Riding the wave (Random thoughts) - Complementary Training
Riding the wave (Random thoughts)

Riding the wave (Random thoughts)

It is the end of the season, and usually my brain starts to do reflections on what was done both in team training and in my own training (if we can call it that way). The concept that emerged in my head was the concept of riding the wave. This concept has a lot in common with the sport form (shape) or the phase of quasi-stable results/performance. We have caught certain wave and we have ridden it for certain amount of time (the question is for how long). If we keep pushing, we will certainly hit the rocks (injury, burnout). We need to stop, swim away and catch a better one and appreciate what we have learned by riding the previous. Hence the importance of cycles and periodization. This is well know key concept – cyclical nature of training process.

ridding-the-wave

We need time to move away from the situation. To see the full forest we need to get out of it.

This cyclical nature refers both to physical and psychological. We just can’t keep riding the same wave forever. For example, Bret Contreras  in the new blog entry  refers to the same concept, but unfortunately for him, injury made him do it. It made me do it too, couple of times. We need to take a break from everything, go back to the basics, improve technique, start easy, work on mobility and stability and stuff. This is why I find concept of Anatomic Adaptation (Tudor Bompa) more and more important. And usually, we will surpass our old PRs, fix injuries and maybe the most important, fix our mindset. The new training process/system will be established.

In team sports, we are riding the wave we caught/established in the preparatory period. We just can’t change a lot of things during the in-season (sometimes you have to, to save the situation). We need to catch better wave next preparatory period and ride it during the in-season.  This not only relates to the methods/exercises, but also team culture, atmosphere, everything. I mean, we can change things during the in-season, sometimes we have to, but it usually have penalties to be paid.

So, this concept goes well with the following periods:

Transition period: Get off the wave, swim back to the open sea and prepare to catch a wave

Preparatory period: Catch a wave, let it develop

Competition period: Ride the wave

Make sure to catch a good wave during the preparatory period (relationship with players, expectations, team culture, responsibilities, rules, training system, nutrition, recovery modalities, rapports…) because you are going to ride it for a long time during the competition period.

This cyclical nature of training process reminds me of the mythical

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I am a physical preparation coach from Belgrade, Serbia, grew up in Pula, Croatia (which I consider my home town). I was involved in physical preparation of professional, amateur and recreational athletes of various ages in sports such as basketball, soccer, volleyball, martial arts and tennis. Read More »
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