Train to Compete
Ages 16-23+/- in Males & 15-21 +/- in Females
Depending on the sport, for females ages 15-21+/- and males ages 16-23+/-, this is where things get “serious.” They can either choose to specialize in one sport and pursue a competitive stream, or they can continue participating at a recreational level and thereby enter the Active for Life stage. In the competitive stream, high volume and high intensity training begins to occur year-round.
To-Do List
- Provide year-round, high intensity, individual event, and position-specific training.
- Teach athletes, who are now proficient at performing basic and sport specific skills, to perform those skills under a variety of competitive conditions during training.
- Place special emphasis on optimum preparation by ‘modelling’ high competitions in training.
- Individually tailor to a greater degree fitness programs, recovery programs, psychological preparation, and technical development. Emphasize individual preparation that addresses each athlete’s individual strengths and weaknesses.
- Select 1 sport.
- Utilize single, double, and triple periodization as the optimal framework of preparation.
- Change the training-to-competition and competition-specific training ratio to 40:60. Devote 40 per cent of available time to the development of technical and tactical skills and improving fitness and 60 per cent of training to competition and competition-specific training.