Practice Attendance

Blue and Senior Group Parents -

 

Now that we have concluded our parents meetings and are heading into another great season, I wanted to reach out to everyone again with some thoughts on practice attendance that the staff and I have deemed vitally important to each athlete's success.  Some of you have seen this information before, some of you have not, but either way I would encourage you to take note, as some has changed, and to pass along this information to your swimmers as well.

 

In my 30 years of experience here at NAC, I have found that with very few exceptions, the athletes with the best attendance were the ones that avoided the "common" swimming injuries with their shoulders and other upper extremities, as well as their knees and ankles.  At the Senior group level, we provide all of the necessary means by which to support the healthy development of all muscle groups which help to stabilize the upper and lower body.  We employ outside experts in their respective fields to help us plan these preventive measures.  With that in mind, athletes with poor attendance, or athletes that try to add additional workouts outside of the program we provide are the ones that tend to run into injury problems.

 

I think it's truly important to understand that NAC offers a scientifically based, comprehensive, all-inclusive training program designed to help your athlete reach their potential. As such, each component is important, and each day of practice brings important training goals.

 

Athletes with poor attendance open themselves to injury in several ways.  First, as the season progresses from August through November, workouts build in intensity and in volume.  Volume is the amount of swimming that the athletes are doing, and intensity is the speed and strength levels at which we ask them to swim.  Those same basic tenets hold true at the Blue Group level.  We cannot expect an athlete to improve if they don't continually do either more, or do what they were previously doing better.  When athletes miss practice, even 1 or 2 workouts in a row, the volume and intensity will have increased when the swimmer returns.

 

We have many athletes who do a great job of attendance during the week, but oftentimes will take a Saturday morning or a long weekend away from the pool.  These types of breaks put the swimmer in the same boat as athletes who take longer stretches away from the pool!  In many cases, these athletes need several days to simply return to the rhythm of training, and fall behind their peers (and competitors!) who haven't taken a break.

 

Athletes with poor morning practice attendance at the Senior level also open themselves up to injury.  Without performing the necessary stabilization and strengthening exercises done in the morning, athletes no longer have the strength to help them stay injury free, and stress under-strengthened muscle groups with in-water training.  What we are asking them to do in the water is dependent on what they are doing out of the water, and vice-versa.

 

To put this simply, if a swimmer's last practice before a break is a "1", and they take an in-season vacation, extended study break, etc. they may miss the build-up workouts and return to practice when we are at a "3" or "4".  This sudden jump in volume or intensity, without the adjustment period in between is when most injuries arise.  It's like trying to learn how to multiply without first learning to add or subtract... only this process repeats every season as your athlete faces new challenges!

 

Each season, without fail, we see several athletes at the Blue and Senior groups who take "breaks" from the training program and end up injured.  There is often a direct relationship between the injuries that occur and their practice attendance.

 

What if your athlete is young, in the Blue Group, and hasn't been injured?  Or in the Senior Group and hasn't been injured?  Does that mean you're off the hook?  As athletes get older, the repetitions of swimming practice begin to add up.  This means that as they approach the Senior 2 and Senior 3 levels of the program, the preventive exercises and consistent attendance become even more important!  As athletes stop getting stronger simply by getting older, the preventive exercises and consistent attendance is even more important!  Your athlete at 11 or 12 years old is very different from your athlete at 14 years old, and very different at 17 years old.

 

At NAC, our mission is to help our athletes achieve whatever their potential may be.  As the parent of your athlete, it is our hope that you understand the necessity of the practices offered, or the changes dictated specifically for your athlete by your group coach.

 

There is much more information available in our Senior Group Handbook, which I encourage all parents, including our Blue Group parents, to read.  It will give you a great head start on understanding the needs of the Senior training program ahead of time, and help you to prepare!  The Senior Group Handbook is available to all parents online via the website at:  https://www.teamunify.com/Sub TabGeneric.jsp?team=senac&_ stabid_=77635 - please know that you will need to be logged in to your NAC account to access it.

Please let your group coach know if you have any questions, and I'm looking forward to another exciting season of swimming in Nashville!

 

John Morse