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Practice
Attendance (Revisited)
By JOHN LEONARD
Executive Director
American Swimming Coaches Association
One of the hallmarks
of a quality swimming team program is a planned program of physical
development.
(Other hallmarks include an
emphasis on teaching, intelligent approaches to competition, and racing with
a purpose, as well as individual attention to those who are "earning it"
through their attention to the instructions of the coach.)
The planned program of
physical development includes programmed physical stress and recovery times.
Progress can only be made by the athlete by imposing a previously
unexperienced stress on the body system. The body will then adapt to this
stress, if provided the appropriate degree and timing of recovery. (Total
rest is not appropriate recovery...it does not provide the lower level
stimulation necessary for compensatory chemical reactions to develop.)
The stresses applied can be
in the form of speed, distance swum, or "density" of workout (yards per time
period). Stress can also be specifically applied in accordance with energy
systems. A quality swimming program will mix the stresses in appropriate
quantities and types for the group of athletes, and thus the individuals,
being trained. The "mix" will be different for different groups and
individuals, based on their previous training.
Thus, attendance at workout
is a critical feature in making physical progress in the program. When an
athlete misses a workout, they upset the delicate balance of "how much of
what" stresses they apply to their body. In worst cases, athletes attend the
recovery workouts, and miss the stressful workouts and thus never apply
increasing stress to their systems. In the next worst scenario, athletes
miss a series of recovery workouts, and attend only the stressful workouts
and thus never get the appropriate recovery stimulation, and go from "sore"
to "more sore." Finally, missing a "cycle" of stressful and recovery
workouts means that the athlete takes "one step forward and one step back"
and worse, comes back to a stress/recovery cycle that is now two steps up
from their last practice .... a very stressful adaptation.
This ignores, of course,
the fact that the athlete has let his teammates down by not attending, and
has lost the opportunity to learn what is being taught that day.
"TO ACHIEVE GREAT THINGS,
FIRST SHOW UP EVERY DAY." |