PRE-SEASON TRAINING DO'S #17 - TRAIN SPEED OR LOSE

This post will hopefully persuade you train speed in it;ls proper fashion, or risk losing a lot of games in 2018.

Last night I was able to make my team's training to run the fitness stuff and I was also able to video the sprints to time each player to get a baseline time to improve upon.

What this post will show is the small but very big differences various levels of speed are and how they can implicate a game to the point of winning or losing.

I'll continue to harp on this speed thing until every footy club in Australia is training it correctly.

Here's the full video of a 10m sprint over 10m from one of the groups last night:

Right  now we;re going to focus on Mark, the bloke furthermost away from the camera and my good mate and fellow Sydney Swan follower Klompy, who hopefully won't crack the shits over this, closest to the camera.

Mark is a new player to the club and I only met home last night but you can clearly see he has pretty good to excellent speed. He tested the best by far last night but we have 2 other outstanding speedsters that I can't wait to time who weren't there last night.

Klompy is a South Yarra vet who was part of the thirds premiership last year.

This first image shows the initial take off of Mark and Klompy which occurs pretty such at the same time. Marks head is lifting up and Klompy's left leg has just come off the ground as you can see:

Every time there is a loose ball to get, a lead to perform or a player to chase, you accelerate.

Every. Single.Time.

This shows the footy is essentially a game of repeated acceleration bouts mixed with some longer runs.

Surely underpins the importance of high speed acceleration and if it doesn't I don't know what to tell you.

Look what happens after Marks first 5m segment:

Mark is way ahead of the pack hitting the 5m mark in 1.22secs, well ahead of premiership hero Klompy.

Even in as little as5m or 1.22secs, Mark has put 1.5 - 2m on Klompy.

Premiership Medal wearing Klompy has reached the 5m mark in 1.65secs which isn't the worst time you'll fond by far, but Mark still holds a 1.5 - 2m lead over him which shows that if you can accelerate hard and fast immediately, you'll rarely get overtaken.

Mark crosses the 10m line in 1.93secs and Klompy may have fallen a little bit further behind between shots, but he has a medal and I don't.

He may have won a grand final but this is no grand final sprint and Klompy finishes the 10m in 2.38secs.

The tape looks like this:

5m Times - Mark 1.22secs / Klopmy 1.65secs

10m Times - Mark 1.93secs / Klompy 2.38secs

Second 5m Segment - Mark x .71secs / Klompy .73secs

With Klompy also equalling Mark's 5 - 10m time, this surely now shows you that the initial steps in your acceleration are the most important as that is where Mark had the advantage in this set.

With only a 1.5 - 2m or .43 of a second advantage, look at the extra time and space you can get on your opponent giving far more time to maintain high skill and/or make the correct decision .

PRE-SEASON TRAINING DO'S #16 - QUALITY OVER QUANTITY (MAYBE THE BEST POST YET)

As per the title this might be the best one of these posts yet.

The point of these posts isn't to say my way is the only and best way to go, they are rather thought provoking pieces to get you thinking about in many different ways about preparing your players, or yourself, for footy. 

From when footy started to right now, at his very moment, footy has always been about quantity.

As a coach if you want to see player improvement, or as a player you want to see personal improvement, then you must find the optimal way to do that.

Let's take this right back to when you were a toddler learning to walk - how did you work up to it?

You did bits and pieces of crawling, climbing and assisted walking all throughout the day, every day until 1 day it happens.

Here's what you didn't do:

1 - You didn't try to walk as fast as you can before you could even walk a single step

and;

2 - You sure didn't walk until you couldn't walk anymore from fatigue.

But for some reason that's how we train for footy and ...it...sucks.

It sucks to do and provides sucky results (i.e none).

We're always looking for quantity - how many kicks did I get? How far did I run? How much game time did I get?

It should be how many kicks hit the target? How many high speed sprints were I able to perform? How many meters per minute did I cover in my game time?

There has never been as many stats in the AFL as there is right now and just as there is 5 stats that make you look good, there's another 10 that can make you look very ordinary.

As local/amateur we don't really need to worry about that but what it can highlight is efficiency which is paramount, especially at L/A level.

We don't have the time to put into pour preparation as sub-elite and higher teams do. We don't have the resources and we don't have the energy, especially once you throw family and work into the mix.

I think we're all aware of this because as teams we only train 2 times per week for most, if not all of the year. Over 9 months that's 72 training sessions of which 48 of those are during the season, where maintenance is the goal of training.

That leaves you with just 24 training sessions to do the following:

- Rehab last years wear and tear/injuries

- Train yourself up to b able to train (GPP)

- Train to improve

- Train to stabilise your new level of performance

That's 4 categories that on average can get 6 training sessions each - NO.WHERE.NEAR.ENOUGH.

So with that kind we try and streamline team footy training as we know we're pushing shit up hill so we do do silly things like run/sprint work.

A quick look at energy systems once again.

Alactic is your speed/power work where sets should last about 8secs or less with FULL REST that will improve your acceleration and max velocity sprinting speed.

Aerobic is long, slow and continuous (for the most part) that improves your recovery rate between bouts of sprints from alactic above.

What we train with run/sprint if lactic which builds up in about 20 - 30secs and then you're simply on borrowed time before you need to stop but at the same time your getting slower physically and mentally.

You're running slower and your making bad decisions with the ball.

You're of no use to the team to be honest unless you come off and recover.

The run/sprint is also what we call "getting stuck in the middle" which is the least efficient way to train for anything.

Th run is too fast to gain anything aerobically because once you start producing lactate, you've gone beyond using oxygen for energy as it can't get into your muscles fast enough and you're slowing down dramatically.

Because you're not recovering between sets of sprints as you're still running, you're not getting any speed benefits at all either because you're possibly not even running at high speed anyway.

I was talking to a teammate the other week who might read this and he said he'll do some run/sprint/run/sprint training and he's not alone in thinking like this believe me.

There will be plenty of you will read this entire post and won't change, I'm not sure why, but my crusade is to keep on delivering this message until you do.

OK back to quality.

Most teams train conditioning then work on skills but the best way to increase conditioning is through increasing skill specific and running technique as movement efficiency will increase and you won't expend as much energy performing these skills thus wasting less energy.

Not only can this can be the fastest way to improve conditioning but it can do so without extra training volume and the wear and tear that comes with it.

You want to train to increase max outputs (strength, speed, power) relative to the demands of the game so you work at a smaller % of your maximum during games, resulting in a more sustainable effort.

To show how this looks on game day we have player A who can run at 4.2 meters per second for 6mins and player B who can run at 4.8 meters per second for 6mins.

Let's move to the middle of the last quarter and both players have fatigued by 10%.

Player A could now run at 3.8m/s but player B can still maintain 4.3m/s.

Player b could go on trying to find the pill but he's running to slow to get to a contest and then he does find himself with the ball, he's not going fast enough to give himself enough time to make the correct decision as he has no breakaway speed to use resulting in skill errors.

Having higher maximum outputs means you'll have higher sub-maximal outputs - read that line 5 times if you need to.

Only once you have improved upon the quality of your movement do you then focus on game specific conditioning because it will only improve game specific conditioning, but only needs to be addresses 2 - 3 weeks out from your first practice game.

So step 1 is to rain to be able to reach speeds faster than a game through true speed training (increase maximal outputs) and then train at these new found speeds which again will be faster then game speeds.

This will make games truly sub-maximal which is what you want because skill level and decision making declines at high speeds.

Along with this train below the speed of a game with cardiac output work and technical (skill) work perform at slow speeds so technical efficiency and decision making remains high.

I just want to touch on tempo running quickly which I post about a fair bit but you still might not really know what it is and what it's for.

Every one can run but you only need to head down to the Tan (Melbourne reference) and see some of the mechanics on display to see that some people don't really know how to run, at least efficiently.

The point of tempo running is to be efficient with your time as it allows you to:

- Train the mechanics of good running as it's performed below game speeds (5 - 6/effort level at MOST!)

- Train aerobic capacity for high volumes

- Train aerobic capacity with less boredom then steady state running that everyone hates

So you've covered mechanics, volume and time all in 1 simple drill - that's efficiency and quality at it's best.

XMAS SPECIAL - 3 PROGRAMS FOR $50

Step 1 - Head to this page which has a list of the specialty training programs available.

Step 2 - Decide what 3 programs you'd like to purchase.

Step 3 - Use this link to purchase and in the description, put what programs you'd like me to send you.

Easy as that.

Available from now until Xmas.

PRE-SEASON TRAINING DO'S #15 - SET THE STANDARD EARLY

Failing to prepare is preparing to fail, or in this case failing to set the standard is failing to reach the standard.

We've all heard of or been in teams who might not have had the cash and resources as other local/amateur teams but still manages to bat far above it's weight from a string culture and team ethos.

The team that I've played the last 6 years for has been a nomad team of sorts, having been moved from ground to ground over it's 50 year existence, including a recess year in the 2000's.

These constant "rebuilds" have meant that we've pulled players from all over and although we're all pretty good mates with the current crop, without years in the trenches together, the culture of the club on and off the field isn't as strong as it could be in my opinion.

Setting the standard early and being hard on it can be THE ingredient that takes you a level above what you're team has ever done before.

Bringing us back to the player motivation continuum where at one end you have the players who play for fun or just to play with mates vs players who play for ultimate success at the other end, team culture and setting hard standards squeezes that continuum closer together, probably the biggest battle a L/A coach has it's it's hands.

As a team you want to unpredictable to the opposition yet predictable to your teammates so your style of play is proactive rather then reactive.

Building these types of things also requires more responsibility to handed to, as well as excepted by, the playing group.

Here's some 1%er type of things you can use to help with building team culture, setting team standards and becoming predictable to your teammates: 

THE 1 METER RULE - if you are within 1m of the ball then you MUST GO AND GET IT and your teammates will rely on you to do this and react accordingly. If you don't do this, and your teammates already react as though you will, then everyone is out of position on the rebound.

BASE YOUR TEAM ON WORK ETHIC - regardless of the talent you have, it can be unpredictable, and just like the Tigers did in the AFL this year, effort can be brought each and every week and give you a chance to win even when the talent is not firing

FOOTY JUMPER STAYS OFF THE GROUND - my brother worked for Richmond for for 5 years or so and I think this was one of their team rules to build respect for the jumper. Everyone raves about playing for the jumper but make it REAL to the players.

WIN THE BALL OR MAKE THE TACKLE - this is one of the biggies from the coaching ethos of Paul Roos. Similar to the 1m rule, you either win the ball or make the tackle. That's it. 2 options. The responsibility of the player involved here is paramount, they have to make 1 of these 2 things happen because that's what will be expected.

You could make a million of these but they need to be specific to your playing group and where they are as a team right now, then they van be built upon in the coming seasons.

As I've mentioned with fitness data, setting the standard and going back over it time and time again is what will drive this. If you do a time trial and don't give out any times, retest to beat them or make them "public", the players will not find any motivation to set these standards, reach them, drive them and go above them.

PRE-SEASON TRAINING DO'S #14 - TRAINING TO DEVELOP FORCE

When you run sprint, your knee lifts up and over then comes down to the ground which is where the magic happens.

Your ability to hit the ground on each and every contact in a forceful and powerful manner is the foundation of how you'll sprint, run or jog.

Elite sprinters train to perfect and each and every sequence in a 100m sprint in ridiculous detail because .1-2.secs can be the difference between a gold medal and a no place result.

They execute knee lift, foot/ankle stiffness, core stiffness, force transfer and a million other things but what they started with to be fast in the first place is the natural ability to develop great force upon ground contact.

When you hit the ground in a single leg stance, you can be putting 5 - 6 x your own bodyweight through that single leg every single step.

Your foot needs to be able to hit the ground and with limited deformity, absorb all that external force from each step and redistribute it back into the ground.

This all needs to be performed in as little .15 of a second.

FYI, running is about .2 of a sec, jogging is about .25of a sec and fast walking is about .6 of a sec.

As you can see, there's not a lot of time to get things done during walking, let alone at top speed.

If you can't develop this kind of force naturally, and if you're not very fast right now then you aren't (like most of us), then you can train to do this.

All this involves is a to get stronger.

Yep, that's it.

You simply need to get stronger at either a deadlift or squat movement.

If you've not done much weights work before, especially for the upper body, then this can increase quite dramatically if you follow a program designed specifically for it.

If you're not really into weights then don't sweat, I'm not against you simply working just 1 exercise and nothing else because this is all about improving performance so we can ultra specific no problems.

Local/amateur footy clubs would be extremely wise to set aside as little as $300 - 400 to purchase some weight plates and a bar of some description and set it up at the footy club.

Set aside 10 - 15mins pre and/or post training for your players to hit the exercise of choice for 3 - 5 sets where 2/week would be almost perfect here.

Actually make it part of team training and like everything else, track every players numbers so that improvement can be seen over time.

You don't need a mammoth 5 day training program for this, nor should you be using one for footy anyway.

Just 1 exercise  (my choice for practicality reasons is the Trap Bar Deadlift), 3 - 5 sets x 8 - 3 reps, 2 - 3mins rest between sets, all reps performed explosively.

In the end you'll be able to use more of the force you absorb from each step that like a pumped up footy, will bounce faster and further upon each step so you'll cover more ground per step = increased speed.

PRE-SEASON TRAINING DO'S #13 - GROUP PLAYERS FOR RUNNING DRILLS

I'm currently doing the pre-season training for some local/amateur teams and on of the things I'll be implementing is the grouping of players depending on their running ability.

Using a 1-fits-all approach means that out of 40 players you might get 3 - 5 of them who get trained optimally for any given running drill, with the others being under or over trained during that drill.

The "we all do it' mantra is great for team morale but not so great for fitness benefits. 

What I have done with the teams I'm training is to do a group time trial then divide them into groups based on their results.

I'm going to take myself as an example as someone who can't run long distances at pace which most people would think of as inadequate endurance.

What this shows more of though is my genetic make up (anaerobic vs aerobic) and that I am a product of the type of training I do (sprinting speed for the most part).

Between bouts of high intensity sprints I can recover better then average so my repeat speed is good even if my endurance running is not.

So if I was to run with the best runners at the club I would get smoked and potentially get slower in my sprinting.

Not a great result right there because now I don't have endurance or speed.

Here's what a good (GR)  vs bad runner (BR) 5 x 200m every 90secs drill might look like:

Set 1 - GR in 40secs + BR in 40secs...both have 50secs rest

Set 2 - GR in 42secs + BR in 45secs...GR has 48secs rest v BR 42

Set 3 - GR in 44secs + BR in 50secs...GR has 46secs rest vs BR 37

OK you can see where this going.

Even by set 3 you can see the huge differences in speed and fatigue from GR v BR and you can clearly see what happens if we both do the same drill even though we are totally different running levels.

After the initial time trial I then break down every players run into a meters per second score.

This can now be used to prescribe different interval types but with the drill specified to the player, or group of players.

If you want individual improvement in your players then everyone cannot simply do the same thing and you just hope for the best as I don't think has worked in any any situation ever.

Need me to organise the fitness aspect for your footy team? Let me know

PRE-SEASON TRAINING DO'S #12 - PRE XMAS TRAINING

Some tams have already started but my own personal team and another team I'm doing the fitness work for is slated to kick off this week and here's what I have laid out for them.

The training aspects I have chosen to roll with this between now and Xmas are all things that I have touched on in my previous "pre-season" post series.

1 - Develop an efficient and effective warm up so it doesn't take 30mins with half it being next to useless for warming up for an extremely dynamic activity.

2 - Extensive Plyometrics to prepare the body for fast and efficient ground contacts when the high speed sprinting starts after Xmas.

3 - Speed work with an emphasis on short distance acceleration at this time to again to prepare for high speed sprinting and longer acceleration work post Xmas.

4 - Running test to set a baseline for all players for the to improve upon. There will be running homework to do that will be critical to improvement so whoever doesn't do the extra work won't get the improvement and the coach will know who they are from their results.

5 - Max Aerobic Speed will be used to set our running specific drills where I'll group players to make it easier for the coaches to st up and track. This sounds technical but I organise the groups, the distance and the times to run so the coach simply needs to run the drill and take the results.

6 - Tempo running is a low intensity training method where the player gets to work on running QUALITY over quantity as efficiency will increase endurance all on it;s own. There will be linear (straight line) and change of direction tempo running.

7 - Steady State running which is the real boring slow and long work which simply HAS to be done to increase your endurance - there's no getting around it.

I currently have 1/week and 2/week programs made up for teams RIGHT NOW as well as homework sessions depending on your team training frequency.

There are videos for all training drills and exercises too so there is minimal work for the coach to do.

If you want me to organise you team's fitness for the entire season, let me know as I can get you the program immediately.