Testing protocol
How many tests should you run? How often should you test? What is the culture around testing?
Questions that have been asked by myself and by other coaches. Testing in general seems to be one of those topics that will be debated until the end of time. It shouldn't come as any surprise that the opinions on testing are as varied as there are ways to row.
I don't know what the correct answer is for the first two questions.
How many tests? I believe it comes down to what you're trying to learn, and what your training plans for.
I believe that three or four tests per season (fall & spring) is plenty. I also treat tests like races so the week of the test is handled like the week of a race. We prepare for it. I prefer my tests on Fridays and in the afternoon if possible. Thursday is a light day. Wednesday would be a medium light day. Monday and Tuesday have some lifts in it - when I say lifts, I usually mean the intensity of the training, not weight lifting. I also try and schedule tests to happen within our training cycles. I like four week cycles, sometimes six, so I try and place the test as the last difficult bit of the cycle just before the recovery week.
I like to test Fridays because it gives the athletes five and a half days (Saturday afternoon to Friday) to prepare for it. Hydration, rest, recovery, fueling. Some will get it right. Some won't. But that's down to the individual and what they hope to accomplish.
How often? Again, what are you trying to accomplish?
Four 2k tests is plenty for me. We measure out the data for other workouts, and the idea is to approach each workout with the goal of improving. Cover more meters, lower split at the same rate, or a higher rate along with a lower split. Quicker recovery with the heart rate. Subbing a piece or pieces. Because of that, I don't feel as though we absolutely must test often.
I like to end my testing in April. That leaves all of May to focus on the final phase of training. I tend to test more earlier in the spring. I might run a test in January, two in February, and one in March. That, to me, is plenty.
The culture around testing? I cannot stand a culture of fear when it comes to testing. What I tell the athletes is this: If you're afraid of the erg, and of the test piece, then I won't boat you. Because races are much more mentally and physically demanding than the single piece. A test is run within the family. Everyone around you supports you. It's you, and the erg. That's all. A race is you and your boat against five to six other crews. It's your lineup against five or six other lineups. There's no external help. No one is there to support you. So if you fold under pressure in the face of a test, then you will most definitely be at your worst when the boat needs you the most.
I tend to insulate my athletes if the existing culture is negative. I worked at a junior program where the head coaches and previous novice coach created a culture of fear and pressure around each test. The varsity athletes, men and women, were mentally shot when it came to testing. They were so afraid of the tests because of the former novice coaches, and because the varsity coaches drove that. The ergs were also used as punishment which is something I am wholly against. Never use a tool that improves you as a way to punish an athlete. The varsity would sew their fear of the tests into the novices so I created a rule that no varsity athlete could be in the room during the test. They were not allowed to watch, they were not allowed to interact with the novices. And I tore into one of the varsity athletes in front of the entire program and coaches when he tried to scare the novices.
It was extreme, but I wanted to shift the mentality of test, and what I wanted did not fit with the existing culture. The varsity athletes grew angry that they were never allowed to watch the novice tests, and the varsity coaches were not fans of this, but I refused to change until the culture around the tests began to shift.
I do not make anything "life or death" within the sport. The excellent basketball coach, Dean Smith, would say that if you make things life or death, you're going to be dead, a lot. And I agree. Nothing we do in sport is ever life or death. Nothing.
I won't swear my approach toward testing and the culture I build works everywhere, but it works for me, and at the programs I coach at. We don't down play the tests, but we do not build them into these monolithic pieces where your fate is determined by the next six to seven minutes. I find that stupid, useless, and often creating more problems than solving.
That's my protocol for testing. Treat them as tests, but not as life and death. Treat every piece as an opportunity to improve and demonstrate that improvement. Tests for me, are a piece of the puzzle, not the entire puzzle. And testing tells me more about your fitness and mentality than it does about pure boat speed.
Whatever your protocol, whatever your approach, make sure it's consistent, make sure your training and attitude match it.
Questions that have been asked by myself and by other coaches. Testing in general seems to be one of those topics that will be debated until the end of time. It shouldn't come as any surprise that the opinions on testing are as varied as there are ways to row.
I don't know what the correct answer is for the first two questions.
How many tests? I believe it comes down to what you're trying to learn, and what your training plans for.
I believe that three or four tests per season (fall & spring) is plenty. I also treat tests like races so the week of the test is handled like the week of a race. We prepare for it. I prefer my tests on Fridays and in the afternoon if possible. Thursday is a light day. Wednesday would be a medium light day. Monday and Tuesday have some lifts in it - when I say lifts, I usually mean the intensity of the training, not weight lifting. I also try and schedule tests to happen within our training cycles. I like four week cycles, sometimes six, so I try and place the test as the last difficult bit of the cycle just before the recovery week.
I like to test Fridays because it gives the athletes five and a half days (Saturday afternoon to Friday) to prepare for it. Hydration, rest, recovery, fueling. Some will get it right. Some won't. But that's down to the individual and what they hope to accomplish.
How often? Again, what are you trying to accomplish?
Four 2k tests is plenty for me. We measure out the data for other workouts, and the idea is to approach each workout with the goal of improving. Cover more meters, lower split at the same rate, or a higher rate along with a lower split. Quicker recovery with the heart rate. Subbing a piece or pieces. Because of that, I don't feel as though we absolutely must test often.
I like to end my testing in April. That leaves all of May to focus on the final phase of training. I tend to test more earlier in the spring. I might run a test in January, two in February, and one in March. That, to me, is plenty.
The culture around testing? I cannot stand a culture of fear when it comes to testing. What I tell the athletes is this: If you're afraid of the erg, and of the test piece, then I won't boat you. Because races are much more mentally and physically demanding than the single piece. A test is run within the family. Everyone around you supports you. It's you, and the erg. That's all. A race is you and your boat against five to six other crews. It's your lineup against five or six other lineups. There's no external help. No one is there to support you. So if you fold under pressure in the face of a test, then you will most definitely be at your worst when the boat needs you the most.
I tend to insulate my athletes if the existing culture is negative. I worked at a junior program where the head coaches and previous novice coach created a culture of fear and pressure around each test. The varsity athletes, men and women, were mentally shot when it came to testing. They were so afraid of the tests because of the former novice coaches, and because the varsity coaches drove that. The ergs were also used as punishment which is something I am wholly against. Never use a tool that improves you as a way to punish an athlete. The varsity would sew their fear of the tests into the novices so I created a rule that no varsity athlete could be in the room during the test. They were not allowed to watch, they were not allowed to interact with the novices. And I tore into one of the varsity athletes in front of the entire program and coaches when he tried to scare the novices.
It was extreme, but I wanted to shift the mentality of test, and what I wanted did not fit with the existing culture. The varsity athletes grew angry that they were never allowed to watch the novice tests, and the varsity coaches were not fans of this, but I refused to change until the culture around the tests began to shift.
I do not make anything "life or death" within the sport. The excellent basketball coach, Dean Smith, would say that if you make things life or death, you're going to be dead, a lot. And I agree. Nothing we do in sport is ever life or death. Nothing.
I won't swear my approach toward testing and the culture I build works everywhere, but it works for me, and at the programs I coach at. We don't down play the tests, but we do not build them into these monolithic pieces where your fate is determined by the next six to seven minutes. I find that stupid, useless, and often creating more problems than solving.
That's my protocol for testing. Treat them as tests, but not as life and death. Treat every piece as an opportunity to improve and demonstrate that improvement. Tests for me, are a piece of the puzzle, not the entire puzzle. And testing tells me more about your fitness and mentality than it does about pure boat speed.
Whatever your protocol, whatever your approach, make sure it's consistent, make sure your training and attitude match it.
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