Table Of ContentPacing
Individual
Strategies
for Optimal
Performance
Kevin G. Thompson, PhD
Human Kinetics
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Thompson, Kevin G., 1966-
Pacing : individual strategies for optimal performance / Kevin G. Thompson, PhD.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Sports--Physiological aspects. 2. Sports--Psychological aspects. 3. Cardiac pacing. I. Title.
RC1235.T57 2014
613.7’1--dc23
2014013036
ISBN (print): 978-1-4504-2123-2
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To my parents and beautiful wife and children
contents
Foreword vii
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xiii
Part I Pacing Science and Philosophy
Chapter 1 What Is Pacing? 3
Chapter 2 Understanding Pacing Strategies 15
Chapter 3 Physiology of Pacing 27
Chapter 4 Psychology of Pacing 45
Chapter 5 Adapting Pacing Strategies 59
Part II Pacing Applications for Sport
Chapter 6 Swimming 83
Chapter 7 Cycling 97
Chapter 8 Speed Skating 109
Chapter 9 Running 119
Chapter 10 Olympic and Ironman Triathlon 131
Chapter 11 Rowing 141
Chapter 12 Football 151
Chapter 13 Squash and Tennis 167
Chapter 14 Basketball 181
References 189
Index 215
About the Author 223
About the Contributors 225
v
foreword
Modern day coaches and sports scientists combine their collective expertise to plan
training, monitor responses, analyse technique, and optimize arousal for best competi-
tive performance. On the other hand, less of this kind of collective expertise is applied
to the specific tactics that their charges employ on race day. This book may well change
that trend, because Kevin Thompson and a specially selected group of practically
minded scholars demonstrate how scientists and coaches may develop closer relation-
ships at the business end of performance; and share practical and scientific knowledge
to enhance tactical awareness and planning.
Most of us have witnessed athletes, and unfortunately sometimes our own, making
a mess of their competition performance because of poor tactics. This book focusses on
methods of judging effort or pace throughout the performance to achieve the desired
outcome and it does so in a most comprehensive and effective manner, combining case
studies and experiences of internationally successful athletes with scientific studies
The authors tackle many questions that coaches deliberate, even agonize over, leading
up to important competitions. Uncertainty prevails even in the elite echelons of sport,
and even in the best coaches. On the other hand, coaches themselves have made great
inroads into methods of improving human athletic performance; these inroads are usu-
ally derived from personal experience, from their own trial and error in the big arenas.
Scientists too have made their contributions to improved human athletic performance,
explaining why certain athletes achieve greatness and why novel coaching methods
work. This type of contribution is important, because discovering why things work pro-
vides the framework for the refinements of methods that further enhance performance.
Understanding the mechanisms of improving athletic performance also allows coaches
to work from first principles. This obviates the need to simply copy successful coaches’
ideas, risky in itself because these ideas may not apply to other athletes. Pacing is a clear
case in point. Athletes have always known that holding back on initial pace in all but
the short sprints is likely to improve overall competition performance, but with a solid
understanding of pacing, coaches and scientists can plan racing and game strategies to
match individual physical and psychological profiles, their training and the environmen-
tal conditions. We are all aware that races are sometimes won and lost by milliseconds,
so very small refinements in race tactics and pacing can have very large consequences.
Similarly, to win games team-sport players have to carefully judge when to attack deci-
sively and when to defend patiently.
Kevin Thompson and the other contributors to this book are scientists who have
dedicated much of their scientific careers to understanding the nuances of pacing.
Chances are you will be surprised by the breadth of knowledge in this area these men
have compiled, much of it having emerged over the last two decades. Consider how you
would answer a few of the questions tackled by our expert contributors:
What is the best way to distribute energy during a race…is it always best to hold back
in the early stages?
If this is not always the case, when is it not the case?
Are there general rules that apply to all athletes or is pacing very much an individual
thing? How do we know what sort of athlete is best suited to a particular strategy?
Can we change this characteristic in an athlete?
What is the underlying cause of fatigue that determines the optimal pacing strategy,
and how does this vary in events of different durations?
Can the perception of fatigue and the impairment of muscle function be controlled
or modified?
vii
viii Foreword
Does the practice of drafting used so regularly in cycling provide any benefit when
used in other sports?
How do the wind, temperature and humidity affect pacing strategies?
Not all that straightforward, is it? For coaches whose pre-race comments are confined
to standard reminders to “Be careful to sit at the back of the pack running into the wind”
or “Don’t go too hard in the first lap,” this book will be an eye-opener, providing a new
perspective on pacing. A new coaching perspective can lead to new breakthrough in an
athlete’s performance, reward and satisfaction for all, and isn’t that what competitive
sport is all about?
Professor Richard D. Telford, AM, PhD, FACSM, FSMA
