Focus on NSW – June 2002

Developing a Trainings Program

Dieter Wilhelmi MSP.S., BSc.

Introduction

The previous article focused on understanding and communicating your goals and expectations, adopting a conservative training’s time frame for the development of program maintenance. In addition, we investigated the SWOT analysis for strength’s weaknesses, opportunities and threats. In this is article will begin to focus on developing training’s program. The concept of training is not new as both in ancient Egypt and Greece people were trained systematically for both military and Olympic endeavours. Performances over the years at elite levels in sports are continuously going up and are now reaching stages that a few years ago would have been hard to imagine. The reason for these continued increased performance levels is a combination of many factors. For example, coaching has become more sophisticated and with the assistance of sport specialists and scientist are creating a much broader knowledge base that is directly reflected in the methodology of training. This is brought out with the increased use of technology such as Force Platforms and diagnostic tools such as the Rika Target Trainer. Training has in fact become a science of it’s own and is a very complex concept. It deals with many physiological, psychological and sociological variables and as the previous article stated is a systematic activity of long duration that is tailored to an individual needs. It is paramount that all training’s plans have an achievable objective that is precise and measurable. The purpose of the following articles will be to introduce modern training concepts to the club shooter. Many of these principles are used at the elite levels in shooting but also can be used as a reference framework for the club shooter wishing to improve their scores.

 

Periodised Programming

So what aspect of elite training can the club shooter utilises that will translate not only into increased scores but also increased satisfaction? The answer is in participating in training’s framework that has some form of purpose. For example, does the following scenario sound familiar? You go to the range on a Sunday to practice a particular match (let’s say Rapid Fire). You notice that your trigger control requires some attention. You make a note in your diary, consult either a coach or a book on what the remedies are and then diligently practice these over the next few weeks. You then shoot at a club sanctioned cub shoot (let’s say Air Pistol) and discover that your ‘hold’ requires additional work. You then focus your training on ‘holding’ and re-commence your training program once again. You then suddenly notice that your grip needs modification so you spend time correcting this. Get the picture! Is this in fact training? The answer is simply NO! This is training through crises management. Remember training is a SYSTEMATIC activity of LONG duration. Unfortunately, shooters who train by crises management are never able to reach their full potential.

 

So how do we develop a training system that is systematic and is planned over an extended period? The answer is through periodisation. Periodisation is the process of developing a trainings format that through increased specialisation leads towards peak performance. It takes many factors into considerations such as technical, psychological and physiological preparation. However, most importantly it is a systematic approach over an extended period. It is the training structure by which a club shooters can peak themselves for a particular competition. Some shooters may already employ some form of periodisation in their training methods. The broad concept of periodisation is to schedule training into training phases or periods that provides the framework from which a competitor can implement an individual training program. The principle of periodisation has been be used to great affect in many competitive sports. It should never be treated as an exact science but more as a fundamental framework from which training methods can be developed. For a periodised program to be functional it must be shaped to the requirement of the individual shooter and should consider all aspects of their performance. A typical periodised program starts with a broad base of physical and technical development. Physical training is considered as a pre-requisite to the technical mastery of most sports and yes, this includes pistol shooting. Ultimately, to be successful the competitor must become highly specialised and this is facilitated through the program gradually changing from its broad preparation phase to a more sports specific competition phase.

 

Periodised plans should rotate around the competitions that are important to the individual. That could include your Club Championships, a particular CMPC competition or the NSW State Championships. Most of these occur yearly on the shooting calendar and are regarded as mono-cycles. However, it should be noted that for some shooters this is not always the case. For example our current shooting team travelling to the Commonwealth Games in Manchester have had to peak themselves around Commonwealth selection trials. So to plan your periodised program properly you need to carefully investigate your competition calendar.

 

The Competition Calendar

A purposefully planned competition calendar will allow you to segment your training into stages (to be discussed at a later stage). Your calendar should include all your competitions. These need to be ranked in order of importance so that you can devise your periodised program so that you can peak at your main competition. It is important that your competition schedule is designed so that you are able to peak at the time that you want to. Pistol shooting in Australia is a year round sport. However, to peak yourself for the competition that matters most to you, careful planning in regards to training modalities (including rest and break away from shooting) is imperative. Otherwise overtraining can cause staleness that can translate into poor performance scores or even burnout.

 

Competitions are the most important and specific way of assessing your competition progress. Participation in smaller competitions leading to your main competition will prepare you for a higher state of readiness (peaking). During these non-critical competitions, you have the opportunity to test all your training factors in the competitive situation. The selection and planning of competitions is a paramount process in your training. It can enhance or adversely affect your ability to reach predetermined performance levels. You should never forget that all competitions that you include in your periodised program must be subordinate to the main performance objective of the year. The determination of which competitions to attend, which competitions to be used as a training exercise and which competitions to be used for performance analysis requires careful planning and could be regarded as an art of it’s own. Perhaps, this is another case where consulting a qualified coach can be of some benefit to you.

 

Summary

1) List all the competitions that you wish to enter

2.) Rank them in order of importance

3.) Look at your yearly calendar and develop your competition calendar in such a way so that you have some competitions sprinkled throughout the year (some of these will be used as test competitions for performance monitoring purposes)

4) Develop your competition schedule so that you have some lead up competition events before your main competition (for peaking purposes)

 

Conclusion

The process of specialisation towards peak performance is complex and requires you and perhaps your coach to consider many additional factors such as technical, tactical, psychological and physiological preparation. This is facilitated through the “periodised program”. Periodised programming is not solely the domain of elite athletes. It provides regular club shooters a coaching framework from which they can constructively develop an increase in their performance scores. Ultimately it makes training purposefully and moves the shooter away from what occurs often at ranges that of training by crises management.  

 

I wish you well and good shooting

 

Dieter Wilhelmi