Periodization Clarification

[Missy]

Hi Mike and anyone else who might be interested,

Thank you so much for the great LTAD articles. The Canadian PDF was phenomenal. This question ties into your question for coaches. I am a little unclear about the different stages of each period. Could you perhaps suggest what a reasonable work out might be for the same group of players in each of the phases (preparatory, competitive, transitional) of each period?

Any and all comments are welcome.

Thanks!

[MichaelReid]

Could you perhaps suggest what a reasonable work out might be for the same group of players in each of the phases (preparatory, competitive, transitional) of each period?

Missy,

Thank you for the question but I will have to answer that with another question.

Who are the athletes? What level? Age (chronological and training)? Training hours/week? LTAD stage?

In a broad and maybe more simplistic sense, this is how I view these 3 stages (preparatory, competitive, transitional) but of course it depends on who the athletes are.

preparatory - Lots of individual skill work, combination of general & specific fitness , some tactical (team).

competitive - Specific fitness increases, with very little general fitness; Very high percentage of sport work is tactical or team orientated, individual skill work continues but for some level of players this may be purely a maintenance phase for their skills (e.g. Olympic/Pro level).

transitional - This can be many things. Some coaches will use this time for additional rest and recovery. Athletes may still train but in a more generalized/informal setting. Depending on the level of athlete they may do no specific sport work. Hours/week of training is much lower.

Like the LTAD model suggests, the younger athlete can focus on more general fitness and individual skills. As the age and level of the athlete increases specificity becomes more and more important although general training is still relevant during preparatory and transitional phases.

I am interested in hearing other members opinions on this very big topic.

Take Care.

[Bushidocoach]

Missy,

I'm sure Mike will give you some solid advice specific to your age groups but there are also some simple planning principles that you can build on regardless of the players involved.

If you view the stages as progressive and linked, which they should be, then look at drills that have the same structure. In the preparatory phase you could have General prep and Specific prep. If General prep is the start of the season then a swimming drill could be 25 & out, head up; in the Specific prep you upgrade to 25 dribble & tread at the wall; in Competitive you would transition to 25 with chaser, overhead pass, finish dribble with chaser. That is a simple 25m sprint that has 3 distinct faces and increasing intensity, all based on the phase. You can do that with any drill ie a "counter drill" with patterns, then with balls, then with defense, then with reverse counter.

You could talk about the variations of swim/drill forever with that perspective in mind. You'd have to know the age, gender and type of athlete to define workload ie 10 x 25 or 3 x 10 x 25 for any drill like the one above. With younger ages your are often keeping movement drills apart from ball drills, with older athletes you are often looking to combine the two and that is how you reduce "swimming" but increase "workload".

In the transition phase the swimming can be athlete driven and game based ie no swim sets. Volume is not the key as the level of athlete will dictate the effort in a transitional drill that is presented as a "game". This is true with passing games where players can select penalties or rewards. Keep them active but in a loosely structured way that presents psychological breaks.

Dave

[Missy]

Thank you very much. I was looking for a general type of answer to apply to the overall problem of athletes getting stuck - either not growing in their ability or losing their desire to train. Reading the article I thought that this would solve both of those types of problems. Let me flesh out an example a bit more so that I can ask some follow up questions.

Let's say a group of 16 year old boys with a 12 week season who have all played the game so they know how to pass/shoot/eggbeater/etc. Let's say we can practice them as much as we want and we have access to weights and pool. Let's also say that the first game is in week 4.

Would you practice them once a day? twice a day? Would you do dryland? How would your practice schedule change once competition started? Then again in the transition stage? I'm not looking for specifics 4000 meters/day plus 500 sit ups or whatever because it is so specific to what the athletes are capable of. I'm more interested in the frequency and number of hours or portion of time committed to different activities.

[Bushidocoach]

Missy,

That is a very narrow set of options, with 12 weeks in a season. You mean a team comes together for the first time at week 1, and plays the first game at week 4, and breaks up at week 12?

At the age you mention, 16 year old boys, there is too much to consider to expect to address the physical needs of each boy in a 12 week period. Some will be fully grown, others just experiencing the onset of PHV. Since their needs are speed, power and endurance but each is at a different stage in being able to train those you must vary expectations. I'm basically saying you can't train to a narrow standard at this age with a 12 week program and give every boy exactly what he needs re speed, strength, endurance.

A huge part of your success will be the 40 week "transition" when you are not in season. Hopefully those boys have a club program to be part of extends that water polo to 9-11 months (which is what they need in a competitive stream at this age).

For sure, train them twice per day for the early season. I would have drills and skills in the morning, lots of quick swims with balls, lots of passing, sprints only and nothing long, ever, in the morning. This would be a busy 90 minute workout that had a ball in their hands for much of it and never touching a wall or the bottom. If you add positional drills and training groups and keep adding to the complexity and intensity of drills it will never be dull in a 12 week setting.

In the afternoon work the team systems, counter drills, teach the parts of the systems in weeks 1-4, apply them in weeks 4-8 with corrections along the way, modify and tighten as the season progresses and you deal with injury, emerging stars, predictable opponents etc.

By week 6 you may be able to cut down to 1-a-days if the boys were fit and close to being on the same page at day 1. Then you start the daily session with a ball warm up and a sprint set before going into drills and finishing with a very high intensity scrimmage or counter drill. So much of what you do depends on your team and the league you belong to. Opponents dictate so much in this setting.

I hope that is closer to what you were looking for. Mike may not be able to post an answer for a couple of days as he is in transit from Hungary to Canada this week.

Dave

[Missy]

It is a very set of options but it is fairly realistic in high schools that don't really have an out of season club option. Ideally, they would play club and show up in shape. You are completely right that there will be different levels of physical condition, polo skills and physical growth stages. Wouldn't 2 a days be very exhausting for teams where you have half the players that are not conditioned or don't have great swim at the beginning? Do you urge them to work through it and get their recovery on the weekend or is it better to go easy on them? I guess the whole work/recovery cycle within the context of periodization is kind of unclear. 90 minutes in the morning of drills and skills could really impact afternoon workout. How do you find the balance of the right amount of work to achieve the most effective results in the players?

[Bushidocoach]

12 weeks is really only a couple of Mesocycles so Periodization is not really the best term to use for a program that length. Cycles and recovery are the key and you are correct to focus on that.

Twice a day practice for a week player will make a huge difference over 4 weeks if training is geared to their learning level. They will only work at their capacity if they are weak swimmers so burn-out is not the concern it is with proven athletes and heavy workloads. You will not hurt these boys if the practice is drills and the afternoon is games. Have the training cycles work with increasing loads for a few weeks then a recovery with a reduced load.

Try an 8 practice Microcycle of load X, then an 8 practice Microcycle of load X+1, then an 8 practice Microcycle of X+2, followed by a 6 practice Microcycle of X-3 where it is skill and refinement. With 2-a-days that is only a 15 day Mesocycle and you've worked them in a wave of up and down that will be particularly effective if you explain to them the "build and break" process.

Make sure the practice is in segments and groupings are based on abilities. Drills in a single practice don't all need the same complexity or repetition or pace if the boys are different. If that is the case plan to have very active assistant coaches and consider peer mentoring in some of the drills where skill is there but experience is not.

If a boy is tired from the morning then he will adjust his own pace in the afternoon. If he can't do all the team work physically he will still be doing it mentally. In week 1 you may see nothing from him but by week 5, as he builds some stamina, you might see application of things you taught in week 2 and he has burned into his memory. It depends on how dynamic you are and how engaged he is when the message is sent. One thing for sure, with games every week in a short season you should have their attention and desire to improve.

Stay on top of what they are doing during the day if they seem exhausted or burnt out at the pool. What do they do besides school, train, eat and sleep? What do they eat, when? That will determine energy levels each afternoon.

Dave

[Missy]

Good stuff, Dave. Thank you so much for taking the time to explain that. It helps my understanding a lot. Effective work/recovery balance has always been a mystery to me - especially with different levels in the same group.