WHAT IS A TAPER?

Swim training is extremely demanding physically. In order to produce top performances at meets, the body needs rest. Before an important meet, a swimmer will go through a training phase known as a taper. This means a reduction of work and an increase in the amount of rest. During the season, a coach will be very selective in deciding which meets to taper for. Normally, a coach will not rest or taper a swimmer more than two times during the short course season. Sometimes, a swimmer will only taper for the season-ending championship meet.

The hard training of practices conditions a swimmer, but also produces fatigue. When the training load is reduced, fatigue subsides more rapidly than fitness, therefore, performance is enhanced.  It is for this reason that a taper is employed in the run up to a major competition.

An important ingredient of an effective taper is the work that has gone into swimming before the taper even starts. The work done during the season is like money placed in a bank; at the end of the season a swimmer can go to the bank and collect all of his/her money, with interest as the pay-off for the hard work done in season. In other words, you have to have done enough work to have something to taper from.

The length of the tapering period is very important. Tapering for a suitable period of time will help improve performance, but if the tapering period is too long, athletes will begin to lose fitness and their performances will suffer. If the tapering period is too short, swimmers will not be rested enough, and the physiological changes that take place in the muscles during taper will not have been completed.

The tapering period is a challenging time for the coach.  There is no one right way, or magic formula for a taper and not every swimmer will respond to a taper in the same manner. Some require shorter tapers than others. Some can “hold a taper” longer than others. Determining how long an individual swimmer needs to taper is often a trial and error process. It is essential that swimmers communicate to the coach how they are feeling during a taper. If swimmers do not “hit their taper” during an early season meet, there will probably be another chance to make adjustments before the championship meet.

There are many factors a coach must consider when planning a taper: age, gender, body type and the swimmer’s primary event. Older swimmers require more rest than younger swimmers. Men usually require more rest than women. Muscular swimmers need more rest and peak performance in shorter events requires more rest than peak performances in longer events.

For young age group swimmers, a true physical taper is not usually necessary. In most cases, the muscle mass of young swimmers is not large enough to require a great deal of rest. Additionally, young people have an abundance of energy and recuperate rapidly from the stresses of training. A true taper is not usually productive for young age group swimmers because their day-to-day training is not as intensive as it would be for older swimmers. For young age group swimmers, there is a greater emphasis on stroke work, drills and fun in the training sessions. These swimmers will usually prepare for a big meet with 1-2 days off, or, just a few days of relative rest, reducing their work by 25 –50%.

As swimmers get older and experience the growth spurts of adolescence (12 year old females and 13-14 year old males), tapering is introduced. The taper period can last any where from 2-6 weeks. During the taper, coaches will often include “broken swims” of race distance in their training sessions. There will be an emphasis on stroke technique and starts and turns. There will also be an emphasis on teaching strategy and pace, rather than physical training. There may be a moderate amount of true, “all-out” sprints, of 25 yards or less, with complete recovery between each repetition.

During the course of the taper, all types of stress should be gradually reduced. As the taper progresses, the amount of high stress work is decreased and the quality of performance is gradually improved. For optimum performance, it is suggested that swimmers curtail their outside activities as much as possible. Most swim coaches realize it is not always possible to skip a little league baseball, softball or soccer game during a taper. However, the neighborhood football game and overnight slumber parties should be saved for another time. Ideally, you would like the swimmers to store up as much energy as possible for the swimming meet. When the workload is reduced, there is a noticeable increase in the swimmer’s energy level. Swimmers must resist the urge to use this extra energy before the competition. Resting is an important part of the taper, and expending the energy will only defeat the purpose of the taper.

The final aspect of a taper, and by far not the least, is the mental side. Many swimmers may feel as if they are under stress at this time. Sometimes too much motivation, too much anxiety for results, or, pressure from parents or coaches can come into play in a negative way. Experiments have shown that it is possible to improve performance by sitting in a chair, relaxed, for five minutes a day, visualizing one’s self performing the “perfect race”. It will help to visualize every aspect of the race including, strategy, stroke technique, the finish, and even feelings of nervousness. Some of the most important things that a swimmer must do during a taper are to believe in themselves, their abilities and the work they have done over the course of the season. They must also believe in their coach as a professional, with their best interest always in mind.