Fencing training goals and periodization

The fencing season in most US fencing divisions poses significant problems in training periodization for competitive fencers. Fencing is now a year-round sport, with competitions every month and, in some cases, opportunities for fencers to fence in a close-range competition every weekend. In this environment, planning a periodized training program requires close agreement between the goals of the individual fencer, the desire to win, and the overall structure of a club or hall training program.

Classic periodization creates four levels of training cycles:

1. Super macrocycles: multi-year cycles to prepare for events that occur less frequently than a year; the Olympic quadrennium is an example.
2. Macrocycles: a single training cycle covering one year (in some cases, two macrocycles may be appropriate).
3. Mesocycles: A series of training cycles, up to 6, within a macrocycle.
4. Microcycles – the weekly training cycle.

The structure of the training cycles is logically linked to the key competitive events in a fencing year. What those key competitive events are depends on the level and goals of the fencer. For an elite athlete working to make a national team, every single event in the selection process is a key event. On this athlete’s schedule, the typical A2 Division event is inconsequential and only valuable to the extent that it serves as a training event. Actual events vary by weapon and age group, but include North American Cup circuit events, Summer Nationals, and select World Cup and Grand Prix events. For a senior foil fencer, this is a minimum of seven events awarding points towards the national points list, culminating in the World Championships, the event in which the fencer must perform best. For the handful of top elite fencers, this is a single macrocycle, with individual mesocycles for each target event.

For most fencers, however, qualifying for the Junior Olympics or Summer Nationals is a tall order, let alone succeeding at the event. For a cadet fencer, this could be two macrocycles with the Junior Olympics as one and the Summer Nationals as the second. But each of these macrocycles requires performance in a qualifying event that is maximal for the average fencer, managing at least two mesocycles. The challenge is to identify, from the wide range of tournaments available, events within the macrocycle that will serve as important setups for both the qualifiers and domestic events, and that can serve as targets in the mesocycles.

This is further complicated by the need to achieve the proper ranking to qualify for the desired event. For example, I trained a Canadian fencer living in the United States whose goal was to be able to fence in a Division 1 event. He earned his C rating in a Division 3 event, but did so too late to enter a circuit tournament. Division 1 cup (a C is the minimum classification to enter) before returning to Canada.

What does this mean for the coach using periodized training? First, the coach and fencer must have well-understood and mutually agreed-upon goals, and those goals must be long-term strategic goals, supported by seasonal goals. The objectives drive the overall design of the training program.

Second, the coach and fencer must choose events that logically contribute to achieving the goals of the training program. Not all tournaments are worth the maximum effort. Some tournaments should be skipped altogether or treated only as training events for the fencer to use to work on specific problems (since understanding that medals or rankings are not the goal can be difficult for some athletes).

And third, enough time must be allowed between key tournaments for the training process to work. If a fencer trains 5 days a week and fences a weekend match, it is possible to run a full microcycle between matches, including rest and recovery time. However, if a fencer trains only one or two days a week, it is very difficult to vary the length, intensity, and composition of training sessions to make significant progress. This is true even if one of the many alternative periodization models is selected: conjugate, concurrent, skill/strength, or multi-rhythm.

All of this means that both the coach and the fencer must understand their goals and work together to find the best training approach that meets the competitive objectives within the reality of the club environment, the time available and the fencer’s ability to train. Periodized training is a complex approach to training with a proven track record of improving athlete performance. It is also a method that requires both coach and athlete to understand and commit to its application.