 5. Train skills in an open and competitive environment. Use Space wisely Bigger space in Gaelic Football, Soccer, Hurling (less so) will automatically increase kicking/striking and more movement but also Aerobic Capacity (if properly loaded timewise with work:rest ratio). In an ideal world we would have GPS with Heart Rate monitors but that’s simply not going to be the case for the vast majority of coaches and clubs. When we open up the size of the area we are playing and we keep player numbers below what would be the normal game representation we automatically constrain the game to force more or longer runs than would normally take place. The benefits of this are largely for fitness but they can also be tactical. For instance I would use large areas (say half pitch) with 4v4/5v5 games in Gaelic Football to increasing the amount of kicking some. If you want your team to kick more you have to practice it, but a kicking drill will not transfer to match day. By constraining the environment you create a situation where kicking is the better and easier option. The ball moves further and faster when we kick it rather than hand pass. The fitness element needs to be constrained by time. Maybe in early season this could be 2 mins on, 2 mins active rest (core work, light jogging, mobility work etc). You can then work up to 4 minute games with 2 minutes rest. What can work well here is mixing up the aerobic games with some tempo runs or moderately active technical work. Again depending on team, ability and time of season. Something like this can work in Early season
The case for a mix of running & SSG’s Please remember though that game based activities have a neuromuscular and metabolic price to play. Too many coaches have gone to a games only approach even to all forms of fitness and conditioning. This is flawed in our opinion and arguably at the root of underperformance and even an increase in certain injuries. For instance straight line tempo running has little neuromuscular fatigue when done well and can raise the Aerobic capacity of any athlete. It’s boring yes, but depending on the stage of career or experience or the season it is important to remember that sometimes this is better than small sided games alone. Another early season session to avoid is lots of SSG (particularly in small areas) and shuttle sprints or other exercises that involve a huge amount of change of direction. If players have been off or just in the gym then their lower body and hips and knees in particular will not be conditioned to high volumes of changes of direction. Another classic mistake we have observed over the years is midweek training sessions having more or less the same neuromuscular drain as the game at the weekend. If it’s all game based and competitive and uncontrolled then very often the sessions fatigue and load will come close to mirroring the actual games. If the operating sporting body arranged 4 games in 8 days for your team it’s most likely you would refuse to play at least 1 of those games, but it’s quite possible coaches are doing this on a regular basis. I am aware of Senior Inter County teams training on tuesdays and thursdays for close to 2 hours (with over 1 hour gym sessions mon/wed) and AvB games on the weekends off from the National League. So effectively over 10 weeks their output was arguably well north of the equivilant of 30 games. Sounds bananas right? Thats being nice and not factoring gym sessions. Now people wondered outloud why this team was not performing consistantly and up to expected standards. What followed then was an extensive injury list and a well below par championship, players opting out of the squad and supporters wondering why players seem disinterested. Almost all of the time it is not that the players are disinterested as modern Elite players simply cannot be disinterested such is the commitment, its that they were over trained. There are numerous examples of this across many sports with Spurs in the EPL a recent neighbouring example. Having watched their patterns over 3 years and understanding their managers like for training very hard, alot, the patterns are hard to ignore. Of course on the outside we are always guessing to an extent, but they are pretty educated guesses at this point. Always follow the patterns. Freshness is key. All things being even a game between 2 evenly matched sides will most likely be decided by the freshest team. The loading of SSG’s Knowing most gym programs which are more Bodybuilding than Field Sport appropriate then its not likely that the gym work is specifically dealing with deceleration and change of direction work. Overloading too early with loads of changes of direction is opening up players to potential injury as the neuromuscular prices for changing direction is more than straight line running. This is arguably one of the reasons that hamstring, ACL and groin injuries have not really decreased at all at most levels of sport, or if one is decreasing another is raising. And while coaches may think they are being clever with a games only approach they are being anything but and are often missing the point of what i call “General Conditioning” which is also critical to expanding our athletic windows. The bigger the athletic window, the more likely players will increase skill levels and also a consistency with that skill execution. Especially if in a run of games in-season. Our approach generally is a mix of the 2 as suggested above. By keeping players on the field and not injuring them with too heavy training too fast you are making them athletically better. Every session missed is a decrease in health and fitness of that player, every game missed is double the loss in our opinion. Contact injuries can be unavoidable but we can make players more robust so as to withstand them better. Non-Contact injuries are 100% avoidable and are what keep S&C Coaches awake at night. Any decent S&C Coach hangs their hat on keeping these to the absolute minimum and really always aiming for zero non-contact injuries. So by playing SSG’s on large areas you reduce the amount of changes of direction and they will not be as acute (sharp and repetitive). What you can slowly introduce is return runs, simply by making Tempo runs over 50M returns instead of a straight 100M. Another really good and useful closed COD/Aerobic circuit that can help layer up change of directions and get the body used to it as more changes of directions in a closed environment as well as teaching good mechanics is the circuit below;  There is 4 deliberate changes of direction in each run. The distances are short so nobody will get anywhere near top speed. Teaching the planting of foot outside center of mass, turning of body to face the direction to go is critical here. But this is an environment where 1 or 2 coaches can really hone in on technique while also getting a nice Aerobic Circuit. Generally the circuit will take 8-12 seconds and the walk built in and the waiting line at either side means a natural 17-23 second rest. This is perfect really. I generally start off with 2-3 minutes consecutively for early season and depending on the level with 6 minutes generally the max I would spend at this for anyone.
This circuit mixed in with large area SSG’s will prepare the athletes for more intense SSG’s as the season progresses. Understanding the SSG’s you are using and why you are using them is vital. Is it transferring to match day? Does it prepare your team generally or specifically? Does it fit with your teams profile? Does it match your tactical approach? Are they game representative? Are they developing or avoiding the skills you want to improve? Are the game constraints going to help create a game where the skills and play you want to develop will be encouraged? OR Are they just games for the sake of games? For early season fitness with the ball, big spaces and few constraints. Just play the game.
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10 WAYS TO IMPROVE THE ATHLETICISM FOR FIELD SPORT - 4 Strength Train on field session nights3/14/2019  4. Strength train on field training nights This one has small physiological negatives (adaptations may be slightly interfered with) but not enough to ignore the Psycho-Social benefits, as in - more nights off. As well as that you are assured of all players at least doing some strength training and at a base level that will keep players on the field, the 1st priority for any preparation. If at all logistically possible do your in-season strength training before and after field sessions. With many clubs having those facilities for me this is a no brainer. Having an extra night or two free for a social life and to recover will automatically make the modern sports player fitter and fresher as so many are simply over burdened by nightly commitments and lose interest or burn out far quicker. It would also be unwise to ignore the impact this can have on personal relationships. Spending time with loved ones or at home with family will balance life, keep players interested for longer and relieve some of the stresses that come with modern commitment to sport.  There is an expectancy in modern sport to look after yourself pretty much all the time. Gym work is definitely part of this. While big heavy strength sessions are not always what is needed, some training of strength is. While i promote a broader general athleticism development approach to stand alone gym sessions, when we add strength work to training sessions we automatically give ourselves more recovery time and thus freshness and a higher state of athleticism.
The system also feeds into the commonly used High-Low training model. Train hard and high on one day, train low the next. Low can be not at all or can be some easy short recovery work, which sometimes can be as simple as a 30 minute walk. Where as if you train on the field tues-thurs and then are expected or need to do 2 gym sessions Mon-wed you get 4 potentially high days in a row. That will not promote freshness. While preseason and offseason I would consider separation of gym and field but when you are playing games freshness underpins performance. Days off are critical. Everyone’s schedule is different, but coaches should use their head. The culture in each team will vary slightly. Maybe Monday evening gym sessions in the club are the norm and have created a good culture, well then don’t touch. Maybe add some pre and post strength work on thursday and have wed-fri free. Depending on time of the year and equipment available, some strength work can take place within the sessions if necessary on the field. We deal with it further down the list, but for periods of time Med Ball work, bodyweight training and Plyometrics can virtually replace the gym anyway, or can be just before or just after. There are many things to consider. There may be reasons where supervised group strength training on individual days is a better idea. Maybe with young or inexperienced groups the overall benefit may be to segregate it for blocks at a time. But really we are thinking about pretty well trained individuals and particularly when the games start. Freshness underpins everything. I generally have players in “Strength Groups”. That will be based on assessments and a general feel for them over time and what their needs really are. Typically the groups would be titled something like
My ideal scenario is 10 mins before, 10-15 mins after Here are some examples of what has worked for me in the past; Before & After Gym Sample Gaelic Football Session Gym 5 Mins: Personal Movement Exercises - Mobility/stability or identified neuromuscular primer exercises. This is individualized 5 Mins: Special Speed Exercises - Particular exercises related to the muscles in particular involved in acceleration and/or max velocity sprinting (*Note - we will have a series on these special speed exercises coming soon***) Pitch 5-10 Mins: Movement Game - Olympic Handball/Bib Tag, Aussie Rules Possession or similar 3 Mins: Sprint Mechanics - A+B Skips or similar (depends on level) 6 Mins: 30M Linear Sprints x3 w/90 secs rest - easy technical work for active rest 6 Mins: Plyo Circuit - Lower Leg Conditioning Circuit 20 Mins: Full Game 15 Mins: Competitive Skills Flow 3 blocks w/3 groups rotating through 5 mins each - 3 skills (example: 2v1 competitive kicking, tackling & shooting) emphasized come from feedback on game - what to work on presently!! There is a specific large conditioning element to this 10-15 Mins: Conditioned Game based on tactical philosophy of team, possibly also based on feedback of recent game or sessions full game Gym 10-15 Mins: Prescribed Strength Circuit - Usually 3-4 compound exercises in the players normal 75-85% range Time 1 Hr 30-40 mins - Longer than normally needed for 60 minute sports like Gaelic Football (Rugby and soccer may adjust as necessary) but the reward is a day off the following day, or very light <30 Min session/45 minute walk Sample Gym Before only Soccer Session Gym 5 Mins: Personal Movement Exercises - Mobility/stability or identified neuromuscular primer exercises. This is individualized 5 Mins: 1 Lower/1 Upper Body Contrast Circuit (alternate exercises through a 2-3 day cycle) 5 Mins: Special Speed Exercises Pitch 5-10 Mins: Movement Game - Olympic Handball/Bib Tag, Aussie Rules Possession or similar 3 Mins: Sprint Mechanics - A+B Skips or similar (depends on level) 6 Mins: 30M Linear Sprints x3 w/90 secs rest - easy technical work for active rest 6 Mins: Plyo Circuit - Lower Leg Conditioning Circuit 30 Mins: Full Game 8 Mins: Intensive Tempos Block 8 Mins: Set Plays work 8 Mins: Intensive Tempos Block 8 Mins: Set Plays work 10 Mins: Conditioned Games - emphasizing identified issues arising from session or recent game Optional (player driven): 100M Tempos Time : 1Hr40 - 2 Hr Sample after training Gym Camogie Session Pitch 5 Mins: Strength-Stability Bodyweight Circuit - The bridge between the real modern sedentary world and training 3 Mins: Sprint Mechanics - A+B Skips or similar (depends on level) 6 Mins: 30M Linear Sprints x3 w/90 secs rest - easy technical work for active rest 6 Mins: Movement Game - Olympic Handball/Bib Tag, Aussie Rules Possession or similar 20 Mins: Competitive Skills Flow 3 blocks w/3 groups rotating through 5 mins each - 3 skills (example: 2v1 competitive ruck ball , tackling & shooting) emphasized come from feedback on game - what to work on presently!! There is a specific large conditioning element to this 20 Mins: 3 Block circuit of conditioned game, Agility running & Repeated runs all w/aerobic conditioning element. 3 groups cycle through 6 minutes each w/2 minute breaks 15 Mins: Full Game Gym 10-15 mins: Prescribed 3-6 exercise circuit just done within allotted time These are just samples of what we have used in recent past, every Coach has to cut his or her cloth based on teams ability and facilities available. There are times even when facilities are available and stand alone gym sessions are a better options. Sometimes we do have to go all in and leave other parts of our lives behind a little. But only for short blocks i would suggest.  3. Finish sessions Tempos. Tempo runs can work really well as a non-intensive method of building our aerobic capacity. Using them at the end of field or court sessions might just be a safe and clever way to build work capacity and your aerobic system. What are tempo’s? Well in field sport Tempo running is defined as running performed at 65 – 75% percent of one’s maximum speed. What is important on how to perform tempo is you want the last rep of your runs to be the same speed as the first runs.(Charliefrancis.com). Running faster can actually have a detrimental effect on your recovery and development. Tempos really should be pretty enjoyable. The simplest and most common (and method i suggest for a training finisher) is to run 70-100M and walk back. Generally i like 100 as its nice and tidy to measure and calculate. Now a Max speed is needed, or a very good ball park. A timed 100M run would be good, but most Club Level athletes will fall in the 16-24 second range. If you look at this table made up by the very kind Simon Naimby (@sinainby ) of Underground Athletics, he has entered his sprint time for 100M and this table spits out a range for him making the 100M for tempos. Seen below are some other Charlie Francis examples and methods, but i would keep them for individual days or extra days and let athletes play around with them themselves and more particularly for Pre-Season when using the intensive methods. For finishers at training stick to the straight line 100 Tempo Run:100 Walk. However for lower level athletes, power athletes, court athletes, large athletes who fatigue easily and are good over shorter distances maybe a 60M test would be better, and then run 60M Tempo’s. The reps would be higher but volume similar to everyone else.  So at the end of your normal session the players simply run 100M in about 65-75% and walk back. It really is that simple. The benefits are huge.
Trust is needed on a level for this, but you are going nowhere without it anyway. This may not be a year 1 thing to do or possibly in your first few months with a team. Trust has to be built both ways and a team may think you are bluffing by setting up tempos and walking away. So its not a magic wand either. However it is a great tool to use possibly early pre season and in-season to maintain conditioning, build work capacity and maintain body composition. If athletes want to do some extra work and are that enthusiastic a good session would be starting with a mix of technical weakness work followed by a tempo session. In a standalone session athletes will be able to do more reps than at the end of a session. For some athletes this could be more important than a gym session and could maybe precede a short strength session as we generally go after the more important quality first. Tempos can be a great boost for a player returning from injury as well. Its very important that if you are starting to struggle to keep the times even that you bow out. Your fatigue levels can vary wildly due to life and exercise stresses. These Tempos are a handy addition, but should enhance your athleticism, not derail it. Suggested Guidelines (what a base level might be after 4 weeks of 2-3 sessions per week, depending on level): Stand Alone Tempo Sessions Off-season Gaelic Sports - 80-100M x30 runs (Track/Grass) Basketball - 50-75M x50-60 runs (track/grass) Field Hockey - 60-80M x45-65 runs (Turf/Track/Grass) Rugby Forwards - 60-80M x30-40 runs (Track/Grass) Rugby Backs - 100M x25-35 runs (Track/Grass) Soccer - 100M x35-45 runs (Track/Grass) Stand Alone Tempo Sessions Pre-season Gaelic Sports - Extensive Circuits (Run 100- Walk 50) x3 as 1 set, walk 100 between sets X4-6 sets (Grass) Basketball - Extensive Circuits (Run 112, 4 lengths of court- Walk 56) x3 as 1 set, walk 112 between sets X5-8 sets Field Hockey - Extensive Circuits (Run 100- Walk 50) x3 as 1 set, walk 100 between sets X3-5 sets (Turf) Rugby Forwards - Extensive Circuits (Run 50- Walk 25) x3 as 1 set, walk 50 between sets X8-12 sets (Grass) Rugby Backs - Extensive Circuits (Run 100- Walk 50) x3 as 1 set, walk 50 between sets X4-6 sets (Grass) Soccer - Extensive Circuits (Run 100- Walk 50) x3 as 1 set, walk 50 between sets X5-8 sets (Grass) In-Season Post training Tempos Gaelic Sports - 80-100M x5-12 runs (Grass) Basketball - 56M x10-20 runs (court) Field Hockey - 60-80M x5-12 runs (Turf) Rugby Forwards - 60-80M x8-15 runs (Track/Grass) Rugby Backs - 100M x8-15 runs (Track/Grass) Soccer - 100M x10-20 runs (Track/Grass) * Bike or Pool tempos may be suitable for some athletes who have a very high training age, are very big players or are coming back from injury and physio advice is to lower running volume. What we do have to get right here is are these central or peripheral (muscles) adaptations or stresses we are training, and when we change implements used (running to bike for example) we need to be careful of what we are training. Tempo running will not overly stress the Central Nervous System, so its important that whatever replacements you use do not either. 30 second pedals with 30 rest seem a good replacement here and you can keep the volume similar. 30 seconds @70% Max sprint on bike, with 30 seconds easy peddling. To find your max hopefully the stationary bike has a monitor. A 20 second all out sprint will help and hopefully it will record your fastest speed. Work 70% off that speed then for your tempos. see charliefrancis.com for more Note: If as we suggest elsewhere you do weight training with field training and you want to incorporate tempos in like above, do the weights before training and keep volume and amount of exercises really low. Please email me if you want the template from Charlie Francis approach courtesy of Underground Athletics. [email protected]  Sprint every session, even if for only 15 meters x1 rep. It switches on the nervous system, build strength outside of the gym and reduces the possibility of injury. But do it early when not fatigued, ideally after a good warm up.
Because so much sprinting was done so poorly and in fatigued states near end of sessions it’s like it became a dirty word. What was happening there other than the endless reports of injuries were players were learning to sprint slower than their capabilities due to the fatiguing of the neuromuscular system. Sprinting has many benefits way beyond simply running hard out at a marker. Sprinting build the muscles we use athletically. It’s almost impossible to develop these muscles in any other setting at maximum effort. Sprinting improves running economy. By improving economy you then use less energy to perform submaximal efforts (which is most efforts in field sport). You get fitter essentially. Well designed repeat sprint sessions can enhance endurance better than traditional endurance training and clearly has a better transfer to field sports. This study showed sprint interval training improved Maximal aerobic Speed as well as speed in the 3KM Run. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5839711/ One of the keys to sprint performance is allowing sufficient rest from maximal sprints. Anything over 30M I would give at least 2 mins. While many coaches get frustrated with this length of time for sprints maybe a meeting half way is some active rest with easy technical training. But full recovery from sprints has a huge effect on speed, injury reduction and the volume you can complete at high speed and quality. This is one study of many that show longer rests means the Output is higher per sprint. This really just makes sense, from my experience and what research suggests, 2 good sprints flat out over 3 minutes is better than 6 sprints over same time. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5913318/ But the more times we can sprint the more times we can fire up our type II muscle fibers that makes us strong and fast. So taking the time to set aside specific straight line sprint training has massive benefits. Conversely we need to be careful of our put at certain times of the week and year we need to be careful of our max sprinting load. We do not want to drain our nervous system too much. Sprinting too much without enough rest can actually make your athletes slower. Be prepared to cut a speed session and take 5-8 minutes rest before doing anything else for a good recovery. Quality trumps everything with sprinting However, even 1 sprint can switch on our nervous system enough to 1) prepare for a technical-tactical session or game but 2) help keep us injury robust and finally 3) maintain speed gains developed early in training process. This readiness or the process of can be called Potentiation. This is essentially where we excite a certain group of muscles (as described already the athletic muscles) and that they are ramped up to a higher ceiling for Post Potentiation activity. We would often do this in the gym where we do jump squats before a Back Squat where we are aiming for heavy lifts. The jumping at lighter loads excites the muscle we use in a similar movement at which we may be intending to excel or max out on. One of the best ways to transfer work done in the gym over onto the pitch is to sprint. Another really easy way for coaches to use this system is the 3 sprint build up. Sprints between 20 and 60M long for 3 reps 1st Rep @ 80% 2nd Rep @ 90% 3rd Rep @ Max Significant rests must be part of this, but easy active rest and technical drills or play at low level can be the answer here. Sprint every session  For Field Coaches everywhere - some practical tips to help your people get more athletic and enjoy their sports more, be more competitive and stay injury free!!!
1. Warm Ups Use warm ups for Development of good movement, running technique and strength. While I hear many people bemoan and ridicule excessive warm ups (and often they have a point) it is also true that a warm up can be used to develop areas of absolute importance that you may not be certain are addressed elsewhere. I start virtually all warm ups with some form of a strength-Stability Circuit. I call it Global Movement Circuit, call it what you want, it’s a way of getting the people you are coaching from the stresses physically and mentally of life more ready to actually take part in training. A bridge you could say. Remember many will have been sat at desks or driving in traffic to get to training. They need to readjust. But by doing this you will have more attentive people, and their body more woken up. This means a higher quality session. It means less likelihood of injury. All these things without any conditioning will make someone more athletic. An example of one I am using recently with a team Global Movement Prep x1-2 sets - Lunge Matrix x1 - Lunge In 5 directions - Down Dog to Rotate x4 e/s - Inchworms to Push Ups x4 - Nordics x4 - Reverse Nordics I will generally change this up somewhere between 4 and 8 weeks depending on training age and profile of team. Another part I feel is critical to Field Sport is Acceleration, Deceleration and running technique. Most field sport athletes do not get good technical track training when they are young (the ones that have stand out a mile). So a simple circuit of access/decels, A/B Marches and Skips is a staple in early season or if I am new with a team. We adjust and will add complexity as we go, but the changes I have seen over the years with teams in their running ability just from these 2 circuits or variations of is quite pronounced. The next piece of this jigsaw is to hand ownership to the players themselves. After initially teaching they should be able to run this part themselves. We all know a team that feels they are invested in and own their training will buy-in and likely perform better. Generally after this you can go into some sprints or more game based warm up activities. Very often we will throw in some agility game like bib tag or knee tag or anything really that gets them moving, raises temperature and also has a fun element. This is bringing everything to a pitch so they are ready for the main parts of the session. Some coaches like to create a warm up, leave the players run it, but then insist it remains the same for the entire year and every session. I certainly disagree with this approach. I don’t think you have to keep changing just for the sake of change but that it evolves while maintaining all our fundamentals and non-negotiables. Staleness may be an issue but also can a lack of adaptation. Small adjustments along the way (that do not mean a huge re-learning process) can make a nice change up and develop a broader range of movement skills. Helping an athlete to move better means they will expend less energy within games. Less wasted energy means automatically a team will be fitter as a whole. Again without any specific conditioning. |
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