Episode 4 - Competition Season is starting. First ranking events are around the corner.

 Competition Season is starting. First Opens are around the corner. What can we expect from the tournaments, and how can teams prepare for these?

  In this episode, Coaches César Valentim and Peter Nestler talk about the upcoming competitions, the ranking events. After the two-month hiatus, the engines are running again and the athletes face each other on upcoming G Tournaments.
  The challenges in planning and Periodization, the attendance numbers in these first events, and the investments necessary to keep up with all the requirements.
  What opportunities are out there? How will the first and second semester look like? This episode is all about the start of the 2022 Competition Season.

  This podcast is supported by Hawkin Dynamics and Athlete Analyzer!

Transcript

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Speaker 1 0:01

Have you been looking for a Teon do podcast with qualified people who know what they're talking about, who help you keep up with everything going on in the Teon do world? Well, you found it. This is the Teon do podcast. Teon do news competitions in a of the events training in sports science, keeping the fans, coaches and high performance athletes up to date with the latest news and trends on Olympic TaeKwonDo. Let's do this. This is the TaeKwonDo podcast. And now your host coach, Cesar Valenti team and Peter Nestle .

Speaker 2 0:41

Hello and welcome to the Teon do podcast. We are a podcast based out of Austria in English language for everyone out there who likes Teon on this episode, we talk about the competition season that is about to start new events and opportunities. Welcome to our podcast. I'm coach Saar , Valenti team a with me coach Peter Nestler. Hi, Peter, how are you? The world ACON Federation decided a couple of years ago that December and January should be an offseason. I it , and in February we get back to competition. How does the mean season looks like to you?

Speaker 3 1:25

Well , uh , this year will be the quite a complicated year because , uh , there is still the pandemic. We don't know what , uh, will happen in , in the next few weeks. We see numbers of infections rising sharply. Uh , we it's difficult to calculate. We have a lot of events on the calendar now, but we don't know which of them really will happen, which of them will attract , uh , competitors. You could see that some of the early events don't have that high , uh , numbers of inscriptions though. They were , uh , uh , uh , put to cheat too . Um, it will be diff difficult season in my opinion.

Speaker 2 2:12

Well, we've seen that in other sports, some of the events because of the restrictions of the countries or the lack of restrictions in some countries, they ended up being , uh , COVID clusters. We have the, the case of Hungary where they organized , uh , handball events. And because , uh , even though the concept and regulations of the event , uh , allowed them to have a safe bubble, the fact that , uh , it hotels and some of the places that the athletes and teams shared with other people , uh , in a country that didn't have the regulations like mandatory mask , uh , allow them to have contact with people that were not following the same prevention plan, therefore creating clusters, and even , uh , in some case canceling events. It's , uh , one of the things that will count in the next few months , uh , the, the location of the events and where we are organizing the events, maybe choosing countries that have lower restrictions allows us to have the events, but in other case increases the risk a lot. And the once the players are there, it's probably a little bit too late and the events get to have some , uh , different , uh , uh , challenges.

Speaker 3 3:17

Yeah. And the other end , uh , you say the , the , the countries with lower regulation level on the other end, you have , uh , countries with a higher regulation level. So they tends to cancel events very early. It's a difficult season it's will stay a difficult season. The bubble system is the only thing that makes real sense, but it has a be restricted to the event itself. So no influence from other tourists or even, even , even the , the , the people working there have to be included in the bubble system. So it's a lot of , uh , brain work to do to have safe events.

Speaker 2 3:58

The amount of event in the next few months is actually impressive. Uh, the calendar, the world, a calendar has been updated almost weekly. Some events have been added, some events have been pushed forward. It's a little bit hard to, to count , uh , on the events. Some events are overcrowded, others are not , uh , it's. It makes the teams , uh, have to pay a close attention to the registration lists and talk to other teams to understand which ones will be more busier busier than others. Um, it allows of course , uh , to, to decide , uh, in just a short notice, which events we're gonna go to, therefore making the prioritization, that training plans a little more , uh , flexible, but also a little more complicated. How do you , uh , take , uh , into consideration those events when you plan your training plan?

Speaker 3 4:48

Well , uh , regarding the, the training periodization, we have a , in the moment the calendar is full. So you have to calculate with a full calendar when , if some of the events drop out well, they out it's okay. You just con con keep continuing with your, your trainings plan , um , regarding the allocation, which, which , uh , events to, to visit. That's a strategy. That's always a strategy. There is , uh , the top level at athletes. They will just collect their points at , at any of the events. Um , and then there's the big mass of, of , of athletes, which sometimes go more strategic way to collect points in the current , uh , ranking system. This will be difficult because , uh , if you set on one of the events with , uh , maybe a lower level of participation and that one drops out, you , you will lose the points or you , you could not collect any points so very difficult year this year. Um, but so , yeah, it is what it is .

Speaker 2 5:54

We are on a race 2 20, 24 it's , uh , two and a half years until the next qualification. So the athletes need to take , uh , as much , uh , points as possible from these early events that are not canceled and that we are in with most certain going to, to, to have, and to be able to compete at , uh, allows us to also have a lot of , uh, blocking a lot of , uh, ulation , uh , in the prioritization. So , so that the players keep with the peak performance as long as possible drop for just a little moment and go back. Of course, having the two months I eight is that allows us to have a kind of off season between December and , uh , February. Uh , it's important for athletes, but I think that the 24 years , uh , month cycle, 24 months cycle is a little bit , uh , uh , extensive cycle for the teams that are , uh, struggling with the logistics, struggling that the athletes are not professional and they have to attend school university. Um, do your players , uh, uh , look into the future with , uh , positive , uh , uh, um , mindsets, will they, do they see these , uh , are they aware of , uh , what's ahead of them?

Speaker 3 7:09

Um , in some cases they're not, but , uh , I always tend to say that it's not as , so , uh , task to always think about the full picture. That's, that's the task of the , the coaches and, and , uh , also the federations. Um, we try to keep them away from all the problems. That's what we, what we always do with our athletes, so that the full thing like planning or with all the trouble restrictions and whatever, keep it away from the athletes. It's very important to keep them doing their sport only to, to , to , to do the trainings, to do good fights in the events. That's what , what we want them to do,

Speaker 2 7:56

Considering all the calendar and the fact that the , the travel restrictions, the bubble systems in the events , uh, are you taking that into consideration regarding training? Because training is , uh , probably the most complicated thing we have to do in the very busy calendar when to fit the events, training events, when to fit the training camps with other teams , uh , test matches. Uh , um, how do you look into the bubble system and what do you think it's gonna bring to training preparation for most of the teams that are not in the big budget, in the big powerhouses that don't have the budget to just , uh, go away for a few months and , uh , train in the bubbles that somewhere else?

Speaker 3 8:37

Well , um , as you said, there's the big teams always have their bottle system also in the training camps and, and wherever. And there's the smaller teams who cannot afford , uh , like , uh , systems like that. And, but it's taking risk into the system. It's always , uh , important to know with whom you are having a camp or who is attending a camp , uh , and , and which championships, which events you are visiting. That's why I'm always , uh , asking the organizers about , uh , the COVID protocol in some cases , uh , I dunno , tell who it was. I get two pages and that , that was it. I , I was not satisfied about that. Um, some cases there's , those are nice protocol, very sophisticated one, but that is what you have to take into consideration. Also, if you're a small team , um, don't go anywhere to do just training as you were used to , uh , because once , uh , once you , you , you get COVID award into your system, it costs a lot of time. And as we know, the calendar is very tight in a moment that will cost you a lot of opportunities.

Speaker 2 9:53

Are you in favor of , uh , teams having bigger camps , uh , continental level camps, or do you think to ring this competition season is wiser to have smaller , uh , bubbles and smaller events?

Speaker 3 10:07

Um, it has to be , uh , the , the , the , the optimum size. Let me say that way , where you can still control the bubble system. It does not make sense to have a very open system with big cams, with , uh , hundreds of , uh , athletes attending and coaches, and whoever is going there. You have to still manage the system.

Speaker 2 10:30

You think the job of , uh , managing that system relies , uh , the club themselves, or you should also be extended. Do the member national associations or continental unions,

Speaker 3 10:39

They could take over some , uh, some, some , some jobs. I mean, in the moment, very ma a lot of systems are a lot of those BU bubble systems are being created by , uh, clubs , uh , regarding the trainings and the events are done mainly by the federations. There could be some, some guys responsible for, for, for creating such standards for the bubble systems, which could also be done by , uh, the, the continental , uh , federations. So probably

Speaker 2 11:17

Creating , uh , an alternative calendar, not only a competition calendar, but , uh , worldwide , uh , events and promotion calendar that will go way above and beyond what the national teams are doing, but also the small organizations.

Speaker 3 11:30

Yeah, that's true. Includes. Um , as in the moment you have standards for those camps, whatever you could include them to a calendar. In my opinion,

Speaker 1 11:44

You're listening to the Teon do podcast now back to your hosts, coach Caesar , Valenti team , and Peter Nestler.

Speaker 2 11:56

So welcome back the events , uh , that we are gonna be talking about. They're still , uh , a few weeks away from us because we're recording this episode ahead of time. Uh , so for logistic reasons, the , we do have the list and we have a , an idea, an overview of the events that will be a little bit busi . Um, we see that <inaudible> , uh , president's cup Turkish opened their , uh , not , uh, the numbers we expected either too big or not as big as usual. Um, how do you look at these events? How do you think it will be at the first tournaments and why are some events more competitive than others?

Speaker 3 12:39

Well, when you look at the registrations in a moment, you will see that , uh , Turkish open is below expectations, in my opinion, well, below expectations also president's cup is below expectations. In moment , the , the , at the moment we are recording this podcast, the registration is still open, but , uh , I don't think that any numbers will grow too big. On the other end . Fuji is a huge event , uh , uh , is really big and some eight at , uh , competitors in the moment, maybe even getting more , um, that's partly some things are partly because of the costs. We were talking about costs in , uh , in another episode. So for China was cheap flights. Um, the registration was easy to manage. The roles are easy to manage for , for the teams. Um, yeah, maybe that, that is what makes a difference in the moment that costs

Speaker 2 13:46

The Fuji was usually a not so competitive event was a good event for you to start a season and make some medals. I think this year is gonna be a little , little bit of surprise for the teams who registered, because a lot of teams from all over, especially Europe , uh , and middle east are registered , um , Turkish open because it's an event that usually so long. And so , uh , well organized . It has always been a bubble system because it's , uh , always in a event hotels this time. It's , uh , Antalia very famous for all the events they've been doing there. Um, do you expect , uh , Turkey open and the presence cup to be a little bit of a disappointment regarding the teams?

Speaker 3 14:25

Uh , there is two aspects of one is the, the, the situation for the organizers. It's not good for them to have , uh , low numbers of inscriptions. So the , the final financial aspect for them is also bad as well , um, for the teams. Well, it depends , uh , it could be easy to, to get points there. Um, it will be easy to get points there cause it's not many competitors. So you get , you even have , uh , I mean, you could get ninth , ninth , ninth plays very, very fast in , in the heavy rates , maybe fifth plays, or even get a medal , which just , um , winning one fight or even less. Yeah, that's, that's the two aspects. It was , uh , inform times and not that easy. Um, it changed a little bit. So tactics again for the teams, the

Speaker 2 15:17

Fact that , uh , pan American region , uh , hasn't started competing in Europe yet probably due to the fact that our national team trials are still , uh , way undergoing. And some of them are delayed until February allows them to , uh , doesn't allow them to compete internationally since they have to focus on first winning the national team spots . And then , uh , moving to international ranking points. The fact that , uh , you see in president's cup , you see also in Fujii that most of the Northern south American teams are not competing , uh , allows of course , uh , easier points for those first events. Very good tactics of first teams. But , uh , another thing as you mentioned, is the financial aspect, the events due to the bubble system , they're a little bit costly. The , um , president's cup, the hotel costs for bigger teams that have to stay many days in the, in the events because the competition is spread out through three days. Um, it's only for the seniors plus the juniors and the cadets plus <inaudible> plus para the it's. It increases the cost a little bit , uh , too much for some of the teams to be able to afford it. Um , is the bubble system the best solution for these events?

Speaker 3 16:27

Well, you have to take into account that there is a pandemic, so you have, you have to fight , uh , the pandemic in that case. So you have a second opponent to put it that way. Um, and on the other end, it , it clearly increases costs, you know , for everyone. Um, I mean, in , in the current system where you have, it's mandatory, you have to book the hotel via organizer that , uh , will give them a little more , uh , security on the financial side, but on the other end, it's much more expensive for the team . So that's always two sides of the medal .

Speaker 2 17:06

The postponement of the world championships to the second semester probably plays a big factor on such a decisions in terms of Cal there for the teams, usually the world championships being in April or may, you had to qualify for the national team qualifications or even secure good ranking points for the good seating at the world championships. In the first , uh , few months of competition, people would do what they would call the European tour, and they would start with the Germanys Lavinia . They would do Belgium, Netherlands and all together , uh , in the same , uh , uh , few, four or five weeks. And that this rush is gone since the postpone of the event for November, for the world's , um, allows you to have a little more , uh , time to, to collect those points, to collect those national team , uh , criteria , uh , points, the allows you also to focus on other things, the fact that the European championships and most continental championships will be before the summer. The fact that in the summer , uh, the world juniors world cadets, and even the , uh , games will happen only in August and they have different qualification criteria. They probably don't need , um, the ranking points since there's no seating for juniors or for cadets allows the teams to have a little more , um, air a little more time to, to plan their calendar, their events, their budget mostly are training to allow them to be achieving peak performances for shorter periods of time in different times of the season , not allow them to not , not forcing them to have peak performance for three or four weeks in the entire competition , uh , uh , tour , especially because we know that it's very hard to keep peak performance and doing weight cuts , uh , uh , so many times in a month regarding the summer , um , we have the world juniors, the world cadets in , uh , in we'll have hopefully the university games in China. How do you think the junior and cadets team , uh , are teams are preparing for these events?

Speaker 3 19:12

Um, there is , uh , there is one aspect, the decision to postpone the world's senior championships and the creation of the full calendar happened at almost the same time. So the calendar was built for , uh , an early senior world. It's , it's not so for the , for the juniors and CAS . So we have a date in summer, as you said, and you can easily plan your tour , uh , till there. So it's should be plenty of time if all the events or most of them happen, it should be Lilly easier for the, for the juniors and CAS because it's more reliable. And in my opinion, summer is always a good time , uh , regarding pandemic. Um, those events will stay and you could rely on, on the calendar till there. So a more relaxed preparation for the juniors and CAS teams, not. So for the seniors

Speaker 2 20:13

Regarding the athletes competing in these events, do using most of the players that were competing in , uh , Tokyo , uh , 20, 20, 20, 21 will , uh , try to stretch their performance to 2021 , uh , to sorry, 20, 24 in Paris, or you will see that some people will , uh , already go into retirement before that event.

Speaker 3 20:35

Well, when looking at the, the age of some of the competitors , um, you might guess that not all of them will again, compete in 24 in Paris, but on the other hand, we have now 22 , it's only two years and , and a few months. So it's not such a big period. Let's see, let's see, who really decides to stop,

Speaker 2 21:01

I guess, that , uh , many of the players that would not consider , uh, another Olympic cycle realizing that this cycle is really so short , uh , the might , might even extend it again. Um , probably the postponement of the world's gives them a , a short term goal and between the world's and the Olympic games being again , um, one and a half year difference , uh , it's uh , a good motivation will. I think the world championships and the results in the world championships will dictate , um, who is staying on the system or not. Um, probably for the next cycle. We will see players that we would not expect to see still , uh , in their thirties or , uh , uh , late in their 30 trying to go for the last cycle.

Speaker 3 21:50

That's true. I mean, not , not everybody's Steven Lopez , uh , but , uh , those days, those days where you have , uh , pandemic, when some players drop out, everything's possible. In my opinion,

Speaker 2 22:08

Peter , it was a pleasure being here with you and with everyone who is listening, this was the Teon podcast . If you haven't already listen to our other episodes that are available, wherever you listen to your podcasts, we are releasing new episodes. Every Tuesday, stay tuned, subscribe to the podcast, leave us a positive review and share to your friends. See you next time

Speaker 1 22:28

You've been listening to the Teon do podcast, keeping the fans, coaches, and high performance athletes up to date with the latest news and trends on Olympic Teon do your host coach Caesar Valenti team has almost 20 years of experience with high performance. Teon do and has worked all around the world as a Teon do trainer. Peter has been teaching Teon do for more than 20 years, and he's currently one of the top referees in Europe. We hope you enjoyed the show, make sure to like rate and review and we'll be back soon. But in the meantime, find us on instagram@teondopodcastonfacebookatteondocastandthewebsiteteonopodcast.com . See you next time .