning is sustainable – i.e. the culture that you have created is a positive, winning environment which provides ongoing opportunities for swimmers and coaches to perform at their best season after season after season……year after year after year.

It is important that the team sits down at the end of every season and reviews how things went and makes a new commitment to improving, changing and progressing.

Why? Because success in swimming is a moving target. What works this season may not work next season. World records are always getting faster meaning that if you stand still…….you will be left behind.

Practical Tip Six: A simple way of reviewing your performance as a team is to brainstorm the season using three questions:

• What are we doing that we should keep doing? or what is working?
• What are we doing that we should stop doing? or what is not working?
• What are we not doing that we could introduce to improve our performance? or what are some new things we can do that will work?

Ask tough questions, get honest answers and you will lay the foundation for a successful future.

Summary:

• Creating a culture of excellence and developing a winning culture does not take a lot more money, facilities, time or resources;
• It takes a common desire to work hard and to create an environment where everyone has the optimal opportunity to perform at their best – consistently;
• It’s not for everyone – but for some, being part of a winning team which has grown from a winning club culture can be the stuff that swimming dreams are made of.

Wayne Goldsmith

© 2009 – 2010, Swim Coaching Brain. All rights reserved. This post can not be reproduced in full or in part without the expressed consent of the author Wayne Goldsmith.

Related posts:

1. The W Word: Winning.
2. Talent ID in Swimming: the Talent Pool!
3. Message to Swimming – you still don’t get it!

There’s Harry Potter.

There’s Star Wars.

There’s Disneyland.

And there’s one other magic and mystery experience……………Peaking and Tapering swimmers.

But what is peaking and tapering?

• PEAK – Preparing Each Athlete’s Kapacity (capacity) to perform at their best.
• TAPER – Training Activities that Provide Excellence after Rest.

Peaking is about training swimmers to swim at their best.

Tapering is ensuring that the swimmer’s can produce their best on a specific day following a period of rest, recovery and regeneration.

Let’s try to unlock the magic and mystery of coaching swimmers to perform at their best……when it matters most.

Peaking: Preparing Each Athlete’s Kapacity (capacity).

In the famous book ALICE IN WONDERLAND, Alice comes across a road which splits and leads off in several different directions. She is faced with a choice of which path to take.

She sees the Cheshire Cat in a tree and asks the cat, “Which path should I take?”

The cat smiles and says, “The depends on where you want to go”

Alice says, “I don’t know where I want to go”.

The Cheshire cat replies, “Then it doesn’t matter which path you take”.

Swimming can be a little like this. Many swimmers and coaches are working hard, stretching, doing Dryland training etc without a clear goal…..and a goal with a time frame attached.

Remember a GOAL is a DREAM with a DEADLINE.

At the beginning of the season, two critical questions need to be answered:

1. What does the swimmer need to be able to do?
2. When do they need to be able to do it?

Ask each swimmer in your team to write this sentence:

I want to achieve …………………. On (date)………………………..

For example, I want to achieve a time of 60 seconds for 100m freestyle (what) on the 15^th May 2010 (when).

Your job as coach is to plan a program which gives each swimmer the opportunity to achieve their stated goal.

Having the swimmer state their goal makes planning the program easy!

Tapering: Training Activities that Provide Excellence after Rest.

There a lot of tricks, tips, magic and miracles written about tapering but there are six key principles that actually work:

• Decrease the VOLUME of training during the taper period

The single biggest improvement in performance during the taper period is due to a significant decrease in training volume. During taper, as training volume decreases so too does residual fatigue – meaning the swimmer begins to feel light, fast, energetic and strong in the water.

Hint: Decrease training volume between 15-20% during each week of the taper.

• Maintain the INTENSITY of training in the taper period

Many swimmers and coaches are afraid to work hard during taper. In fact taper is a great time to work hard as the decrease in volume means that swimmers can often achieve race speeds easily during taper.

Hint: Include a small amount of specific race pace work at every session during the taper. This should include race specific dives, starts, turns and finishes and breathing patterns – race speed plus race quality technique and skills!

• Maintain the FREQUENCY of training in the taper period.

One of the biggest mistakes coaches make when designing a taper is to decrease training frequency, ie fewer sessions. The motive is a good one – they want to allow swimmers the chance to rest, recover, maybe sleep in and regenerate.

However, allow swimmers time to sleep in and this is what generally happens:

1. They wake up at the same time anyway and can’t go back to sleep;
2. They stay up later at night knowing they don’t have to get up early and end up having less sleep than usual;
3. Their body sleep / wake rhythms become unsettled leaving them feeling flat, tied and lethargic;
4. Once they experience a week or two of not getting out of bed at 5 am, they start to like it and may not return to morning training;
5. All of the above!

Hint: Have swimmers attend all morning workouts during the taper period. If you like, give them an afternoon off for some free time / social time with team mates.

• Make the taper SWIMMER SPECIFIC

Everyone responds differently to a taper. Even swimmers of the same gender, the same age and competing in the same events will respond differently to a taper.

Hint: Practice the taper at a minor competition several months before the major meet. Encourage each swimmer to keep a “taper diary” throughout the “trial” taper recording how they feel, how they slept, if they experienced muscle soreness, was their energy level high or low and other relevant information. Use this to base the major meet taper upon.

• Don’t introduce anything NEW

Another common problem is the desperate need for coaches, swimmers and parents to make the taper more than it is and to start adding new things at the last minute. Commonly this means changes to diet (eg adding a new SUPER HIGH PERFORMANCE SUPPLEMENT) or equipment (eg new pair of the latest super fast goggles). Keep it normal! Don’t introduce anything new during the taper – keep the environment as normal and simple as possible.

Hint: Don’t introduce anything once the taper has commenced – that goes for nutrition, gym work, technique, skills and equipment.

• Don’t OVERCOACH

The most successful way to coach during taper is………the same way you usually coach! Some coaches feel the need to OVERCOACH – by giving too many instructions too late in the preparation and only confusing the issue. Keep it simple.

Swimmers will often feel confused and stressed during taper and the lead in to big meets. What they want from you as a coach is the four Cs – Calmness, Composure, Confidence and Certainty. The best coaches demonstrate the four Cs regardless of the level of competition.

The closer you get to competition DECREASE the number of instructions and coaching interventions and practice the four C’s.

As a general rule during the final week of taper, give the same number of instructions as there are days before the meet, ie with five days to go, coach a maximum of five specific areas, with three days to go, focus on only three areas and on the final day on just one thing.

For example:

Butterfly:

• FIVE DAYS TO GO

Work on kick, arm pull, hand speed, hip drive and rhythm.

• THREE DAYS TO GO

Work on kick, hand speed, hip drive and rhythm

• FINAL TRAINING SESSION

Think Rhythm

One final comment – it’s not the taper that makes the difference…….it’s the attitude and commitment consistently demonstrated in every training session.

The key to successful performance is consistency in terms of quality coaching everyday in all things. No matter how well you plan, prepare and prescribe, a great taper does not make up for months of poor technique and skills in practices.

Successful swimming is not an accident – it is the result of a carefully planned program, implemented with quality, passion, enthusiasm and consistency by talented coaches and swimmers.

Wayne Goldsmith

© 2009 – 2010, Swim Coaching Brain. All rights reserved. This post can not be reproduced in full or in part without the expressed consent of the author Wayne Goldsmith.

Related posts:

1. A.T. – does it stand for Anaerobic Threshold or A Total Waste of Time?
2. Five New Ideas that will Change Swimming Forever.
3. The Engagement Factor – the essential element in designing training sets and swimming workouts.