Australian Rules Football - Pre Season Training
PRE-SEASON TRAINING DO'S #6 - MAKE EVERY MINUTE COUNT
I was chatting with a local/amateur coach today who's having me program all his pre-season training or him (yes I do that if you're interested in having less work to do) and he mentioned that he his main reason for having mt do all the work for him is to make every training minute count for his players to get the most our of the least.
I suggested that he make this the mantra of the entire pre-season, reinforcing it at the start of each training session and then again at the start of each training drill.
This is one of the reasons I started this blog all those years ago - to provide training information for local/amateur football players like me, instead of rehashing inefficient training methods from era's long gone and getting next to no results from their efforts.
As mentioned to make every minute count, then you need to do some, but probably all of the following:
1 - Get the Most from the Least
2 - Learn to Microdose
3 - Be Open to New Idea's and Implementation
4 - Look at the Big Picture
GET THE MOST FROM THE LEAST
Team sports has for years, pushed the fatigue model of training, seeing how fast you can get tired, then seeing how much you can do once you're tired.
This is as ineffective as I could imagine.
Fatigue results in decreased speed where every contest in a game is a "race", decreased skill level and decreased decision making ability.
If all these things are taken away from you, then as a player what are you left with?
A focus on quality of training needs to override the quantity and if you don't believe me then look at the GPS readings for the best AFL teams who do less work then their opposition from skills and decision making being able to maintain a high level of decision making, decreasing skill errors and turnovers.
LEARN TO MICRODOSE
Microdosing is probably something you've never heard of but it refers to training the big rocks every session in some capacity.
When this all adds up at the end of the pre-season, you've all a sudden dedicated a decent block of time to developing that particular trait.
Coaches might feel that they are limited on time (which they are) and/or limited in know how (which most are) to incorporate different aspects of training into tam training but these are excuses rather then reasons as they can be fixed.
Once you break down what the big rocks are in regards to football preparation, then you can start researching what you need to do about it.
Most of my programs are developed with team training taken into account and follow these first 2 rules of efficiency and effectiveness.
Don't shortchange your players, or your own playing from laziness.
BE OPEN TO NEW IDEA'S AND IMPLEMENTATION
The coach I'm starting to work with doesn't rally know it yet (he'll find out right now though), but I am going to propose a lot of idea's that he'll never have heard of before and so will his players.
We'll to and fro to see what will stick but to play like you've never played before, you must train like you've never rained before.
If you've coaches a few different teams and they haven't been ultra successful then you need to seek out these new idea's and try and implement something different.
LOOK AT THE BIG PICTURE
Keeping an eye on the big picture can be used to get buy in from your players.
Knowing why they need to long and slow training that is boring as hell will get far more compliance when they know why they are doing it and how it will help them.
Data collection can be very helpful here as you can show them actual changes that take place from training something a certain way.
Coaches also need to keep the big picture in mind so that they don't lose faith with any new idea's they have brought into their coaching plan.
Football clubs are always looking at the big picture in regards to off-field (sustainability, growth etc) so it stands to reason that looking at from an on-field point of view can provide a nice boost for you football club.