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#Post#: 11023--------------------------------------------------
Training for peak performance
DIR By: slvrollers
Date: April 30, 2012, 6:54 pm
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I am interested in training my kits for competition. Is their
such a thing as training for a peak performance day? How long do
you train for this peak performance day? What kind of feeding
program to get to peak performance day? What region is Southern
Colorado? I would like to fly some competitions next year and
would like to start figuring ever thing out this year so i will
be ready. I Have a 25 bird kit made up of Ruby's and Easley's. I
also have a young bird kit in training. Any advice would be
great!!!!
Mike F
#Post#: 11027--------------------------------------------------
Re: Training for peak performance
DIR By: wishiwon2
Date: May 1, 2012, 10:23 pm
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--- Quote from: slvrollers link ---
>
> I am interested in training my kits for competition. Is their
such a thing as training for a peak performance day? How long do
you train for this peak performance day? What kind of feeding
program to get to peak performance day? What region is Southern
Colorado? I would like to fly some competitions next year and
would like to start figuring ever thing out this year so i will
be ready. I Have a 25 bird kit made up of Ruby's and Easley's. I
also have a young bird kit in training. Any advice would be
great!!!!
> Mike F
--- End Quote ---
Absolutely there is such a thing! There is tons of info on this
site about that topic. Search the archives here.
In general, it depends on the type and amount of grains you feed
and the frequency of your training flights. Preparation time
varies dependant on bloodline, weather, age of birds and their
condition at the time. 5-20 days is normal.
You are in western plains WC region, Alan Dewey
HTML http://worldcupfly.com/
HTML http://worldcupfly.com/
look under current officers and
directors
NBRC region 7C, Marco Solorio
HTML http://www.nbrconline.org/officers-and-regional-directors/regional-directors/
HTML http://www.nbrconline.org/officers-and-regional-directors/regional-directors/
#Post#: 11028--------------------------------------------------
Re: Training for peak performance
DIR By: wishiwon2
Date: May 1, 2012, 10:34 pm
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An article I wrote in 2010 for NBRC bulletin;
Setting up and managing a kit
A friend and I were discussing that often we do something to
mess up a kit that normally works well for a fly date and how we
go about setting up a kit to be its best. I decided as a result
it to share a portion of our exchange. It isn’t new and may be
repetitious for some of you. But as I come to new understandings
and realizations I want to share them with the hope someone else
is at the same point I am and can benefit from it. I hope it
will shed some light for some of the other new guys. So many
people try to define a specific plan for prepping a kit. I would
rather describe the philosophy or the principle and let each
person insert whatever ingredients they have confidence in, into
the plan.
Managers have varying philosophies on how to get the best out of
rollers performance, and they may each be right. They manage the
way they think they should and those birds that fit into that
particular management regime get kept and bred from. There are
some guys who manage pretty tight, limiting feed strictly in the
amount and its composition. Birds developed under that kind of
treatment must have a very strong constitution and be able to
tolerate a lot of physical and mental stress. Other managers are
quite liberal in their feeding and flying practices. Birds that
excel under this kind of management have lots of roll impulse
and are able to perform on a rich diet with lots of exercise. As
different families of rollers have emerged over the years, they
reflected the traits brought out by the kind of management they
were developed under. Some of these differences are very subtle
and others vary widely, almost opposites.
I believe rolling is the expression of a genetic disposition,
controlled by the combination of, or balance between the
physical strength and mental impulse. If too much impulse and
insufficient strength, they will roll raggedly and/or crash and
rolldown. If they’re conditioned to be physically strong, and
have less impulse they will roll seldom and shorter, perhaps
limiting altogether their rolling display. They have the
strength and ability to overcome or "control" the impulse. The
intensity of the impulse to roll is different in each bird and
the mental character and physical strength needed for each bird
to manage that impulse is different too.
This balance is controlled by 2 inputs from us as mangers, feed
and frequency of flight. Since there is much familial variation
in a birds roll impulse and physical ability, there is also
variance in the amounts of flying and feed requisite for top
performances. There are those birds that can and need to be
flown daily and fed richly to be able to handle the impulse to
roll, whereas others when flown the same frequency and fed the
same diet will have so much control as to limit entirely their
rolling performance. Few things are universally true with
rollers.
Therefore, I believe there is no singular management practice in
regard to feed and flight frequency that fits all rollers. You
must learn to read the birds and adjust to what their need is,
or adjust which birds you're flying to fit your management. It
bothers me somewhat when new flyers are given a "recipe" for
feeding and flying a kit. It is true there are general
guidelines that somewhat apply to most birds. But without even
knowing the family of birds or the environmental conditions
being flown in, a prescription is made, which many novices
follow to the letter and become frustrated when they aren't able
to achieve success doing so.
One of the key principles you must learn if you want to get the
most out of your birds as a manager is to recognize and
manipulate the balance of conditioning. Imagine if you will, a
window or a plane, which represents the optimum conditioning
level for each bird to perform its best. This window may be
different for each bird and each family.
Above that plane is the range of conditioning that is too strong
for that bird to perform its best. Birds become seldom, rolling
less and with shorter depth. Quality is generally high or as
good as can be expected from that particular bird. In the
extreme, this level of condition leads to birds that just fly
without performing. They also may fly for long periods of time
and/or at heights that are undesirable for judging.
Below that optimum window is the range of too weak a condition.
Duration of flight is shortened significantly and birds may land
early and/or not kit well. Kit dynamics also suffer. Birds have
less control over the roll impulse and therefore often perform
individually, not in concert with team mates. Birds will roll
more raggedly and often deeper. The extreme of this side of
conditions can be rolling down, lacking muscle strength
sufficient to even roll and/or inability to fly.
We as managers influence the balance of condition of the bird(s)
by changes in feed (both amount and variety) and fly time
(frequency and duration). Two factors that work to determine the
condition of the bird; both are controllable by the kit manager.
If we feed a more rich diet, birds will gain in strength and
energy, if we fly them less they lose muscle tone and strength.
As you change birds up and down through that window of
condition, you will see different kinds of performances and
behaviors in individuals and in the kit too. Learn to read those
changes and make adjustments based on what you see to approach
that ideal window.
This observation also affects the kind of birds I want to breed
for. I want birds that work well over a wider range of condition
instead of just within a narrow confine of prime circumstances.
I get some that seem to put on a pretty good show no matter what
I do to them. I call them “Steady Eddys”. There are others, more
of these kind, that if I get them right light up the sky, but
when I’m off a bit look like trash. Until I can get more
“Eddys”, I will have to continue to try to manage them so that
hopefully they can show their best when people are in the yard.
Recognize that weather, temperature, elevation, location,
predators, changes in season, and a host of other environmental
factors also influence how our birds perform and what is
required for them to be in that prime window of condition. Most
of these factors are beyond our control to manipulate. We can
learn to identify them and make adjustments to compensate for
them. Our goal as manager should be to have each bird in the
team in that window on fly day.
When it comes to setting up kits for a competition, I 100% agree
with the "if it’s not broke, don’t fix it" plan. Heaven knows I
am often my own kits greatest fault. It is very difficult,
perhaps impossible to maintain prime condition for an extended
length of time. Inevitably, they will need some adjustment.
Leading up to a fly date, I would rather force that adjustment
so they are at a predictable stage, than take what comes or
misread what condition the team is in. I may make a correct
assessment as to where they are at condition-wise, but I often
won’t know in which direction they're headed. It may be that
they are moving away from peak in condition instead of towards
it. So, I will intentionally put them in a condition that I can
reliably recognize and know in which direction they need to be
managed to approach that ideal window.
I think of it like getting back to my truck in the fog. If I
walk right at where I think it is, I may get there but if I miss
it just a little to the right or to the left, I have to guess
which side I missed it on and which direction to turn, 50% of
the time I’ll be wrong. However if I intentionally walk to a
point that I know for sure is one side or the other of it, I
know for a surety which way to turn to get there. It’s the same
thought process for me with the birds. If I put them in a
condition that I know is slightly below optimum, then I know
which way they need to be managed to get their best performance.
Because I have experimented beforehand a few times, I have a
reliable idea of how long it should take to reach prime, or at
least to get them into the range of condition to do well.
A few thoughts on feed. Different types of grains do different
things to different birds. Some changes may be mental as well as
physical and some changes won’t necessarily be due to nutrition.
For example, I believe different types of grains make a bird
feel satiated or full for varying lengths of time. Other grains
will retain more moisture while in the gut which changes the
requirement for water intake and changes the way they
fly/perform. Some grains take longer to digest and pass through
their system and therefore may make a bird actually weigh more
on one day than another.
You will only learn what each type of grain does through
experimentation. It sometimes takes several days up to a week or
more for changes in the diet to translate into changes in
performance. I prefer to feed grains separately so I have some
assurance that each bird is getting the same amounts of each. It
only takes a few minutes longer. It also gives me a chance to
observe the birds eat and to see who eats fast or slow.
Occasionally, I have been able to identify a marker bird, one
that tells me when enough is the just right amount for the kit
by watching it eat. That has been really useful to know.
One final comment on feeding, flying and fitting into that
window of condition. You cannot make a sow’s ear into a silk
purse simply through management. You have to have the goods to
begin with or your ultimate success will be limited. A bird is
only capable of a certain level of performance. You can draw out
its best, but its best might not satisfy.
Some have said its 50:50 or some other ratio of management to
breeding. I choose to think of it differently. You have to have
good breeding before you can train for good performance. It’s a
pre-requisite, the horse before the cart. When done right it’s 1
... 2 ... 3 ..., good birds meet up with good management and you
put on a great fly.
#Post#: 11029--------------------------------------------------
Re: Training for peak performance
DIR By: slvrollers
Date: May 2, 2012, 8:44 pm
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wishiwon2 Very interesting and very well written! I will
research archives some more. I look forward to developing into a
better manager and bringing my rollers to that window of peak
performance. Also being able to get a kit ready for competition.
Thanks for the info and who to contact.
#Post#: 11265--------------------------------------------------
Re: Training for peak performance
DIR By: slvrollers
Date: June 28, 2012, 10:44 am
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At what age or at what point in your young kits development do
you change their feed. To start training for max performance.
#Post#: 11266--------------------------------------------------
Re: Training for peak performance
DIR By: wishiwon2
Date: June 28, 2012, 10:57 pm
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I do very little changing up in feed for young birds in relation
to performance until they have gone through a moult. It is hard
to describe or explain but when they roll with confidence and do
it reglarly, then I will push them around a little in condition
with feed. I dont manage for MAX performance til they are
through a moult and most are yearlings or coming a yr old. Young
birds are far less predictable that old birds, it is hard to
read them accurately. When a kit gets steady and predictable,
then you have a baseline to work from. Remember, feed
manipulation affects not only physical condition, but state of
mind too. When I have young that are showing developmental
progress in their performing, I group them together with others
that are performing similarly, regardless of age so long as they
are all youngbirds (under a yr)
I want to be confident they are solid in their performance
before I start manipulating them. I do not want to fool with
them while they are in the middle of developing rolling
behaviour. It is a mental strain on them dealing with the onset
of rolling and I want to keep them as predictable and regular as
ever. I preach feeding for fly height and duration as young
birds, so that when the roll impulse begins to express itself
and young birds are looking for ways to cope with it,
flying/kitting at proper height and duration are well set
habits.
#Post#: 11267--------------------------------------------------
Re: Training for peak performance
DIR By: slvrollers
Date: June 29, 2012, 9:13 am
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Thanks wishiwon2
I appreciate your advice. I now have a better idea of what to
do. My young kit is only three months old and have a ways to go
before even trying to manipulate feed for performance.
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