Hi I am looking for help. I want to know how masters swimmers plan out their Taper before competition. How long is it ? How much do you reduce the distance and intensity of your workouts ?
How effective has it been? Do you Taper at all?
I have found through my own swimming that the Taper for masters swimmers is not the same as for elite swimmers. I don't think that we need the same taper as we are not doing 50,000 + meters a week ! All of the research out there is written for elite swimmers. If anyone knows of an article dealing with taper for masters swimmers then please tell me.
I am thinking of writing a paper on this if I can get enough info. If you could say how you plan your Taper, what your weekly volumes are and the events you swim then I would be eternally thankfull.
In the past I had always tapered before a big meet. Getting ready for Tempe this year I had the luxury of being coached by someone hired specifically to coach those going to Nationals. Even the weekend before the meet he was still writing workouts for us that were the same distance as before. I asked him "When do we get to taper?" He gently replied that I didn't need to taper because I didn't swim enough for it to do me any good. He knew what he was talking about, because I swam (for me) way better than I ever expected to. I don't think I'll taper again, at least not unless I change my ways and start putting in more yardage at workout!
In the past I had always tapered before a big meet. Getting ready for Tempe this year I had the luxury of being coached by someone hired specifically to coach those going to Nationals. Even the weekend before the meet he was still writing workouts for us that were the same distance as before. I asked him "When do we get to taper?" He gently replied that I didn't need to taper because I didn't swim enough for it to do me any good. He knew what he was talking about, because I swam (for me) way better than I ever expected to. I don't think I'll taper again, at least not unless I change my ways and start putting in more yardage at workout!
