Many athletes have more intense competitive tendency rather than others have. And, athletes with different tapering regimes belong to different psychological profiles.

The recovery time from heavy training or intense competitions is longer in some athletes than in others. This is particularly the case with older athletes. Many players, who begin late in their career find that they are incompetent, and are only able to be trained lightly from one week to the next.

Such light loads are required to facilitate recovery and negate the possibility of further overload training to produce altered fitness states. Coaches should recognize these differences either by reducing the training load or lengthening the recovery period in athletes who display the symptoms of chronic fatigue.

Strength-trained athletes show a level of maintenance of strength-related variables during periods of inactivity. Hence, reduced or tapered loads can be extended without fear of deterioration in strength or explosive power performance. On the other hand, endurance qualities are lost quickly, and extended periods of reduced training in distance-oriented athletes are not recommended. Thus an athlete type of training will require different programming considerations with regard to what occurs in recovery periods. However, even within like sports, individuals will recover at varying rates.

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Responsiveness :

Individual differences have great impact on responsiveness in the field of skill-learning and performance. A person of one age will respond differently from one of another age, such as in the example of strength training and the maturational factor of puberty.

With regard to training loads, young athletes will break down and recover faster in training than they will when they become older. The practice of individualizing programmes requires consideration of the responsiveness to training factors.

Needs and Preferences :

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Some individuals want to become a doctor whereas some, sportsman. Some are emotional while some, materialistic. Some have desire for power, some for money or even fame. These are because of variations in needs and preferences in different individuals. They perform according to their needs and preferences. In order to the productivity of training, a coach should try to cater to each athletes likes and dislikes.

Some athletes thrive on the formal requirements of interval training accompanied by exact timing of distances and regular monitoring of heart rates. Others prefer a mix of continuous, over-distance, and Fartlek work. Although athletes should not be encouraged to work only on their strengths and ignore their weaknesses, it is important for them to develop and maintain a positive attitude and adhere strictly to a training schedule.

Tolerances :

Athletes often set the ‘training standards’ imposed by the coach but are not capable of succeeding in contests against the pears whom they have beaten consistently in training. Their performances also show that fitness is not the only factor responsible for achieving sporting success.

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The tolerance of training loads also seems to be related to an athlete’s history of involvement. It is simply not possible to withstand the rigors of a heavy training and competitive schedule if the foundation or basic training is weak and insubstantial.

Gradual adaptation to training over a number of years provides an essential basis for absorbing later heavy loads. The coach must carefully monitor the capacity of the athlete to cope with the training load and adjust the training programme when necessary.