Elite swimmers’ and coaches’ understanding and psychological experience of taper: A multi-phase qualitative investigation

Abstract

Taper is an important component of race preparation in swimming but often misunderstood by athletes and coaches. Thus, through a multi-phase qualitative investigation, we aimed to examine swimmers’ and coaches’ understanding and psychological experience (i.e., thoughts, feelings, and behaviors) associated with taper. An interpretive descriptive methodology was used in both phases, with data collected via semi-structured interviews and analyzed in line with interpretive description recommendations. Findings from Phase 1 and 2 suggested swimmers and coaches understood taper as an idiosyncratic, multidimensional, and unpredictable training phase, and their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors centered around ensuring taper had positive psychological and performance related effects. Findings from both phases were also examined to identify similarities in key psychological features associated with taper. This revealed the psychology of taper is complex, imperfect, and multilevel in nature. Overall, our research provides the first detailed insight into the psychology of taper in elite athletes and highlights the need for further research and applied considerations in this area.