What to do in the Off-Season
When it comes to a typical sporting year we have 3 major phases that every sport will go through. For some sports, this may be one cycle throughout the entire year, for others you may see this cycle completed multiple times in one year or one entire process may take multiple years to complete. However, without a doubt, every athlete will go through this cycle at some point.
Figure 1- The Typical Cycle of Sport
Every sport will go through this cycle (Figure 1). From off-season into a pre-season followed by a period of competition, with competition lasting anywhere from 1 event to 6 + months (Depending on the sport).
What happens with the pros is in the off-season they jet off somewhere around the globe and have a much-needed holiday. It is their time to get away and relax. We all need holidays and we all need time off to refresh but these are the pros for a reason. They have put in the hard work and are playing in the best leagues around the world.
So what does “Off-Season” actually mean?
A definition of Off-Season is;
A period of time after the conclusion of the season where athletes decrease sport-specific skill work and start to focus on functional movement and strength development.
A competitive phase can be long and tiring, so you need to take some time away and relax. For most team sports that is a minimum 6 weeks away from the club after the completion of the season.
However, I am a strong believer that this does not mean stopping everything. As figure 1 outlines, all the different phases throughout the cycle are all linked. If you have a strong off-season that leads into your pre-season, if you have a strong pre-season then that leads into how you perform during your competition and if you have a good competition phase then that fuels the fire to have a strong off-season. So the cycle begins again.
Strong Off-Season = Strong Pre-Season
Strong Pre-Season = Strong Competive Phase
Strong Competitve Phase = Winning & Results
So, this is where we come back to the off-season. Not only is it important to have some time off, to relax, to enjoy life and to do what you want. It is also very important to make sure that it is a successful period as well. You’re not going to improve your performance just because you did a bit of extra work in the off-season.
BUT
You are going to set yourself up for a very strong pre-season. And the pre-season is where you begin to improve your strengths and work on your weaknesses.
My takeaways
Enjoy Life
You will need to give up some things throughout the competitive phase to be truely successful, so enjoy life in the off-season. Relax.
A Strong Off-Season is Key
Get in the gym, work on yourself. It’s not about being specific but start building yourself
