What a Taper is and What a Taper is Not

Introductory Note

In no way am I an expert on this subject for like many coaches the Peak Performance Phase, also known as the Taper Phase, is not an exact science. So here you will find a brief article written about my opinion about the Peak Performance Phase. Please feel free to comment and express your opinion as I believe that your sharing helps me to learn and grow.

Peak Performance Phase

For this blog post, which I admit should have been done in January, I want to share my opinion about what taper is and what it is not. In reading the many books about coaching swimming the taper is probably the least understood and the most tricky to deal with and get right for everyone at the same time. A good example of this is the time I once had a team of 20 swimmers who had qualified for Sectionals the previous winter.

After the Sectional meet in March, I was very excited for the Summer Long Course Sectionals because i just knew we were going to have a great meet and see qualifiers for the next level meets at the summer sectionals in Oregon. After a two week break in early April we began in earnest to prepare for Long Course Sectionals. During this time I kept a meticulous roll. However by early June the attendance for all practice sessions was less than ideal. The person with the best attendance was at 80% with most of the Sectional qualifiers at 50 to 60%. A few were in the 20s. I called a special team meeting to discuss the swimmer's attendance. As a teacher and head club coach I fully understand the need to miss practice sessions for AP tests, end of year concerts,family responsibilities and so on. However to have a team wide attendance percentage in the 50% range was not acceptable. So I made a decision and announced that given their level of commitment there would not be a "taper" this summer because I felt they would have nothing to taper off of. So for this particular summer we literally swam through every meet. For Sectionals I gave them three days rest-two days before we traveled and the day of travel. We arrived in Gresham, Oregon ready to swim and do our best to compete. My only expectation was that we would do our best given that we had not had a "taper" phase in our training plan.

At this Sectionals something happened that I did not expect in that we had people making second swims and life time bests all throughout the event list. We even managed to have a team member hit an Olympic Trials qualifying time. At this point it was the best total performance by any of the teams I had coached. To my surprise, the next week we were back in Utah and competed at the State long Course Meet and the swimmers where even better, most of them posting times that were faster than they had been at sea level the previous week. I was really impressed by the swimmer's performances and was left scratching my head, wondering how did this happen? After the meet, which we were able to take first place, several coaches congratulated me on the way to young people performed. I jokingly said to one coach if they are going to swim that way on a no "taper" I will never run another taper.

Since this time I have tried to stop using the word "Taper" because of what the swimmers think a taper is. I have tried to educate the swimmers to think of the taper more as a peak performance period. I will explain later why I have stopped using the term taper and changed to using the phrase "Peak Performance". The topic of this blog is "What a Taper is, and What a Taper is Not." The actual idea for this blog is not mine as I first heard about the topic from my coach and mentor Dick Hannula coach founder of the Tacoma Swim Club, and his good friend Nort Thornton, It was Coach Thornton of the University of California, Berkeley who published a paper to his swimmers by this same name and Dick added to it for his swimmers.

What a Taper Is

Generally speaking, in their planning most coaches will use the last three or four weeks of a given season to use as a taper period. Here are a few thoughts from the ideas and thoughts from both of these two great coach's. A taper is:

1. A time period of decreasing workloads in an effort to maximize muscular adaptation
2. A time period of increasing strength and endurance
3. A time period of fine tuning the swimmer's focus on mechanics, meet and race preparation.
4. A time period of increased focus on three "R's" of swimming-rest, rehearsal and relaxation in order to reduce psychological, emotional and mental stress on the swimmers.
5. A time period of peak performance

What a Taper Is Not

Every swimmer looks forward to the "taper" period because of the euphoric feelings they have given the above items about what a taper is. However, many swimmers have a misconception of what a taper is. Here are five things that a taper is not. A taper is not:

1. A period of no work.
2. A period of no intensity.
3. A period of no yardage.
4. A period of absolute rest.
5. A period to play.

Explanation and Discussion

When I first began coaching I never worried about a"taper" too much because I was coaching all the swimmers who were 10 and under. It was not until I began to coach older age groupers, 12 and up that I first began to plan a "taper".  At this formative point in my career I realized I needed help. So I read, wrote letters, there was no such thing as email at this time, made phone calls to coaches I admired, and spoke with other coaches at meets to get their opinions and advice. Of course I believe experience has been my greatest teacher. I believe you can take all the written words you read, and all the words of advise you are given. Then you should go through those words and apply them in your coaching. In the long run it is this application of advice that will help you learn. I have learned more from the application of advise, the implementation of the plan and an evaluation of the results than just through sheer reading and personal contact. Here are the things I have learned through experience:

1. Each season must be well thought out and planned. The season should be divided up into phases based on the swimmer's gender, age, maturation, and skill level. This means that in many cases you will need to have plans that are flexible and varied to take into consideration the individual needs of the swimmers.
2. Swimmers need to be educated on what exactly a taper is and what it is going to look like in the plan. There are far too many swimmers who have a wrapped understanding of what a taper actually is. For this reason when I have written my seasonal plans I like to use the same wording as Coach Hannula-"Peak Performance" Phase. I have found using this phrase has helped the swimmers come to understand that during the last ten days to five weeks of a given seasonal plan we will be working to "peak" our physical, technical and mental skills for maximum performances at the championship meet.
3. The Peak Performance phase must be well planned and flexible enough to address the individual variations among the swimmers.
4. The Peak Performance phase needs to prepare the swimmers for any competitive situation they may face. The swimmers must be prepared for the events they will swim, the meet environment, and all aspect of the championship format. While it is challenging to simulate the environment of the given pool that the championship meet is to be held at the coach can prepare the athletes for their events. I really like what Coach Bill Sweetenham recommends in his book, Championship Swim Training. Coach Sweetenham recommends that swimmers be given sets that would allow the swimmers to use the exact timing, stroke rate and tempo, walls (turning) that they would for each segment of their races. In these "race pace" sets or swims the swimmer should think of these sets as a "dress rehearsal" for the championship event.
5.  The Peak Performance phase needs to bring the entire team together for a common cause-performances at the highest levels possible for all team members. The Peak Performance Phase should bring the team together with everyone understanding they need to sheer, encourage and compete to achieve their individual goals and the team goals. This phase should bring the teams long preparation to a single focus point for maximum performance.

Recommended Reading

I have found the following books to be particularly helpful in learning about how to plan and implement an effective peak performance phase.

Championship Swim Training, by Bill Sweetenham and John Atkinson
Science of Swimming Faster, by Scott Riewald and Scott Rodeo
The Swim Coaching Bible-Volumes I and II, Edited by Dick Hannula and Nort Thornton