Off Season Vs In Season
The difference is drastic people but is there a difference. A senior student provided me with a very controversial statement recently “There is no such thing as sports specific training”.
The theory is that no exercise done during resistance training can mimic a dynamic movement as a movement done on the field or court. So the only way to improve your sport is by actually playing the sport.

So WHY have the proverbial Off-season?
Should Teko Modise, Pierre Spies, AB De Villiers not get a rest from crazy schedules? Because honestly neither of these 3 get a quality 4 to 5 month Off-season?
But what’s the definitive functional meaning of Off season and In-season. Off season is time spent away from your professional sport, correcting muscle imbalances, increasing strength and fitness for the future season ahead. In-season being the time where the professional season takes place, where all energy is spent on game strategy and improving game related skills i.e. set piece moves and rectifying mistakes from game situation.

During In-season, shouldn’t time be spent on maintaining fitness and brushing up skills not learning new skills and new strategies? Due to insufficient pre-season training structure new skill development is substituted rather than game specific training. This is where playing your professional sport in the off season on weekly or monthly basis can in long-term improve your ability to adapt and perfect in season performance.

Resistance training can only strengthen 1 or 2 planes of movement that will improve performance. Don’t get me wrong that resistance training does not improve sports specific performance; it does but only to a certain degree. Depending on what type of athlete (professional or social) you are, not what sport you play is the crucial decider how much resistance training will improve your skill levels for In-season performance.

There are many dynamic exercises specific to sport out there that have not been explored and the public has never seen before.

Relation to Training:

Seasonal training should be planned
Each aspect of the training and sport should be covered in the training
Each individual should adjust their training to their personal needs
Season Specific training and adjustments need to be accurate, this should be decided by the athlete and the coaching staff
All the training combined aids to the end product not just the training in one season. If the training was not properly executed then the athlete might lack in one department of fitness

Regards
Chrysilla Stander

Thank you to Tyrone Henry