What Is a Proper Taper?

Former Member
Former Member
Hello, My 16 year old has been swimming 3000-4000 yards 5x week on the local team for the past 5 months. (This is after a year out for shoulder surgery, and a year of swimming prior to that. His shoulder is doing fine.) He has 6 months until high school varsity swim team tryouts in August. High school workouts will be 6000 yards 5x week beginning in August. I want to plan his training to both peak for his varsity tryout in August, and to be acclimated to the increased yardage. I know nothing about swimming tapers so I'm strictly guessing. Roughly I thought he might begin now adding 1 - 6000 yard workout a week say for the first month, then 2 per week etc, until in June he can do 6000 - 5x a week. I would guess that July he would taper in some way....maybe: First week 6000 yrd 1x, 3000 4x Second week 3000 yrd 4x Third week 3000 yrd 2x Fourth week 3000 yrd 1x Your advice is appreciated. Thank you!
  • I think the use of the term "Taper" is a bit misleading - if you want your son is swimming 3-4k a day and needs to be ready for 6k, you need him "ramping up" his training in preparation. I coach kids your son's age, so here are my thoughts from that perspective. I'm only a coach and not a parent, so please keep in mind my coach hat is on here: 1 - what are your son's wishes? before anything happens, he needs to be on board. it is he doing all the work, and he needs to be willing to do it. 2 - how is his technique? when we look to move kids around on my team, I won't take kids who need more work on technique. They spend more time in the lower groups focusing on perfecting their stroke so that they don't get injured swimming fast with incorrect technique in my group (and same for those wishing to move to the next group up). Same for injuries - nurse yourself back in the lower groups and get comfortable swimming correctly AND fast. 3 - time in the water - how much time is he doing the 3-4k workouts and how long are the HS 6k workouts? If both are 90 minute slots, he's got a lot of work ahead of him. regardless, he's going to need to get used to swimming that kind of yardage in a certain amount of time, and is going to need to go from 3-4k to 4-5k before you can start getting up to 6k. (see #4) 4 - goal setting - your son needs to have a goal meeting with his coaches. whether you're along is up to them, but he needs to talk with them about his goals and they can create a training plan and road map to address these goals - which will include ramping up yardage, technique and speed work. 5 - trusting your coaches it sounds like you don't trust the coaches. does your son? if he doesn't trust his coaches either, he needs to figure out why and address those reasons with the coaches during his goal meeting. if a satisfactory plan and middle trust ground cannot be reached, he will need to reconsider changing clubs and/or workout groups. if your son DOES trust his coaches, let him address his concerns with them and do your best to encourage him in his training. 6 - coach/parent boundary - Dad needs to address his trust issues with the coaches too. You should be able to be reinforcing them to your son with positive fathering out of the pool. Coaches will take care of the in-water portion. 7 - have fun! None of this is possible without your son having fun. It is ok to play grabass every once in a while in the water - it's not all about training, training, training. Swimming faster is fun; winning HS events and meets is fun. So is being in good shape and hanging out with friends. Keep this in mind every time you and he go to the pool. :) :banana:
  • I think you're confusing tapering with increasing yardage. I think the use of the term "Taper" is a bit misleading - if you want your son is swimming 3-4k a day and needs to be ready for 6k, you need him "ramping up" his training in preparation I have a feeling both of you guys missed something from Georgio's post. My read is he wants to ramp up his son's training so that he's ready for the high school team work load, but he also wants to taper him so that he swims his best at the tryouts in August.
  • Isn't this a forum for Masters Swimming, not Obsessive Parenting? LIKE :applaud:
  • Is there a USAS team he can train on? That would probably be the best thing for him to get him ready for HS.
  • Former Member
    Former Member
    For the taper in July, he should keep swimming 5x a week but lower the yardage. Otherwise he could lose his feel for the water.
  • Hey Georgio, Your 16 year old should swim with a local team 6 to 9x per week 3000 - 4000 yards per practice isn't much he should build up to 6k per practice he can acclimate to increased yardage pretty quickly I think you're confusing tapering with increasing yardage. Tapering is where swimmers decrease yardage and rest up for competition. Swimmers increase yardage to get in better shape and prepare for meets when the meet is months away, then they decrease yardage the peak meet approaches. Your son should train to improve and prepare for meets, 1st SCY season then LCM season then HS. He shouldn't taper for HS try outs, but he should be in shape to make the team and handle the workouts. If he wants to swim, put him on a the best team in your area, his coach will write the work outs and increase his yardage.
  • Tapering for the tryouts seems a little strange to me. The most important thing is for him to be ready for the workload and I think your approach makes sense: gradually buildup the yardage. I don't think you necessarily need to add in 6,000 yard workouts, just make sure the weekly volume is increasing and that he's able to handle the increased workload. Back off if he seems to be overtraining (i.e., constantly fatigued, getting slower rather than faster). If you really think he needs to be rested to make the team then have him rest a few days before the tryout. Just cut back on the yardage--maybe two days where he's doing 2K or less. A full taper at the start of the HS season just doesn't seem like a good idea. The idea is to peak at the end of the season, after all! And, as others have already said, the best way to accomplish this is to get him on a USA Swimming club that is doing the kind of workouts he'll be doing with the HS team. Being on a good team is much preferred than trying to swim alone.
  • Former Member
    Former Member
    Isn't this a forum for Masters Swimming, not Obsessive Parenting?
  • See if you can find out for his strokes and events what qualifying times he will need to hit at HS tryouts in August and communicate those to his USA coaches so everyone is on the same page. Obviously, he will need to be able to swim the 5x 6000 workouts, but it's one thing to swim through the workouts and another to exceed the tryout times. What are the times he will likely need to hit and where is he now? Your body makes adaptations to work when it rests, and a taper provides the additional rest to maximize the adaptation. Getting a good nights sleep and eating right provides the daily rest needed for recovery and the taper provides the finishing touches before a big meet.
  • Former Member
    Former Member
    He is swimming for a USA Swim Club locally now. He has 2 USA coaches. I'm looking for additional advice and opionions. Particularly since he needed shoulder surgery training under the same staff, and frankly, I don't know how much they know about tapering either.
1 2