When it comes to tapering in rowing, how much and when to taper can be a tricky thing to get right. Most rowing coaches know that they definitely need to taper for different occasions like testing, monitoring, or racing events. However, the magnitude and duration of the taper can often lead the athlete feeling fatigued or not feeling fast having tapered too much. Let's get into it from the coach's perspective.
What Are Your Goals?
First we need to look at our regatta schedule. How many competitions will we enter? How important are they? Will you use some competitions to try out new line-ups and others to make final decisions on line-ups. Or perhaps we go all-in for the big championship race. Once we know the answers to these questions, we can quickly decide how much to taper, if at all. For example, a head of the river might be used as a tough training session rather than a test of a crew. Similarly, a short sprint regatta might be used as a HIIT session with rowers racing multiple times. Therefore, more taper means less training dose; Less training dose means less adaptation and improved fitness.
Taper Types
There are three types of taper we can use:
- Minor taper
- Moderate taper
- Major taper
A minor taper can be used in endurance sport 1 to 3 times per season; moderate tapers can be 1 to 2 times per season; major tapers are used once in a season. Considering how busy the domestic regatta calendar can be in Ireland, coaches are in a tough position when it comes to prioritising events and tapering methods used.
For more information on how I can help you manage you load and de-load phases, get in touch here or check out my page on team programming. My athlete management system is the perfect tool to help teams monitor and manage their race day readiness.
Content Source: McNeely, Ed MS; Sandler, David MS, CSCS. Tapering for Endurance Athletes. Strength and Conditioning Journal 29(5):p 18-24, October 2007.