USOC Olympic Coach E-Magazine Summer 2004 ______________________________ From The Director MESSAGE FROM THE USOC'S DIRECTOR OF COACHING AND SPORT SCIENCES By Peter Davis, Ph.D This issue of Olympic Coach magazine was a challenging one. We took one topic—Periodization. We gave that topic to three experts and let them tell us what coaches needed to know. The first article is by Tudor Bompa. For those coaches familiar with Periodization, this is one of the most recognized voices in the field in the United States. He took a subject that he is intimate with and brought it down to a very simple and concise article. I am sure this was a difficult task for a person with his knowledge base, but his article will be one that any coach will enjoy reading. Full Article... ______________________________ Headlines PRIMER ON PERIODIZATION By Tudor O. Bompa, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus Tudor Bompa is THE person who stimulated Western interest in Periodization. As the author of 14 books on the topics of periodization, planning, peaking and strength training, he is one of the strongest influences on the topic in the United States. Tudor Bompa competed as a rower in the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia and won a silver medal at the 1958 European Championships, which were held in Poland. As a very important training concept, Periodization is not, as many people may believe, a new discovery. As exemplified by Flavius Philostratus (AD 170-245), a Greek philosopher and sporting enthusiasm, a simple form of periodization has been used since the ancient Olympic Games. In his six manuals on training, Phylostratus wrote extensively about the methods used by the Greek Olympians. Full Article... PERIODIZATION AND THE SYSTEMATIC SPORT DEVELOPMENT PROCESS By Vern Gambetta, Gambetta Sports Training Systems Of all the tools available to coaches, periodization might be the most misunderstood and misapplied. My gut feeling is that many coaches are put off by the jargon and terminology. I thought that looking at it from a slightly different perspective would make it more user-friendly and applicable. In order to avoid confusing the issue we must recognize it for what it is. It is simply planning. That is something that effective coaches have done forever. Planning gives direction and purpose to the training without a plan-- there is chaos and inconsistent results. It also provides a context to evaluate performance aside from wins and losses or personal records. Full Article... PERIODIZATION: FANCY NAME FOR A BASIC CONCEPT By Steven Plisk, Sports Performance Director for Velocity Sports Performance Textbook definitions of periodization usually go something like this: "the planned distribution or variation in training workload and content on a cyclic (periodic) basis." The bad news is that, while this is a mouthful, it’s one of the simpler definitions; most are even more complex. The good news is that the underlying idea really isn’t tricky at all; it’s just a matter of not getting hung up on details. In fact, periodization is nothing more than basic coaching strategy applied to the training process. Full Article... ______________________________ 60-Second Summary "60-Second Summary" is a regular feature of OLYMPIC COACH. SCIENTIFIC BASES FOR PRECOMPETITION TAPERING STRATEGIES Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, Vol. 35, No. 7, pp.1182-1187, 2003 By Inigo Mujika and Sabino Padilla Lawrence E. Armstrong and Carl M. Maresh This is a must-read article for any coach. Mujika and Padilla have extensively reviewed 50 scientific articles that focus on the topic of tapering. The authors state that this “paper intends to establish the scientific bases for the precompetition tapering strategies”. Full Article... ______________________________ Mind Games WHAT COACHES CAN LEARN FROM GREAT MANAGERS: "BREAKING ALL THE RULES" IN SELECTING AND COACHING YOUR ATHLETES by Kirsten Peterson, Ph.D., USOC Sport Psychologist Coaches occupy multiple roles in children’s lives as sport participants. Coaches must be excellent instructors so that youth learn and improve skills, increase knowledge of strategies and tactics, and achieve their goals. Coaches can also inspire children to maintain motivation for participating in sport and, in so doing, allow them opportunities to accrue such benefits as positive self-esteem, enjoyable experiences, long-lasting friendships, and a positive attitude toward the value of lifetime physical activity. In short, coaches can ensure that youth want to continue their sport involvement—that is, participate for intrinsic reasons—rather than participate for primarily external reasons such as feeling obligated to others to continue. How can coaches maximize their positive impact on youths’ motivation in sport? Full Article... ______________________________ Hot Off The Press "Hot Off The Press" is a regular feature of OLYMPIC COACH. This column provides a reading list on a topic or topics covered in the current issue or information that is of interest to the coaching community. The list will take the form of websites, books or journals. To obtain a copy of the books and journals listed here contact your local library. If they do not own the publication, they may obtain a copy for you through interlibrary loan. Full Article... ______________________________ Directory USOC Directory For The Coaching Resources Staff Full Article... ______________________________ Print Version Download a PDF copy of the USOC Olympic Coach, Summer 2004, Volume 16, Number 2. Full Article... ______________________________ End of Publication Please share this publication with your colleagues and friends! To SUBSCRIBE to this publication, visit this URL and setup a new account: http://coaching.usolympicteam.com/coaching/ksub.nsf To UNSUBSCRIBE or modify your interest profile, visit this URL and edit your account: http://coaching.usolympicteam.com/coaching/ksub.nsf . . . . . . . . . . . . . UNITED STATES OLYMPIC COMMITTEE PRESIDENT William Martin (Acting President) VICE PRESIDENTS Herman Frazier Paul E. George Bill Stapleton Frank Marshall (Treasurer) CHIEF OF SPORTS PERFORMANCE Jim Scherr EDITORS USOC Coaching Department/Catherine Sellers The OLYMPIC COACH E-MAGAZINE is a publication of the United States Olympic Committee Coaching Division. Readers are encouraged to submit items of interest for possible inclusion. Submitted materials will be acknowledged but cannot be returned, and inclusion cannot be guaranteed. Materials should be sent to Catherine Sellers at the address listed below. PUBLISHER United States Olympic Committee Coaching Division 1 Olympic Plaza Colorado Springs, CO 80909-5760 Telephone: (719) 866-4984 or 866-4802 Olympic symbols, marks and terminology protected for the exclusive use of the USOC, 36 USC 22506 (formerly 36 USC 380). This publication is copyrighted © by the U.S. Olympic Committee, and contents may not be reproduced. http://www.usolympicteam.com Title Photo Matt Taylor and Joe Jacobi compete in the Mens C-2 Class during the U.S. Olympic Whitewater Slalom Canoe/Kayak Team Trials on April 4, 2004 at the East Race Waterway in South Bend, Indiana. They finished first in their division and made the Olympic Team. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)