Similar to tanking, except exactly the opposite, peaking in sport occurs when an athlete or team hits their best possible form for a short period of time, often a single event or game.
In response to a previous article of mine, Roarer Muzz commented that being top of the table and in the midst of a comfortable winning streak wasn’t necessarily the best spot to be in at this time of year.
He suggested that ideally your team should be fifth, six points behind the ladder leader, playing sluggish footy, losing unlosable games but ready to pounce when the finals rolled around.
Clearly a man of intelligence, Muzz had touched on something special: the secret art of peaking.
Mastering the art of peaking requires building form over time which culminates in a crowning performance, like a team playing their best game of the season on grand final day. In sporting circles, this is often referred to as ‘the streak and peak’*.
Some teams peak too early, playing their finest footy midway through the season before fading away. Others peak too late – tearing apart Bali resort towns in the post-season.
Sometimes the stars align and teams find a way to hit peak form at the perfect moment to win whatever competition it is they’re part of, often at the expense of more heavily favoured teams.
Who could forget the Wests Tigers miracle run to the NRL premiership in 2005, The “Roadwarrior” New York Giants beating the New England Patriots in Superbowl XLII, or Steve Bradbury hitting his stride in the speed-skating final to annihilate the field and take Winter Olympic gold in 2002?
Peaking has been attempted for hundreds of years. Since the early Olympics, athletes were known to imbibe more wine, indulge in more roast goat and smother themselves with more olive oil in the days before the games to improve their Greco-Roman wrestling, javelin and star jump prowess.
In these modern times, other weird and wonderful regimes have been implemented to further the cause: no alcohol, curfew, no sexual activity, specific dietary requirements, increased training sessions, no training sessions, group bonding, player isolation, pumping your own blood back into your body. The list is endless.
Balancing the intangibles to achieve peak form at the right time is a secret known only by a special few. This year in the AFL, everyone seems to be going for a different approach.
Port Power and Fremantle decided that having a mid-season slump was passé, and that it was better to have a post-mid-season slump leading into the finals.
Hawthorn thought there was no more time to be wasted, got off the bit and started heading for home. If it was any other team you’d be inclined to remind them that the season is a Melbourne Cup not a Cox Plate, but the Hawks have excelled in the art of peaking for long enough now to accept that they might just know what they’re doing.
North Melbourne has developed the anti-peak, whereby they display no clear ability to maintain anything resembling form for longer than a two week period. Greater Western Sydney did the unthinkable and peaked in Round 1, ensuring that every other game of footy they’ve played throughout the year has been a disappointment to their fans.
Up in the box, Brian Taylor’s idiocy peaked about a week ago when Ian Thorpe’s coming out clearly triggered something deep inside him and Matthew Richardson’s hair hit peak man style in Round 12, but there are signs it may be re-grouping for a second tilt.
And it’s been so long since Wayne Carey hit peak Wayne Carey that he’s given up all hope and become a commentator, allegedly.
In the stands, unfortunately there are no signs that Eddie McGuire is even close to hitting peak egotism yet, with word from Collingwood indicating he’s made the extraordinary decision to increase the printing of his own tickets.
Perhaps the blokes on footy paddocks around Australia should look to a team of ladies on the AstroTurf of Glasgow to learn a little about peaking. If there’s one team that has mastered the art, and is hitting form at the right time, it’s the Hockeyroos.
They’re demolishing everybody in front of them for fun at the Commonwealth Games, getting selfies photobombed by the Queen, and have had one of their own on the receiving end of a marriage proposal from Prince Harry.
You can’t get much more in-form than that.
*Not to be confused with the ‘streak and freak’, common in rugby league circles.
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