Energy Categories
Submitted by Jonty Skinner and Deb Whitney Energy Categories have been around for many decades and the current system adopted by USA Swimming has been in use for almost 15 years. During that period we’ve gone from a handful of coaches using the system to an increased number of our coaches using the system. Although this is a positive trend, last year we conducted a poll among coaches to gauge the level of use and interest in this area. The result was a mixed bag. Although it showed that a large percentage of coaches used some form of energy categories, not all coaches used the USA system. When Dr. Sokolovas joined USA Swimming he was very used to using the European version, (Zone 1 to V) and this in itself has inundated many coaches with another system or way of designing or evaluating/gauging swimmer workloads.
Granted all systems do essentially the same thing, the basic difference is the number of individual categories recognized within the energy continuum. Although we approach these in a way that makes them look like individual zones or areas, we should all remember that there are no solid boundaries between categories and everything is very grey versus being black and white.
With this in mind we came up with a new version/interpretation that encompasses many elements that are intrinsic to a combination of the old version and the current European system. It can be seen as something that is simple with few categories (4), or something more complex with the same number of categories as recognized in the current system (7). We have structured it in a way that evolves 7 categories out of the simpler 4, and allows coaches who prefer a simple approach to still compare and communicate with coaches who prefer 7. It also gives introductory coaches an easier starting point, and allows them to increase the number of categories when they are comfortable within the basic system.
It is our hope that all coaches in this country will adopt this system as the only system they use, (7 or 4) and as we migrate towards Internet based tracking and training volume systems, having a universally recognized system in place will streamline the process of data gathering. This will eventually lead to the utilization of this source of knowledge as a foundation for future athlete development. See energy zone charts below.
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