The championship is now upon us and some coaches might have a nagging feeling that they should ramp up the volume of training to be ready for the big day. By upping the intensity and workload of training the idea is to bridge the gap between practice and perfect. After all this is what he/she did as a player.
‘The harder you work, the better you get' is an attitude adapted by many players and coaches. Also, the coach may have heard wild rumours of the opposing county running hundreds of miles a week, lifting enormous weights or "killin' each other in training". So in turn, he/she will make sure that no stone is left unturned by upping their own training a notch or two to match that all-important intensity and fitness needed for the championship scenario.
The outcome of doing this may very well be that too much work is done and that the team suffers where it matters most - on match day. The old saying that "they left it on the training pitch" is true when teams try too hard and stray from the script in the run-up to games. The team that was once super fit now travels in a fatigued state to the big game and cannot live up to their previous expectations. They fall flat on the day and the year's work looks like time wasted.
The difficult decision and perhaps the brave one for coaches is to cut back and reduce the volume of training at these important periods. The whole process of reducing volume yet keeping intensity high when training is known as ‘tapering'. Tapering has been applied very successfully in individual sports and indeed it can be successfully applied to team sports. By and large there are probably 3-5 good tapers in a team per year. This means that a team can productively taper and perform well between 3-5 times in a year. Thus it should not be hard to identify when the team needs to be at its best. The whole process of tapering is only beneficial if the coach has been logging and keeping detailed records of the time spent in training and competition. And by this we mean all training - with the team in question and all other teams.
So let's have a detailed look at how all this may be used to good effect.
Keeping good records - The key to managing work and recovery
The key elements to record when logging time spent in training and competition are the volume of work and intensity of work completed.
If we can keep a detailed log or record of all the work completed and if we can use simple yet useful performance and monitoring measurements of our players then we are then in a better position to make more informed decisions regarding recovery after playing, and tapering before important games.
Monitoring Volume
It is relatively easy to record the volume of work that a team completes. All training and practice sessions and matches should be timed and recorded. This will then provide a simple yet highly effective record of the volume of work. For example, if the time spent in training and practice during a week are added up then the total training and practice time is known. Thus the weekly cycle of time spent training and practicing can be noted.
Intensity of Effort
This can be gauged by using a simple 10-point scale. A commonly used Perceived Rate of Exertion or Effort (PRE) is the Borg 20-point scale. It is used in many exercise laboratories to determine the perceived effort of the athlete through the maximal oxygen uptake test that is carried out on a treadmill. The 10-point scale however is a simple, yet valid way of determining the athlete or player's effort during a pitch session and is indeed commonly used to do so. It can also be used to monitor the intensity of resistance (weights) training with accuracy.
A recent study was carried out to see if athletes' perception of effort (with a score based on a 10-point scale) could accurately reflect their work intensity. The authors (Day et al, 2004) showed how training at a high intensity using five exercises (the back squat, bench press, overhead press, biceps curl and triceps pushdown) was described as a 6 to 7.7 PRE. A slightly lighter load using the same exercises for 10 reps resulted in a PRE of 4.7 to 6.2 PRE. Finally, an even lighter load with 15 reps in a set resulted in a PRE of 2.8 to 3.9 PRE. This study confirms the usefulness of this effort or intensity rating scale for resistance training
Rating Descriptor
0 Rest
1 Very Easy
2 Easy
3 Moderate
4 Somewhat Hard
5 Hard
6
7 Very Hard
8
9 Extremely Hard
10 Maximal
Initially, the players themselves best evaluate this intensity scale. They can give an indication of how hard they felt the training or practice session to be after about 20 minutes following the end of the session. Waiting the 20 minutes is important, as they will then be in a more informed state to assess the totality of the session. Giving the intensity rating immediately after training may be misleading, as the player may state an intensity that is inaccurate especially if the training session is field-based and had a tough last ten minutes. Therefore the player might only reflect on the immediate exercise intensity that occurred at the end of the training session.
Fitness coach is a reliable recorder of the intensity of the training unit for team sports. He/she can then record the intensity without bothering all the players twenty minutes after the session for their perceived rating of the intensity of the session. However, it is good practice to regularly check with the players to check the accuracy of the recording.
Using the Information
Equipped with good records of all training, practice and playing, we can now make clear guidelines on how much to cut back on in the week or weeks leading into the big game.
With the time spent in training (volume) and the intensity of effort for each session in hand, it is now possible to determine the training load for all units by multiplying the volume by the intensity recorded (averaged for the team). Table 1 outlines a comprehensive yet easily recorded workload profile of volume, intensity and workload for fitness training, skill and team practice and match loads in a single week. Note the total workload for each section (Practice, Fitness and Competition) and then the overall workload for the week is provided. A 66% reduction from the last full week's training and playing (week 10) is planned to ensure that the players are well recovered from all previous work. The players should be fresh and fit going into the all-important game in week 12.
Week beginning 21st
28th
4th
Week number 10 11 12
†Emphasis: Tapering to big game
†Work completed W† W W
Practice sessions
No of practice units this week 2
2 2
Total practice time (mins) 120 120 80
Range of Intensity in each unit 7,5 7,5 7,4
Average Intensity 6 6 5.5
Practice workload 720 720 440
Fitness sessions
No of fitness units this week 2
1 1
Total fitness time (mins) 70 35 25
Range of Intensity 7,5 7 5
Average Intensity 6 7 5
Fitness workload 420 245 125
Match
Total workload: (Practice + Fitness) 1140
965 565
Match time + warm-up (mins) 84 0
Match Intensity 8 0
Match workload 672 0
Overall workload (Match, Practice + Intensity) 1812
965 565
Table 2. Workload for Practice, Fitness training and match play shown on a computer spreadsheet.
The value and benefit of such records are immeasurable.
*Note the reduction from week 10 through 11 and in the final week for all practice and fitness training workload. This is tapering in action.
*The team had a challenge match to prepare for the key championship game on the weekend of week 10. No match was played the weekend before the big game (week 11) and the big game was scheduled for Sunday on week 12.
*The volume of practice in week 10 and 11 is the same.
*There is a reduction of one fitness training session in week 11. The intensity is still high in the one session that was completed (it is given a 7 out of 10) but the time is only 35 minutes.
*In the week of the big game the practice sessions are trimmed down to an average of 40 minutes each. The one at the beginning of the week is intense but short. The session later in the week is light and short. One short fitness session is completed and the intensity is medium.
*Note that the reduction in workload from week 10 to week 12 is from 1812 to 565 workload. This is over a 68% reduction in workload.
*The final week's workload is also 58% of the previous week's workload.
Players are now fresh and well recovered from the previous weeks' workload. They are ready to go!