THE COUNTDOWN IS ON!
When building out your taper strategy, it’s important to remember that this is the time of year when we see the most variability in training between teams and swimmers around the country. This can make it difficult for swim coaches to determine the best approach when it comes to tapering effectively, especially in the weight room.
As the sport of swimming evolves, many programs have adjusted their training habits to keep up with the times, but with the major addition of dedicated dryland and strength training programs–a lot of swim coaches don’t know where to start. Because of this, what worked 5 years ago probably won’t be as effective this time around.
Here at RITTER Sports Performance, we’ve worked to help bring you the three strategies to consider with tapering your swimmers off the weights this season:
LET’S START WITH THE BASICS
Start by understanding the difference between a tapered swimmer and a detrained swimmer. The main goal of taper is to decrease training in order to improve end-of-season performance. Over the years, we have seen all sorts of different strategies when it comes to helping swimmers prepare for their big races: progressive tapers (linear or exponential), slow decays, and/or fast drop-offs in volume, frequency and/or intensity.
When building out a strength & conditioning/dryland program for our athletes, it’s always good practice to consider these three components of training:
1.) Volume:
The total work done (per session, per week, per cycle, etc.) – this is usually calculated by finding the product of amount of weight moved for a set number of repetitions
2.) Frequency:
In this case, let’s use the number of training sessions the swimmer participates in each week
3.) Intensity:
For most swimmers, coaches will dictate intensity through the use of paces when training in the pool. For dryland, let’s use the rating of perceived exertion or (RPE)
If you have been programming with purpose, you have probably considered one, if not all, of these variables. If not, start practicing that now!
Nothing will ruin a taper more than a coach who tries to adjust variables last-minute!
For now, take comfort in the fact that you have put in the foundational work in the Fall/Winter in order to accelerate through to the finish.
PEDAL TO THE METAL
In general, athletes are able to maintain the strength of their muscular contractions for several weeks when volume or frequency is reduced, however, sport-specific performance will likely decrease (ability to produce power with each stroke or kick drops as time goes on) when that happens. So, when taking into consideration which training variable to emphasize, or at least maintain, studies suggests that intensity should be a constant or slightly increased, almost all the way to race day. (Braanstrom 2013)
In the weeks leading up to the big meet, dryland programs should be focusing on enhancing an athletes speed and power. All strength work should have been done in the Fall and over the winter break. At this point in the season, work with what you have strength-wise, and focus on that race pace speed!
This could take the form of med-ball slams, broad jumps or other plyometrics (assuming the athlete has the mastered fundamental movement patters and demonstrated adequate stability in the major joints), and lighter foundational lifts designed to potentiate and prepare the athlete’s nervous system for race day.
Med-ball Slams:
Jumps:
“WHEN DO WE START TAPERING?”
The question all coaches hear the most when entering the end of short or long course season. The answer? It depends. Coaches who spend the time to get to know their swimmers will have a good idea on how quickly and efficiently they recover, how they handle stress and mentally prepare for competition.
Psychological recovery should be as big of a focus as physiological recovery. After all, most competitive swimmers balance a heavy schedule, between practice, academics and a social life (all while developing as an actual person).
In general, most swimmers require a taper lasting anywhere between 8-14 days, though there will always be outliers, especially when it comes to male versus female athletes (Pritchard 2015). Typically, female athletes require less taper, as there is evidence that they recover faster than their male counterparts. Coaches: use this end of the season to really get to know how your athletes work as individuals and build out the best possible strategy for them, rather than looking at the group as a whole.
So, as you continue preparation for your team’s big day—here are the 3 points to consider:
1.) Maintain a semblance of continuity from in-season to end-season – now is NOT the time to second guess your choices as a coach or athlete
2.) Focus on training movements – that enhance power and speed during your continued dryland training
3.) Don’t detrain the athlete – limit taper to roughly 8-14 days, and use that time to hone in on sleep and nutrition, rather than just relying on a decrease in overall volume
Want some of our BEST Swimming-Specific Power & Dryland exercises that are great for taper time?
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My son has been weight training through out the summer season. City championships are in two weeks. His swim coaches are mostly former distance swimmers and I know they do not speed train each practice. He is a pure sprinter.
1) how should he alter weight training during taper?
2) What kinds of drills should he be doing in the pool at this point in the season?
Very interesting!
As a 60 year old masters swimmer I have found recovery time needs to be increased over my younger days
If I am in heavy training (a relative thing these days!) I generally need to back off heavy fins and paddles work up to 3 weeks before my big meet. This is from trial and error over many decades.