CHAMPIONSHIP TIME WHAT IS A TAPER?

The crazy season is upon us, and you know how I know, well just take a moment and look around you, the coaches are wound maybe a little tighter, swimmers have a little more urgency about them (even though this should have started on day one), and parents well I won't  even go there (I know better).  As I step back and watch the entire process  unfold it reminds me of what a pack of bears must be like in the spring after their long winter nap, a little anxious, a lot of energy, and very hungry for anything.  I just hope we all remember that we are all teammates and you have been great at supporting each other all year, so let's keep the "DRAMA" to a minimum.

I really know it's that other time of year because the other day as I was in a store designing our JO cap a mother was there with her very small 9 year old daughter trying on "speed suits".  They really don't make them for her size and the one she had on looked like it was going to swallow  her up like one of those bears. Now guys you know I couldn't pass up a situation like that (Probably should have).  All I said was that she would be better off in her team suit only size it down some so it doesn't fill up with water.  Of course I added that the girls father would be happy with the money they saved.  All I heard was was something like What does he know?  as my daughter is trying not to laugh.

Parents just relax and let them go and enjoy this part of the year.

We all know now what championship meet you will be swimming in, and no matter which one you find yourself in I am proud of you all.  This past week I reviewed all of your goal sheets to see how we are doing going into these meets.  For the most part all of you have either met your goals, surpassed them, or they are so near that all you have to do is reach out and grab them.

OUR  2014 JO SWIMMERS
Faith Alston, Alex Aung, Luke Baird, Pierce Beima, Justin Brady, Kevin Carchia, Kyle Cassidy, Kent Codding, Marcelo Coray, Tripp Crowe, Alexa Cuomo, Parker D'Alessandro, Maggie Deppe Walker, Jessica Dickinson, Emily Drakopoulos, Sidoni Erickson, Graham Evers, Natalle Farello, Helen Geddes, Gillian Goodiel, Ellas Griffin, Anthony Grimm, Andrew Hale, Matthew Hartshorn, Sophia Hartshorn, Samanth Haynie, Katherine Helms, Allison Hickey, Audrey Hunter, Ava Jones, Peter Jones, Katie Karlinchak, Claire Kathman, Jackson Knouse, Sofia Krstolic, Gabriella Kuehhas, Allyson Lerke, Catherine Lim, Fletcher Madsen,  Peter Makin, Alexandra Martschenko, William McLaury, Merdith Millard, Eleanor Monnig, Caroline Murphy, Marybeth Meyers, Richard Meyers,Timothy Petty, Jacob Robinette, Lauren Royce, Aleigha Scherber, Justin Singletary, Elena Summers, Kai Taft, Nicholas Thliveris, Ian Vollmer, Andrew Yang, Julia Young, Lauren Young, Michael Zhang
 
 Congratulations to all of you from the coaches!

'TAPER OR NOT"

Some of you have been asking me about a taper and I wonder if you really know what a taper is and what is involved.  Everyone has their own views on what a good taper should involve, but one thing is for sure, a good taper can vary from team to team and can vary from individual swimmers within each group of a team. Normally a swimmer may do one or two tapers within a season, but a problem now is that swimmers or the parents do there own tapers all year long, although the intentions are well the results can be disastrous for the swimmer. They may skip a workout because there is a meet the following day, or they may skip a morning practice because of a meet the previous night.  They my have sleep overs a weekend or two before the "BIG MEET". Allowing the swimmer to miss a practice or sleep in, will interrupt their body internal clocks and their work/rest rhythms leaving them feeling flat, tired, and lethargic.  Allowing them to sleep later in the morning will normally result in the swimmer waking up at the same time, and not being able to go back to sleep, and they will stay up later knowing they get to sleep in.

For our purposes I will explain how a "TAPER" fits  into our training cycle for the groups.  Let's take the JUNIOR BLUE GROUP who swim 2 to 3 days a week for 2-3 hours.  This group does not have the number of training sessions, nor do they do the amount of yardage where a taper would be useful.  In fact if I gave this group a taper I would set them back.  They will already be rested for their meets.  The next group is a little different but not much.  The JUNIOR GOLD GROUP  swims 3 days a week for a total of 4  hours, and there may be a few who pick up an extra day which increases the time in the water to 5.5 hours.  Although this group does more yardage it still does not approach the amount where a taper will be of any benefit.  Our next group is the SENIOR PREP where a taper begins to enter within the training cycle.

When looking at this I need to figure out the best taper (practices that provide excellent technique, with a lot of speed and adequate rest), and to design it so that the swimmer has the best chance to be peaking (performing at your best at a specific meet/time) so they may reach their goal.  Again although the yardage is much higher a taper of more than a day or two is not necessary.  At this age I start looking at the events swimmers are doing along with the number of events and the days of the meet.  I look at the body types within the group also, as the more muscles the more rest that is needed.  A big mistake a swimmer makes at this level is to rest too much too soon.  For example Julia and Audrey have there big events on Sunday and it's a 200 back so  for them to start resting before Friday would be a mistake.  Does it always work, the answer is no but we are trying to put you in the best position to swim fast.  SOMETIMES WE JUST HAVE TO LET YOU GO!

  As a swimmer the first thing that you need to do is sit down with your coach and come up with a plan for the season.  This plan should target the major meets that you would like to use as your championship meets when you would like to be at your best.

Some Tips that may help you through the next few weeks; 

• School Work:  get caught up now with projects and assignments, so we are not burdened during the meet
• Don't add anything new!  A big mistake is to think more is good at this time.  Don't try to squeeze in miss workouts now!
• Time for the 4 R's now.... REST, REGENERATE, RECOVER, AND RACE
• Work smart, Work fast...Practice perfect but fast to RACE PREFECT AND FAST!
• NEW SUIT OR OLD SUIT.. A new suit feels good but a new suit only works if you have done all you can since day 1 to swim fast.  After all a slow turtle in a new shell is still a slow turtle.
•  TURNS... Every turn in practice is a race turn
• Know your warm up and warm down sets... Don't wait to be told!
• FAST FUEL...Eat Fast Fuels and no not the kind you usually eat.  Lot's of salads, and fresh fruits and vegetables.  You cannot put junk in a high performance machine and expect it to go fast.
• BAG CHECK LIST.. Spares of everything.  Ever had a cap rip or goggles break
• DRINK....DRINK....DRINK...DRINK...DRINK...DRINK... NO SODAS!
• RELAX....Take it easy. You've worked hard.  You deserve to Relax.
• PERFECT PRACTICE=perfect performance.  As the meet gets closer, make every aspect of your practice as  perfect as the performance you want on race day!

It's all mental now----it really is!

BELIEVE, BELIEVE, BELIEVE.  Your race starts before you get to the blocks.   It all starts with what you believe!  Train hard, Train Fast, Train Smart, and RACE BRILLIANTLY!!