Training Principles for Sports Performance: Progressive Load and Specialization

Training Principles for Sports Performance

Basic training principles of sports activity

The general and special preparation principle

The principle of progressive and gradual load increment

The principle of wave-like load variations

The principle of continuity in the training process

The cyclic character principle of the training process

The principle of the level of direction of sports achievements towards higher levels

Superior achievements.

Among the most important measures for the gradual progression of load are:

• Increase in training frequency
• Increase in training volume
• Increase in training intensity

Regarding the wave-like load variation principle, there are three types:

Medium loads, lower loads, and high loads.

In the beginning of the training process, general and special preparation for athletes are closely related.

Both forms of preparation depend on several factors:

• The event or particularities of the sporting activity
• The athlete's level of preparation
• The athlete's age
• Periodization and structuring of the training process

Undulation in training load depends on several factors, primarily the level of the athlete's development and the individual athlete's development.

Physical, motor, or intellectual development of a person is only possible if there is a progressive and gradual introduction of stimuli that go beyond the athlete's current possibilities, forcing the body to develop new adaptation processes to the phenomenon. Vygotsky described this as the "zone of proximal development."

The Main Process of Sports Improvement

The increase in sports performance depends especially on two factors:

• The motor potential of the athlete and the athlete's ability to take advantage of it effectively in training and competitions.

Morphofunctional Factors Conditioning Training

Morphofunctional factors specialized in conditioning the structure and capacity of the training work determine the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the athlete's motor abilities, including:

• Energy potential: the body's ability to produce the energy needed for training and sports competition.
• The athlete's ability: the effective use of their driving potential under training and competition conditions.
• Psychological stability: a high level of determination in solving problems under the motor conditions found in sporting activity.

The qualitative morphofunctional characteristics of the structure are specialized and determined by the type of sport (e.g., explosive, cyclic, or variable character).

The regime of body work depends specifically on the athlete's own concrete sporting activity.

The Three Main Training Components

Three main components of training are determinants for the achievement and improvement of athletic performance:

• Special physical preparation: guarantees the athlete's energy potential, mainly increasing their driving potential.
• Technical-tactical preparation: ensures the athlete's ability to take advantage of their driving potential, mainly improving the effective resolution of motor defects.
• Competitive preparation: oriented mainly toward improving stability and the psychological determination needed for competitive success.

Techniques, Tactics and Strategy

Techniques

Techniques refer to the individual's abilities that allow actions in the execution of special exercises.

Tactics

Tactics are the procedures used to deploy different techniques that allow athletes to reach set objectives.

Strategy

Strategy refers to the art of directing the coordinated application of techniques and tactics so that the expected results are obtained.

In this way, the organization of sports preparation is directed toward a main objective (achieving planned results) through three fundamental training directives:

• Increasing the athlete's driving potential (objective: special physical preparation).
• Improving the ability to effectively use that potential in competition exercises (objective: technical-tactical preparation).
• Increasing the athlete's competitive firmness (objective: competitive and psychological preparation).

In this way, the probability of error is reduced and the chances of success are greater. The coach should:

• Have solid and sufficiently substantiated objectives and make optimal decisions for the athlete.
• Provide a high degree of probability of the expected result from the training stimulus applied.

Common Coaching Errors

What errors does a coach commonly make?

• Little ability in analyzing the needs of training
• Extremism in the application of loads
• Conservative activity
• Negativism