THE NEW RULES OF FOOTY TRAINING PART 2 - INDIVIDUALISATION

This is probably the biggest thing missing from local/amateur level footy but with good reason.

It's not do bad at higher levels of l/a footy but I know at my club there's the coach and if not me, then just him, in charge of preparing 70 - 100 players for a season of footy.

An impossible task if individualisation is to take place.

So what ends up happening is either, or a mix of these options:

- You train to the level of your lower ability players in an effort keep training "looking nice" but at the expense of the medium and high level players.

- You train to the level of your medium ability players in the hope that improving these players will add depth to your senior ranks if injuries occur, but at the expense of your lower and upper level players.

- You train to the level of your high ability players but at the expense of your medium and lower level players.

Even if you try to mix it up then the different levels of players still aren't getting enough type of stimulation that they need.

So you really can't win.

The first stage of individualisation is to build a player profile because it's only after you have some data to work with, that you can think about how to individualise.

You want out things like:

- Strengths/Unique Skill

- Weaknesses

- Commitment

- Personal Preferences (grade, position, role etc)

 - Footy Goals (grade, achievements etc)

- Past Form (if you're a coach new to a club)

To get 360 degree perspectives on players it's also a good idea to get some feedback from the player, the coach (if it's the same coach as last season) and also from a high level player or 2 at the club.

With this data you can now look at things like:

- What game style can utilise them optimally

- What ground position can utilise them optimally

Once all this information has been collected then you can attempt to train them accordingly.

As we'll cover later in the week, you might also be able to group players for specific training drills or use them for parts of training drills you'd like to see them carry out on game day.