What to do during the Transition

The transition from one season to the next is one of the most important and misunderstood training phases. end of season should not mean end of training but rather a time for the body and mind to recuperate from the specific training it has been doing. Too often players just let everything slide during this period and thus pre season training becomes difficult. We know after 1-2 weeks there will be a significant decline in a number of physioloical parameters and this should be some indication that we need to move during the tranisition. Histoorically the transition was for a period of 4 weeks but in some instances this period is much longer and this is where the trouble starts. My advice is to advise your players to do something during this period that is different to what they have been doing and enjoyable. I like my players doing basketball or touch football - sports that are similar but also very different - too many players go into futsal which is too similar and thus they dont get a physical and mental recovery. Also nutrition is important during this time and again its not a time just to live like a sloth - if you are an athlete you are one 12 months of the year so behave like one. Trust me if you want to have a great season have a smart transition.

Sydney Olympic Finished for season

Well sadly the season for the team I have been working for Sydney Olympic has finished for 2008. Last night we lost 2-1 in the final and now the Grand Final will be played out by 2 deserving sides Sutherland and Woolongong. It has been a great year with us winning the club championship, winning the J Warren Cup, runners up in the Tiger Turf Cub, 3rd in the table and now losing finalists and our reserves (under 20's) were minor premiers and have the grand final next week. However I and our team are hurting after coming so close last night with a great second half performance. In fact I was happy to see our team run riot over a tired opposition during the final 45 minutes but a gutsy effort by Sutherland held us out. So what to do now, firstly I will test a number of players next week just to give myself some data on the effect of a season as compared to previous testing results. It is very hard to test in the latter part of the year due to playing commitments and this information will be interesting. I will also interview a number of players and coaching staff on their perspective of the athletic development program. It is imperative you review and at this stage it is far to easy to move on without reflection. For a semi professional team it has been a long season with over 40 games and the first testing taking place on October 26 2007. I have said often that working with a semi professional team is very very difficul and tests your skills extensively. Players are still working, they cant always complete their strength training, they are fatigued often from manual work so it is a balancing act that has tested me. I am happy with the outcome but I am interested to ge a players perspective and it is this qualitative information that is missing from sport science research

PE in schools

There has been much discussion on related blogs about the value of PE in schools and the subsequent negative effect that lack of PE has on athleticism. With 2 young children I am aware of this problem and how ineffective primary based PE is. I have children in Grade 1 and 4 who love being active and fortunately for them are confident in their athletic ability. The problem is the hate sport or pe at school because as my son says throwing a bean bag into a hoop from a step away is not much fun. Is there any gymnastics or even a forward roll NO is there any extension for the more advanced kids NO are the kids that need help looked after NO so the problem is there are no trained staff. The classroom teacher is in control of PE which lets be honest is a once a week hour of wasted time. My sister who teachers Grade 1 and is sport minded tells me the teachers are happy when it rains etc because they have so much other stuff to get through so if PE is off that extra hour makes it easier. PE needs to be part and a big part of the curriculum not something they can strike off by having an athletics carnival - Why dont we test children and if they dont meet the requirements then they dont progress - Why isnt PE mandatory for Higher School Leaving examinations Not only is the lack of PE in schools effecting our athleticism we have major issues with prevenatble diseases that are related to physical inactivity. THere needs to be some serious intervention into this otherwise our present problems will be nothing in comparison to the future

Great Win

Well today we won our semi-final and moved into the Final (playoff to make the grand final) so I suppose the season has been a great success with 2 grand finl apperances in cup competitions and winning the club championship, our under 20's (reserves) into the grand final and our senior team now one game away. Its been long as we have been working since October last year and it is very important that we as coaches maintain our intensity and motivation for the entire duration of the season - I know I feel tired but I must push on to the end because this is what we aimed for way back 10 months ago. Physiologically the players are good and now is very much about short intense sessions/keeping them fresh and injury free. You cant make a season now with your training but you certainly can injure and destroy a season if you are not structured. with Maximum 2 games left it is now about freshness and it is more psychological then physiological - I will keep you informed on how we go

My Daughter in the yellow

I just gt sent this picture of my daughter Bella (in the yellow) and if you look at the running style it is pretty spot on prticularly considering she is 9 and it is at the end of the state cross country where she cam 8th. So even under fatigue the form is good and just goes to show kids can be taught and the sooner the better.

Strength and Sport

Interesting how wrong we can get with conditioing and in particular strength. Too often I see athletes who have been participating in a strength program that is just a waste of time. People think strength they think go to the gym get a trainer etc but the programs I see for athletes are basic bodybuilding programs that have no resemblence to the sports specificty that we need. Athletes and personal trainers dont mix Personal trainers are for general population if you need a program go to an athletic development coach otherwise you will just have to reverse the damage you have done. If I see another chest/shoulder/triceps and back/biceps program for an athlete I may just explode. Than I had another soccer player who has been advised by his PT to only do strength work for the upper body because thats where he needed the mass thus his legs were ok. Who says that garbage please remember I work in a department where students can become PT's and there is nothng in their course that resembles athletic development so BE AWARE

Conditioning Research A great blog

Hi

One of my favourite blogs is Chris conditioningresearch.blogspot.com where Chris discusses research from many different areas including football and some great stuff on nutrition. Here is one of his lates posts


Thursday, August 21, 2008
Train for football - play football
one for Dr Duncan....

This makes sense. If you want to train football....then play football. Sprints, balance, calisthenics etc are all fine, but the functional training is in the game

Heart Rate Responses During Small-Sided Games and Short Intermittent Running Training in Elite Soccer Players: A Comparative Study.

The purpose of this study was to compare heart rate (HR) responses within and between physical controlled (short-duration intermittent running) and physical integrated (sided games) training methods in elite soccer players.

In conclusion, these findings showed that some small-sided games allow the HR to increase to the same level as that in short-duration intermittent running. The sided game method can be used to bring more variety during training, mixing physical, technical, and tactical training approaching the intensity of short-duration intermittent running but with higher intersubject variability.