Practical Performance Physiology Series- A Zoom Course For Swim Coaches
ONLINE COURSE, EST
Introduction
One of the world's foremost experts on human performance as it relates to swimming, Dr. Josh White, will be conducting a live & interactive Zoom Course for Swim Coaches: Practical Performance Physiology - From Season Planning to Taper.
PRACTICAL PERFORMANCE PHYSIOLOGY (COURSE #2)
Practice Writing (Tuesday, May 7 & Thursday, May 9)
-> Practice Writing includes a 2-hour class AND a 1-hour Discussion Session that will be scheduled on May 9th in small groups at 9-10 AM, 11 AM-12 PM, or 1-2 PM EST.
Tapering (Tuesday, May 28)
-> Coaches can choose to either begin the course with the Tapering class in preparation for the upcoming Championships Season. Or, you can end the course with the Tapering class on May 28th.
Small Class Sizes:
Each class in the course is limited to only 18 participants to encourage interaction between the coaches and active discussion and learning! You can purchase individual class or save with the "Entire Course Bundle".
Leading The Series:
Teaching this Physiology Series is Dr. Josh White. Dr. White is widely recognized world-wide as one of the leading minds on human performance as it relates to competitive swimming. Dr. White has a Ph.D. in Human Performance from the Counsilman Center for the Science of Swimming at Indiana University. He has more than twenty years of coaching experience including at the University of Michigan where he served as Associate Head Coach for many years including the 2013 NCAA Championship team. His rare combination of education and coaching success has made him well known within the elite ranks of coaching as one of the great minds of the sport - bridging the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical application. Throughout the series expert coaches will join the classes to further enrich the class discussion.
Suggested Participants:
Experienced coaches looking to refresh their knowledge and young coaches being introduced to this information for the first time will benefit from these classes. This series is designed to give swim coaches essential knowledge to maximize their coaching abilities. We will give participating coaches tools to evaluate and develop training, team building, and beyond. We will take the approach of foundational learning to enable coaches to go beyond imitating things that other "more experienced or accomplished" coaches have done - and instead cultivate your own unique coaching style!
Select a curriculum below
Writing Practices (May 7: 11:30 am-12:30 pm EST)
Learn how to write practices that are packed with purpose and fun. We will start with a deep dive into designing sets that hit your energy system target and expand to including the novelty and challenge that swimmers crave. Unite technique and training into a cohesive approach that builds good habits while you work. We will also include logistical tips and tricks that allow you to accomplish your goals with the space and groups you have. This course will have two sessions. The first is a "Traditional Class" on April 30th packed with information. In the second 1 hour session on May 2 you will write and submit workouts for discussion in small groups.
- Hitting Your Energy System Target: Several factors contribute to whether you are hitting your energy system target. The combination of work/rest ratio (or from a practical perspective the interval), the length of each swim repetition, and the overall length of your set will determine which energy system you are working. Understanding how to adjust these three factors both independently and together to get your desired work is both science and art. You can also add variety and creativity to your workouts by working in different energy systems throughout a set or workout. This can be achieved through sets such as descending, ascending, and active rest sets to name a few.
- Working Technique & Training Together: There is no need for the age-old debate of technique vs. training, these concepts are inextricably linked. In order to hold great technique, you not only need the skill but also strength and fitness. There are a number of great ways to work technique in the midst of training, developing both at the same time.
- Building Great Habits and Accountability: Good habits make it easier for swimmers to make the right choices versus the wrong ones. We will cover the best ways to build great habits and how to help your swimmers hold themselves and one another accountable.
- Stroke Specificity: When do you need to work strokes differently and when can you do the same set for every stroke? We will discuss similarities and contrasts in training different strokes. Additionally, we will review practical ways to work a variety of strokes in the same space.
- Distance Specificity: As swimmers mature, they begin to develop different physiological strengths. They also begin to specialize in races of different lengths. There is a time when it becomes beneficial to vary your training based on the physiology of the athletes and/or their racing focus. We will discuss how to balance training an athlete’s physiology and their race focus. We will also cover when to begin this deviation and how to write effective sets across the range of athletes on your team and all of their events!
- Practical Suggestions: Theoretical understanding is nothing without application. You need to actually do it - try new things! The course will be centered around providing practical ideas that will have you writing your best and most effective workouts ever.
TAPERING (Tue, May 28: 11:30am-1:30pm EST)
Stop second guessing your taper and charge into your championship meet with confidence. Balancing the recovery from hard training with maximizing the positive impact of the training can be tricky for many coaches. For many, it is easy to overlook how the mental performance effected the race performance of athletes... yet so easy to blame training deficiencies. Tapering is one of the greatest sources of second guessing by both athletes and coaches. In this course you will learn the science behind several different approaches to tapering. You will learn to use this knowledge to design the optimal taper for your swimmers in a variety of situations!
- Choose When You'd Like to Attend The Taper Class: The Taper Class is being offered on two different dates. You can choose when you would like to attend. We are offering the Taper Class option on Tuesday, May 28th, ahead of the next Championship Seasons. Please attend when it's best for you.
- Physiology: One of the challenges of taper is that different systems in the body recover at different rates. For example, the nervous system can take a long time to recover and the cardiovascular system can detrain quickly. Understanding the recovery period for each system is a great base of knowledge to start planning your taper.
- Length of Taper: One key factor in taper efficacy is the overall length of the taper. Since the goal of tapering is performance, exercise physiologists refer to it instead as peaking. The peak of performance is not as sharp as many fear with gradual increases and then decreases in performance. The Olympics are now a 9 day pool event with several athletes competing excellently on both the first and last days.
- Pattern of Taper: There are a number of effective methods of tapering, such as an exponential taper or a drop taper. However, each has key elements that need to be understood to take the guesswork out of peak performance.
- Work Prior to Taper: One of the frequently overlooked factors in a taper is an evaluation of the period and level of work that precedes your taper. If you have been training for 9 months without resting, it will be different than 3 months of training. The taper will need to be different if you are tapering off of the highest workload of your season or a phase of lower workload with higher quality.
- Factors in Taper: The appropriate taper pattern and length depend on a number of factors. We will discuss taper as it relates to age, gender, and event profile. We will also discuss practical ways to determine individual differences in taper needs using information such as body type, tracking metrics, and even multiple end of season meets.
SUGGESTED PARTICIPANTS: These coaching clinics are suitable for both experienced coaches looking to refresh their knowledge and aspiring coaches who are new to the information! CLINIC SESSION TIMES: Practice Writing: Tue May 7th at 11:30 am-12:30 pm EST. *Small group discussions will be on May 9th at 9-10 am, 11 am-12 pm, or 1-2 pm EST. This clinic includes a Informational Session on May 7th and a 1 hr Discussion Session on May 2nd or May 9th that will be independently scheduled with you at 9-10 AM, 11 AM-12 PM, or 1-2 PM EST. Tapering: Tue May 28th at 11:30 am-1:30 pm EST.
Josh White
Dr. Josh White joins Fitter & Faster following 15 years at the University of Michigan, where for the last 11 years, he was Associate Head Coach of the Men’s and Women’s NCAA Division 1 swim teams. Josh will be responsible for new programming, filling knowledge gaps in both open water swimming and the college recruiting process. Echoing the philosophy of Fitter & Faster, Josh says, “I want to make a difference in the swim community by inspiring young athletes, and giving them the tools they need to be successful.”
