Field sports training

Patto

Generally speaking from my very limited expertise in this area the following is defacto:

Weights, plyometrics, resistance training:
1. Improves strength and power
2. Can help towards improving max speed
3. Can help towards injury prevention
There are many more benefits of weight training but the above 3 are the main benefits in the context of field sports.

Sprints, SAQ training (short intervals between 10-40M with full recovery):
1. Improves speed
2. Improves strength
3. Improves agility
4. Improves lactic threshold (probably?)
5. Improves aerobic fitness (maybe?)

Speed endurance (repeated intervals over distances from 400M to 1200M at 75%-80% effort or 3-5 Km race pace with recovery to 100-120bpm HR)
1. Is an absolute killer! Fills you up with lactic acid (sooner or later depending how fit you are) and stiffens up the muscles. You won't want to do it again the next day!
2. Raises VO2 Max (aerobic fitness)
3. Raises lactic threshold
4. Burns shag all fat (~10-15%), uses Carbs as the primary fuel source and also breaks down muscle tissue as a fuel source.
5. Does not increase max speed
6. Can be adapted for example if done in a zig zag fashion to also improve agility

Fartleks, tempo runs etc
1. Primarily raises lactic threshold
2. Raises V02 max (aerobic fitness)
3. Does not increase max speed
4. Burns a fairly even mixture of fat and carbs as fuel

Easy long runs (runs at between 60-80% MHR)
1. Primarily raises V02 max
2. Primarily uses fat as energy (between 50-85%)
3. Can be done everyday
4. Does not increase max speed
5. Does not increase lactic threshold significantly

So what does a field sports player need to reach peak performance:

*Studies have been done even as far back as the 70s which show that soccer players run on average about 10Km in a 90min match (an average of 4 miles/hour). 2/3s of that distance is walked or slowly jogged, only about 800M is ran at full effort. It is of course during this 800M that you are most likely to have possession.
This is why, and rightly so to a large extent, the focus of most field sports training is now on building strength, speed, agility and explosive power. In "forward thinking" GAA circles speed endurance training is now seen as old school and the word "laps" is fast becoming a dirty word. I would like to see the results of a similar study done for Gaelic football. From playing the game for longer than I care to remember, I actually think the type of running is different to soccer. For example take the 2005 all Ireland final I'd like to see how many minutes those Tyrone players spent walking or jogging.

I think it goes without saying (or without too much debate at least) that you primarily should concentrate on Weights, plyometrics and resistance training, Sprints and SAQ training and of course you need plenty of practice playing the game you are playing, for example incorporating using the ball you play with into your drills, playing lots of practice games and conditioned games in training and playing plenty competitive matches. I think for many field sports players this is all they need, I know this is pretty much the full scope of many inter county teams training regimes. Being able to train in this way is based on a number of often overlooked assumptions: 1. You have the aerobic fitness required to training like this to a competitive level 2. You are not carrying excess weight, either too much body fat or too much muscle and 3. You can train in this way and control (or actively manage) your weight and fitness levels.

If any or all of these three assumptions are not valid then you need to start looking at other types of training, that is: long runs, speed endurance and fartleks.

If you are carrying too much body fat chances are your aerobic fitness is not up to scratch either, the best way to fix this and maintain your strength is with long easy runs. That’s what they used to do with Gazza! If you are carrying too much muscle (I was a case in point) again your best bet is the long easy runs and I think a few speed endurance sessions help along the way as well. What if you are training in this way and you find your aerobic fitness levels drop or you are putting on too much body fat and or muscle. I think if you started from a good position physically then you can probably manage your body fat and muscle mass levels best through your weights program and diet. As for a drop in fitness again a few long runs or a few speed endurance sessions is your best plan imo.

This "active management" of individual players fitness and conditioning levels, it is not common practice in GAA circles and is probably the reason why Professional Rugby backs and Aussie rules players fitness levels now far surpass those of GAA players. Unfortunately even at inter county GAA levels the old no pain to gain mantra still rings through.

because_I_can

nice post.

my opinion on some of it.
saq is also as dirty a word as laps. It all depends on the interpretation of it but drills that force you to alter your normal stride are counter productive.

Laps isnt that dirty a word. Its essential to have this "money in the bank". Again it depends how they're used but extensive intervals are essential to prepare a player for the year ahead.

Agility and stamina should never be lumped together into the same session in much the same way as speed shouldnt be lumped in with stamina sessions.

Weight training is crucial but it can be done without.
Also its better to be weak as a kitten than overly strong in one muscle group relative to another. eg quads too strong for hams means you'll be slow as a duck, but quads not strong enough and you'll be as agile as a bus.

No mention of recovery/regeneration., the most crucial part of training.

R+R along muscle balance is really the most complicated part of training and why good coaches get paid so much!!
Anyone can do weights, anyone can run intervals.
Doing them right and know how much - well thats the key

Patto

because_I_can wrote:

nice post.

Thanks. And thanks for the reply I like the way you opened up a few things!

because_I_can wrote:

my opinion on some of it.
saq is also as dirty a word as laps. It all depends on the interpretation of it but drills that force you to alter your normal stride are counter productive.

I've never heard that one before, why would it be counter productive?

because_I_can wrote:

Laps isnt that dirty a word. Its essential to have this "money in the bank". Again it depends how they're used but extensive intervals are essential to prepare a player for the year ahead.

I couldn't agree more.

because_I_can wrote:

Agility and stamina should never be lumped together into the same session in much the same way as speed shouldnt be lumped in with stamina sessions.

That seems reasonable. Why not mix Stamina and agility? Are you saying that they counteract each other?

because_I_can wrote:

Weight training is crucial but it can be done without.
Also its better to be weak as a kitten than overly strong in one muscle group relative to another. eg quads too strong for hams means you'll be slow as a duck, but quads not strong enough and you'll be as agile as a bus.

Absolutely! This is where I start getting out of my depth in terms of the advice I can offer.

because_I_can wrote:

No mention of recovery/regeneration., the most crucial part of training.

R+R along muscle balance is really the most complicated part of training and why good coaches get paid so much!!
Anyone can do weights, anyone can run intervals.
Doing them right and know how much - well thats the key

Fair point, again I'd fear getting out of my depth very quickly. Would you care to expand?;)

because_I_can

saq - i mean ladders and stuff like that that force you into an abnormal strid and or force you to look down are crap! Your body by in large follows your head. if you look down all your body will slump. if you're slumped you can never exert full force or be quick/fast.

You have the stride you have, you shouldnt consciously try to change it unless its ridicuously bad. Consciously trying to do anything "technique wise" when doing something so fast as sprinting is going to slow you down. There are simple technique drills, flexibility work etc that are done separately to improve/correct these problems but the truth is posture problems when sprinting are not actually problems. They are weaknesses / imbalances.
Once these weaknesses /imbalances are corrected you will find all these problems magically disappear. Thats why a one fits all program never works to any high level.

Its simple - the more force you apply to the ground, the faster you will run. running through a ladder will only help the most noobs of noobs.



Stamina & agility are two totally separate qualities. agility is the ability to quickly decelarate and accelerate again in different planes of motion. you'll not improve this by doing it in a fatigued state. it is essential a sprint but in a stop start manner.


Rest and recovery - good nutrition is key, amino's shakes vits minerals and good food and sleep are crucial. static stretching after training, ice and or ice baths (be careful with these) contrast showers, recovery tempo runs next day to stimulate blood flow, self massage, massage, PNF stretching. This subject is massive really. And one i know little enough about...

thirtyfoot

In my opinion you are missing a crucial part of any integrated training program and that is speed endurance. Particularly for GAA players who play in the half-back/midfileld/half-forward lines, they need savage speed endurance as the game is very much about sweeping counter-attacks from your own full-back line to the opponents where you need to be running at fairly close to capacity for anything up to 100-120m. This can be achieved by work in training at 85-95% capacity over distances of 75-150m with big recoveries - this is not speed work, speed work is much shorter stuff over 10-30m.

The speed endurance you reference is more like tempo work - either intensive or extensive. While working at this pace is great for improving your VO2 max, its not great for speed endurance as its too slow. Tempo is also great for getting players/athletes in the sort of shape to be able to complete effective speed endurance sessions. Having said that I've never trained a GAA team but have played the game and would try to apply the principles of athletics training to GAA training.


Here is an article in the Mayo News about GAA training.

http://www.mayonews.ie/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=980&Itemid=103

shakeydude

That is a very interesting article from the Mayo News and I think that the speed endurance is more relavent to the GAA game

because_I_can

speed endurance has little relevance to any field sport. I'll go out on a limb and say most players never have to maintain top speed for longer than 10m if even that.

Speed endurance only comes after acceleration which can be up to 40m for the strongest players. Even midfielders, while they may cover lots of ground, will never run at full pace for 50+m. if they did they'd run into someone for sure.

Read that article again and you'll see repeated sprint ability. RSA. this is the most crucial part of training for field sports like gah and soccer. Id say maybe 5% of training should be spent training for speed endurance. I never train it and wouldnt have time in the week to add it in. If it was a choice for me between speed endurance and almost anything else (and training programming is always about taking the best choice) id take the other option.

And that article is a bit off too. Kilty is a good trainer no doubt but he has a vested interest in saq. saq in it usual implementedfor of ladders etc is nonsense and is actually detrimental to an athlete's performance. think about it, how can learning to run through a ladder help you move faster?? its ridiculous.

Agility is another term i have big problems with. it has become a slogan for the marketing industry so they can sell all manner of paraphanelia.

what it really is - is the ability to accelerate and decelerate and accelerate again very quickly. no more. if you are fast and can stop you will be agile. if you can run thru a ladder, you will only be good at running thru a ladder

thirtyfoot

because_I_can wrote:

speed endurance has little relevance to any field sport. I'll go out on a limb and say most players never have to maintain top speed for longer than 10m if even that.

Speed endurance only comes after acceleration which can be up to 40m for the strongest players. Even midfielders, while they may cover lots of ground, will never run at full pace for 50+m. if they did they'd run into someone for sure.

I'm not sure about that. My thinking is that Gaelic football in particular means a guy may run for anything up to 100m without even touching the ball in a supporting position. I'm not saying they will run at top pace for 50m but close to top pace for even longer than that. Much like an 800/1500m athlete will run at a very fast, yet relaxed pace for a reasonably long period. As part of any integrated training programme speed endurance is crucial. Take an example, ball breaks in your own square, its cleared and your team sweeps upfield, in maybe 12-15 secs you are expected to be supporting an attack into your opponents 21, what type of training will facilitate this? This is the beauty of training etc, everyone has different ideas and different ideas can work.

On the Kilty/SAQ thing, not saying the article vindicates what I'm saying, it doesn't, just came across it. But, when it comes to all things speed, he is the top man in Ireland for the past 10-15 yrs and his results and the athletes he has worked with prove it - Derv O' Rourke, TJ Kearns, Sean Cahill, Karen Shinkins and many more. He even worked with Paul Hession for a while (6.61 over the 60m at the weekend-he can't really get credit for that though!). Apart from the Limerick guys, nobody else has had that success. He was Director of Coaching back in the 90's when Ireland starting learning how to sprint, I attribute a lot to him and maybe Paddy Fay too.

Yes he has a vested interest in SAQ but as techinical coach he is world class. Was never coached by him myself but always got great advice etc in squad sessions.

because_I_can

well we'll have to agree to disagree so. Speed endurance competes very directly with all out speed, you cant improve both in the same session and a lot of recovery is needed from them both also. You chose which is more important. Remember you have to get strong, train for skill, recover, go to work and even play an odd match every now and again too!

I dont think your example is typical of what normally happens in gaa. It never* happens in hurling and rarely happens in rugby / soccer. It might happen occasionally in football (gaa) but only for certain players although that is changing with new tactics and mass defense's.

Gaa games are man-marking, position-driven games. In general you will hold to the same area of the field and then break at 100% to win a ball and then deliver all within a few seconds. You mentioned the word crucial a lot. Well SE isnt crucial to anything other than sprinting. All out speed /acceleration over short distances, the ability to repeat it, and the abiliity to stop are crucial to these field sports. SE comes well well down the list of priorities. You can stay at it if you want but you're wasting your time. It will probably get results but only in a brute force kind of way. hell i know guys who improve by using ankle weights and downhill sprints. The act of actually doing anything improves them even though they are choosing very poor exercises. The mayonews article even says straight out that that straight line speed isnt so important. Well how could straight line speed endurance be crucial then?

Patto

Good article from the Mayo news Tingle. Interesting that Jim Kilty is now training Mayo!

As I said I'd like to see more study done into Gaelic football and the type of running that is done. Based on the information available at present I'm inclined to agree with because_I_can.

As for SAQ, hasn't it been around for years in one guise or another? I played Basketball in school over 15 years ago and I reckon most of our training was a form of SAQ as it has probably always been and still remains. I think when you have two world class coaches, Jim Kilty and Liam Hennessy, behind SAQ in Ireland and it is taken as all encompassing, the danger is anything non SAQ becomes seen as old hat and backward.

If you read articles like the one above and a few others after last years all Ireland football final about Pat Flanagan in Kerry you would think that anything resembling aerobic training was a bad thing. I've seen good coaches, most of them forward thinking intelligent guys, who have done the SAQ courses telling players not to be doing laps or long runs because they slow you down. Yet your average intercounty GAA player is finished at 30 and your average 30 year old club player has an arse as wide as the goalposts:rolleyes: