It is well known that runners have a realtively short window for when they are at their peak performance. I’m making up times, but a kid might run a 5k a minute slower at the start of the season than at their peak and then 15-30 seconds slower just a few weeks after the peak. If they mistime their training, they aren’t close to their best at chanpionship time. The last couple of years, for example, we’ve seen the best runner on my son’s team seem to peak a few weeks to maybe even a full month before state.

Is their a similar measurable phenomenon in other team sports? Do team trainers, for example, manage the Warriors training to hit their peak late in the playoffs while a weaker team peaks their players for late season just trying to make the playoffs?