'Peaking too early' nonsense

[Magpie Since 1986]

It is a phrase that seems to be thrown around a lot both on these forums and in the media and it kind of irks me.

Last year, Collingwood were said to make that mistake of "peaking too early" as if that has any power whatsoever to explain why they did not perform as well in the finals.

This year, other sides might be accused of "peaking early", maybe Carlton if they win this week and get on a roll early. I believe I heard that phrase leveled at Hawthorn last week because they were up and about at this stage of the season.

The fact of the matter is there is nothing wrong with playing good football early in the season, you do not "use up all your good football" and it does not in any way exclude you from playing well at the end of the season.

About the only meaningful comment that can be said about early season form is it does not guarantee you late season form. It does not prevent it either.

Case in point: Geelong 2011, people may have forgotten they started 14-0... did they peak too early?

To win flags you need good preparation running into the finals. If anything, getting wins on the board early helps you to prepare for finals because it gives you the luxury of resting players in the final rounds as Geelong have done recently. Collingwood also attempted this last year, but injury can impact on that preparation. If there is a downside to early season form, I'd like to hear it.

I'd much rather have Collingwood 2011 early season form than our 2012 opening.

Does anyone seriously think there is a such thing as 'peaking too early'?

 

[glenn_ox]

If there is a downside to early season form, I'd like to hear it.

Terrible premiership odds is the only one I can think of??

 

[GFC123]

I'm not sure what opinion i have on the whole "peaking to early" thing, i mean, you want your side playing good footy so they are in good form but i think Geelong have proved that you don't have to blitz through a whole season to win a premiership, we paced ourselves last year and were in better shape come finals then any other side. I actually think Collingwood will take a simular route, they will try and copy what we did in 2011, so don't be to disheartened about your 2012 start, because even though you started really well in 2011, you didn't come away with anything.

Geelong learnt this leason in 2008.

 

[mehow2g]

Peaking too early is a real thing dunno why theres a thread on it.

A team peaked too early like year which is why the scores were.

Geelong 18.11 (119) def Collingwood 12.9 (81)

 

[Magpie Since 1986]

Peaking too early is a real thing dunno why theres a thread on it.

A team peaked too early like year which is why the scores were.

Geelong 18.11 (119) def Collingwood 12.9 (81)

My point was, the reason for those scores were what happened from about Round 20 up until the GF, how Collingwood winning from Rd 1 to 7 had any relevance whatsoever I still have not had explained in anything other than buzz words.

 

[Blessed]

On the whole I feel largely positive about the game. We put the cue in the rack halfway through the third. Our stars seem like they are gradually winding up into gear after a hard preseason. Our kids are getting invaluable experience in the big league.

 

[markjjj]

Apparently after we lost 5 meaningless PS games we were shot.

Now we've won 2 real games, we've peaked to early.


I think Carlton and to a lesser extent, Hawthorn fans, will never, ever, win.

Thats why it will be so sweet if either of us happen to win a flag in the next couple of seasons.

 

[The Finger]

Collingwood didn't peak to early they mismanaged their team.

 

[MisterMarcus]

I don't think anyone accused Collingwood of peaking too early last season? They just copped a bunch of injuries and suspensions later in the year that meant key blokes were badly underdone come finals time.

"Peaking too early" is mostly used for younger and up-and-coming teams, who explode out of the blocks in Round One but are mentally and physically stuffed by July.

 

[reg_lower91]

I agree and yet I disagree (kinda sitting on the fence).

I don't see why teams can't adopted the old cliche of "one week at a time" and why a team's form necessarily has to "peak". As Judd pointed out in article a week or so ago, if teams don't start the season with some wins under their belt, they can't afford to necessarily resting players half/ two-thirds of the way through the year. Hence, your preparation for finals may be altered. So it is important for teams to get off to a good start in the year.

BUT, having said so, winning games early doesn't necessarily mean winning "pretty" per se. I refer to Collingwood earlier on last year who seemed to be just cruising through at 3rd gear and only really playing 1-2 quarters a game - just enough to get the job done.

SO, I can understand the term, as I think the ideal prep is playing some nice footy Rounds 1-10, winning "ugly" in rounds 10-16, then getting back in to some form round 17 onwards. I just don't see why this needs to be the case.

 

[toeknee2]

I'm not sure what opinion i have on the whole "peaking to early" thing, i mean, you want your side playing good footy so they are in good form but i think Geelong have proved that you don't have to blitz through a whole season to win a premiership, we paced ourselves last year and were in better shape come finals then any other side. I actually think Collingwood will take a simular route, they will try and copy what we did in 2011, so don't be to disheartened about your 2012 start, because even though you started really well in 2011, you didn't come away with anything.

Geelong learnt this leason in 2008.

What do you mean you learnt this lesson in 2008? Surely your not suggesting you had bad form or were tired on GF day. You lost because Hawthorn used the rules to rush points and had someone called Stewie Dew playing for them. He ripped you guys a new ass. There was nothing wrong with Geelong at that time.

While I'm at it I would just like to say last year's premiership was the only one I realy admired from your club, it was a ripper. The '07 was a chump year (Geelong was the only team "up") and '09 could have gone either way even though the Saints were an average Grandfinalist.
If you win it this year I will really take my hat off to your team, I can't remember a year in history with so many genuine contenders.

 

[Timmy from Thomastown]

Collingwood didn't peak to early they mismanaged their team.

Thank God we sacked the coach.

 

[Killer eagle]

I suppose you would have to come to terms what the term actually means.

Are you telling the players to only give it 90% at the start of the year, then towards the end ramp it up to 100%. I think that's ridiculous, as the coach would expect 100% every game.

Or are teams resting a lot of there star players until the end of the year so try can get a full strength team. IMO if your capable of playing a game, and your good enough, you will play.

Only other thing I can think of is coaches rest there good players more during the game, then come the end of the year give them more game time. I doubt that tho to. Players need experience and game time, no matter how good you are.

IMO peaking to early is a dodgy term. Form isn't something you can just switch on and off. Coaches plan on every game to win, and want the best out of there players, whether it's the start/middle or end of the season.

Sometimes things just click. The gameplan works well, players are given it everything and the players skills are good. The team wins games. Sometimes the opposite happens and teams lose games. It's not rocket science.

 

[The Finger]

Thank God we sacked the coach.

Is your fitness manager still there? Your football director? How about the president? I'm sure Eddie was prouncing around when you where 20-1.

 

[Rioli magic]

I agree OP, I think I'd rather try and maintain form than find it, plus early wins is like one in the hand....

What do you mean you learnt this lesson in 2008? Surely your not suggesting you had bad form or were tired on GF day. You lost because Hawthorn used the rules to rush points and had someone called Stewie Dew playing for them. He ripped you guys a new ass. There was nothing wrong with Geelong at that time.

Nothing wrong with Geelong, but most agree Hawthorn were in better form throughout that finals series.

 

[Schauermann]

Teams peak when they reach peak form and have the right players available/picked. You can't really plan it, it just happens...

And winning early on might even allow you to rest player in the last two weeks, when a home final is already yours...

 

[The Bomb]

Peaking to early is a horse racing term, Trainers like B Cummings trains his horses so they are at their best in certain races.
Footballers can also peak to early, Paul Roos is a great coach who really tried to have his players at their best in september not march april.
They try and not to do as much physical / contact training before the Nap cup starts, Hird said this season Essendon have done little physical contact training before the Nab cup, and will amp things up once it started, while Adelaide W/C were 6- 8 weeks into their physical / contact training.
Which would mean W/C and Adelaide would be Physically at their best 8 weeks before Essendon will start to peak.
question is how long can they peak, most horses only peak for a couple of races.

 

[Scodog10]

For anyone who doesn't believe in teams peaking to early let me ask you this. Does the best team in June win the premiership or the best team in September?? Of course in a perfect world you'd take both, but we don't live in a perfect world now do we....

 

[BABYBOMBERS2007]

It is possible for teams to peak too early. I remember this stuff from one of my uni subjects last year or the year before - I can picture the lecture slides in my head. Teams often do a yearly plan, where they want their players and their performance to be. Basically, they want their players to peak around finals time and be as close to their best that they can be, in regards to fitness, strength, performance, etc. During the season, they want the players to be up there, but not as close to their best as they can. They work on everything during the season.

Yes it is important for players to be good during the regular season and for players to play at their best too. However if a team does perform at 100% during the regular season, they will eventually decline in performance. Now they still may win many games and could even win the GF, however it still is peaking too early. This is why good teams will peak around finals time as it is impossible to maintain such a high level of performance over long periods.

Ultimately, teams can peak too early, which is why they may appear flat come the later parts of the season and finals time. However it doesn't mean they cannot win the flag though. It is best the have a high performance level during the season and to peak later so that the best performances are done during finals.

 

[drummond2fevola]

You can't tell me Geelong were playing better at the start of the year than at the end of the year. Yes they went 14-0, but a couple of results could have easily swung the other way, but by years end they were dominant.

Peaking too early exists, it is not myth.

 

[Natho]

Carlton havnt even peaked.. They look the goods so far. If they keep building up their form they will be hard to beat.

Geelong managed themselves perfectly last year and were once again primed for September action. Having the week off in the finals is also a major factor for any side too.

 

[maxy87]

You can't tell me Geelong were playing better at the start of the year than at the end of the year. Yes they went 14-0, but a couple of results could have easily swung the other way, but by years end they were dominant.

Peaking too early exists, it is not myth.

Definitely. Especially given the age profile of Geelongs regular 25 odd players at that time. Player fitness/workload is managed to the very last 3km time trial. It's likely to be a reason why players have their distance ran per game measured via GPS and why sides such as Geelong began a heavy training period in late June last year.

I dare say Adelaide being up and about in the NAB cup and in the first few games of the season so far will leave them physically and mentally cooked by July.

The case for Collingwood is (arguably) slightly different as they copped injury/suspension at inopportune times throughout the year, but they still were flying for a lot of the year (especially early) when there was no real need to be playing at that level of intensity IMO

 

[blitzer]

Teams do need to be reaching their peak form during the finals however that is not necessarily mutually exclusive with playing quality football early in the season. We've seen teams start off on fire and then wear down or not get the job done as the year has gone on. Adelaide 2006, St.Kilda 2010 are good examples. We've seen other teams just dominate the whole year and win the flag eg Essendon 2000. We've seen other teams start off slow then get on a roll and win the flag eg Brisbane 2001, Geelong 2007. Sometimes teams just make it to the finals in unremarkable fashion but pop up at the right time eg Adelaide 97/98. There is no one way to get there. More often than not its injuries that dictate the form guide of a side and I can't think of many premiership sides that have had lots of injuries and still got the job done.

Because there's so much media these days and because the seasons are so long we need something to talk about for all these early games and few topics are more interesting than trying to guess who the next premier will be. The truth is we jump the gun every single year and will continue to do so.

 

[fishardansin]

Winning form is good form and the confidence that it brings around the club can only be a good thing. Of course it is good to have some disappointment through the year to let players know that if they're slightly off their game they lose. I think this is where the idea of peaking too early comes from. Pretty sure this is a crock and most players know this anyhow from years of experience.

Where peaking too early is an issue is that the coaches lay all their cards on the table. I think it is good to keep a few tactics and ideas up your sleeve come finals. Sure work on them at training but keep them away from opposition coaches so they don't have a plan to counter them.

 

[Big Kahuna Boot]

..it's a tricky situation.. ....in a season like last year, and most likely this season.. ..if you don't peak early in the season, you may not get enough wins to make top 4.. ..you may still get plenty of wins, but miss the double chance.. ..top 4 contenders will be trying to manage their list for later in the year, training programs over the off-season will reflect this.. ..but all the same, they need to be close to that 'peak form' early in the season, otherwise there may just be too much ground to cover to catch up to the 'leaders'..

..teams will now be looking to be close to peak form all season long, to have a good buffer on direct competition so they have opportunity to rest/manage their best 21 through the season..