Bailey at Epping Football Ground
Went for a run at Epping with Bailey. This is one great way of doing agility as against change of direction. When I was running strides Bails just runs at me and I have to work out where he is going then make my move otherwise I am injured given he is almost 50kg and fast twitch. This is agility whilst running around cones is change of direction and involves extra qualities. These terms often get confused and research by Young and Shepherd clarified the terminology. He also made friends with some people that were at the wake of a young player from Epping and I think brightened their day. All that sort of stuff puts thing in perspective and my condolences to his family and friends.
Ages and Track and Field
Development is wrapped up in lots of “science” but there seems to be a certain predictability with different sports and stages of development. Whilst there is a change from year to year the one constant seems to be the age 25 and 2 to 3 years either way. Seems simple and is but gets lost given that 16 years of age is a long way from 24 for instance. 2007 to 2015.
As Michael Poulton outlined using results from a model that looks at the number of athletes per event in the world’s top 100 at the end of the 2006 season , OZ has some numbers there. My statistics are at best a trend only but do reflect the mature status of elite performers. Obvious really but often people think there are heaps of 20 year olds stacked in top 100 even 500 for each event. And my main thrust is simply that structures have to be in place to keep athletes in the sport from 16 to 22 for example.
Now the competition is with things like the TAC development squads and the lure of Soccer for example. Little Athletics should provide the base ( but in my opinion is a bit too young ) and then ideally there should be structures in place to foster development with professionally run clubs. Wishful thinking I know but athletics would explode and feed off the sports science and “institute” driven revival since the “1976 no medal debacle” in Montreal.
We see the AIS employing heaps of full time after school positions in OZ and I cant see why we couldn’t have regional coaches employed at varied venues to keep young people training in athletics and in fact active. Maybe wishful thinking. Again these days money is needed and that is tough for Athletics to generate . Again I am heading to the sad fact that these days most people won’t and can’t coach for hours for zero money night after night in the cold ( and the heat!) . This is one of the strange expectations that exists when parents will pay for swimming and other sports. Odd. IE That is that athletics should often be coached for nix!
I have attached a rough calculation of ages for 100m rankings now and also in 2000 and a look at different events which changes the averages.
Article ok for Volleyball basics
This is a simple article that has nice pics of some good foundation exercises or even ok for inseason maintenance for volleyball. After all a muscle doesn’t know if it is saving a penalty or doing a massive block! It just contracts maximally.
http://www.behindthemask.net/potenza/Goaile%20leg%20strength.htm
Kevin Sheedy and Loris Bertolacci
Congrats to Sheeds
I started at Essendon in February 87 and finished up in 98 so I think I know the bloke really well. And how could I forget 1998 when there were question marks on his remaining at EFC. And even 1991 when I had coffee with him and he was mulling over offers to Sydney. Amazing. Meetings with him at the Hilton near the MCG. HA. He would take all the little jam thingos home for his kids. The doctor would be talking about injured players and Sheeds would see someone he knew and just waltz over in the middle of the meeting. Only he could do it.
I probably went through a total football department and nearly the full list in my time at Essendon with Sheeds. Even with administration I think an accountant was the only stayer through that period with Sheeds and I.
I remember a team building exercise we had in the country somewhere in 98 and all the staff had to do all the personality questionnaires. ( DISC) Well I was totally gobsmacked when the psych told me that I had the same personality as Sheeds. It really amused Mark Thompson no end. What the psych told us later was that I had an “objective” side to my personality whilst Sheeds was all arty farty. Thank heavens for that. But he left that till after so he could amuse the boys.
Sad to leave in 1998 but I thought it was time to try something different so I resigned and thanked Sheeds for my time there. I never forget that day. Sitting in that office talking to Sheeds about going to Geelong, Mark Thompson just walked past with his little bag and waved to us and said bye bye. Danny Corcoran had left the year before and David Wheadon also. The one constant in life is change.
Lucky to have my time at EFC with Sheeds and who could forget when we were in Canberra and Peter Costello showed us around the Cabinet Room and Sheeds sat in the PM’s chair. That said it all. Very funny stuff.
Sports Science and Athletics
We have seen a huge growth industry in sports science in Australia. Recently an article by Ralph Doubell (1:44.40/15-Oct-68/Mexico Olympic Gold Medallist) spoke about the fact his record still stands even though there is this industry in OZ. I dont think there would have been more than a handful of people then working in sports science in Australia.
Can sports science help track and field? Certainly in AFL it provides a lot of useful information with heat prevention strategies and tools to measure game demands and training loads for example. These measuring tools are often invaluable to justify training interventions with coaches for example. On the other hand some aspects of sports science sometimes often only creates work and data for researchers.
I find physiological testing in the lab to be very useful for example. Simply doing this lets one link fitness tests and performance trends to the athlete profiles and positional needs. Add to this genetic profiling and one can have a pervasive argument available to a coach to play someone at full forward or as a midfielder.
I have databased every player on an AFL list using ultra sound for TA control. Very important despite the hoo ha on this stuff. The explosion in information on rehabilitation has been critical to my work .
So back to athletics? Steffenson has to go overseas to improve. Ron Clarkes name is still in the books. Charlene Rendina (Aust National 800m record holder 1:59.0 on 28-Feb-76) was one athlete I watched train at Preston year in and year out and saw her methods. My brother in law trains many champion throwers at Ringwood and in fairness to Gus Puopolo he would not pass Exercise Physiology at University today. My best man at my wedding Ken Lorroway jumped 17 46 30 years ago!
How can the famed sports science industry help OZ track? Can it? Of course in cycling and rowing and swimming things are easily measured and then fed back to training. A number of obstacles exist I believe. I have heard criticisms from both sides about this. Coaches saying Institute conditioning programs are not relevant, soft and too focused on core and not strength and power and that staff at ground level are not good enough. Institute people saying that athletics people simply don’t access them enough and have closed minds. Both arguments have merit. But maybe it is the systems that dont allow sports science to filter through.
Added to this is a problem with Little Athletics where kids do Aths so early when I believe they should play football and basketball for instance. Multilateral development.Average age of sprinters is almost 26! It takes so long from little aths to produce champions. Another argument for another day but senior numbers are down? Why?. Probably the lure of money in other sports. Little Aths is good for health and fitness but track and field ?
I believe that Athletics is a sport that requires coaches who have enormous knowledge and experience but at the end of the day simply a track and some weights. The key is to get highly qualified and highly experienced coaches at ground level out there in the suburbs. And more importantly pay them! These people need to be hardcore athletics people who ideally have sports science backgrounds and UNI qualified if possible. But first they must live the sport. World Champions can be produced anywhere in athletics. But is the expertise and are the professional coaching structures out there?
The world has changed as it always does and married professional people cant go the track and coach for nothing anymore from 4 to 8pm. Work hours have exploded. One goes to clubs and their rooms are often locked. True business like structures don’t exist because there is no money! At the end of the day Franz Stampfl made a living out of athletics and he certainly produced a few!
The biggest mistake I made was leaving Preston to go to the AIS in 1981 on Day 1 of the Institute. I had gone to Europe and studied my sport inside out with all the gurus, had a video camera then and created a venue at Preston and was on the way. Went to Canberra and simply it was far too early in its history. What I needed was video technology and biomechanics and sports medicine back up and moreso a coach willing to watch every throw but not a new venue.
It is a tough call but I think we have some great venues in Melbourne stacked with non paid well meaning coaches. If these venues had qualified paid coaches who had to clock in and out and be accountable ( and were qualified) with back up provided then kids I believe would come through. The kids dont need money. That is a fallacy. Parents will pay if this is available.
Thus the Sports Science explosion could filter through to the practical and varied environments that exist. It is very sad that highly paid strength and conditioning gurus abound in OZ but many wouldn’t have a clue how to program elite athletes in their conditioning programme and are not the solution for track and field. So yes sports science can help Athletics but it is a unique sport and requires unique solutions.
AFL Development and Carlton
Martyn Pyke on SEN today spoke as well as I have heard on developmental needs in the AFL. He was straight to the point and objective and not going on and on about the week that was and one game in isolation or individuals. He was talking about how Carlton missed their opportunity to draft players in 1999 and then 2000 versus other clubs like Geelong who jampacked their list with good kids. Not the best but good. But he then simply spoke about the “equations” required for success in the AFL. Draft heaps of good young kids then nurture them for 5 to 8 years in an environment where they have some older players and some relative success and wait. Get other areas up and running and after 8 years see the good times roll ( ie win a few games and be competitive and give some hope). So if everything is set to go he pointed to things such as administration as areas needing to improve for instance to win a flag. The mistake he said was trying to put a heap of kids together in the absence of leaders without any success for year after year. IE That it is not as easy as sticking 22 Franklins in one team. This is why Guerra is at teh Hawks and how many pre-seasons has Campbell Brown done now? Quite a few. He also spoke about young players in good teams looking better early than others and how he was better at Kangaroos than Fitzroy. IE A young player in Geelong versus one at Carlton this year. Often I find people use the presence of one or two young players as evidence that fast tracking can occur. Can happen but rarely. Simply what I liked about his comments were that they were objective and general. Not that this club and that club had better coaches or the odd star player or whatever. The one little point I wanted to pick him up on was when he spoke about the Baby Bombers and how they were an exception but really one must remember they had many great older players ( Salmon / Thompson /Harvey / ODonnell and hard heads like Grenvold and so on) and really there only a few young ones. Paul Hills had been there since 1988 and the others were at U/19’s in 1990. Hird / Mercuri /Calthorpe / Olarenshaw with Fletcher being the youngy and anyway I think Kernahan kicked a few anyway! . So really he was saying that in a draft, success is cyclical as we know and is what the AFL wants but moreso by mentioning “years required” was almost getting back to that 10 years of practice needed in elite sport and the predictable nature of the AFL competition. This is why coaches cannot outlast these “years required” unless they simply survive!. People cant wait 8 years without a final. Geelong won the VFL final in 2002, just missed the finals in 2003 and then made finals in 2004 and 2005 so played 5 finals and had relative success and gave some hope to supporters as against a Carlton. So if a coach can take over when players are 23.5 to 24.5 on average and almost 80/90 games with more young than old but heaps at 24/26 and a few good oldies ( ie a slightly skewed bell curve to the left) he might just get some early success if they can play a bit ( IE Within 3 years!) Seen that before haven’t we! Good unemotional stuff on Radio as I was driving to Wandong at 7pm for my wifes 50th. Happy Birthday Pamela!
Leigh Colbert and Loris Bertolacci and VCFL
Leigh Colbert asked me to do the fitness in 2006 for the VCFL team. It was also an opportunity to work with Jeff Oxley who used to be the physio at GFC with me. Leigh organized a few sessions at the Lexus Centre and dragged everyone in from James Hird to Paris Hilton .
Anyway off to the Gold Coast ( hard gig in July!) and game 1 at Carrara . It was pouring and we played and lost and then the other games were called off. That night we hatched a few plans to get through the tournament with more rotations, more gatorade and better breakfasts. Also Anthony Stevens and I had a dance off that night. I won. He was a great footballer but wont get a gig on Dancing with the Stars.
We were eating brekkie smack bang in surfers and bacon and eggs was the favourite. We had to change that to cereals and toast. Mind you I must admit the original brekkie was nice but not sports science friendly. Recovery sessions at Surfers and Lectures on the beach were the go.
Next day the games were at Surfers and due to the rain the rooms were shocking. So Leigh decided to set up the rooms under some trees in a park about 400m away from the ground. Shaded and airy and simply beautiful. I poured Gatorade down their throats and we won all our games and clawed our way into the finals the next day.
Finals day was a challenge. Real hot. I went all over the Southport ground and sought out anything I could use. Fans, cups, ice and so on. I made the VCFL staff buy so much drink and ice and get so many fans they thought I was crazy. We warmed up in a primary school under some trees about 100m away from the ground to get away from the sun and there was a concert being set up there. The organizers of the concert turned the speakers up to 100% volume and let loose with classics like “eye of the tiger” whilst we warmed up. Out of control and more gatorade.
Game was a beauty versus ACT. We went into the shade at the breaks but ACT stayed in the sun. So be it. We rotated the players and poured gatorade down their throats and cooled them down at every opportunity. Basic heat prevention strategies. We were a goal behind at the end of the game and Joe McLaren ( ex St Kilda) kicked a huge goal from the centre. Massive kick that if done in an AFL final would have been legendary. Extra time and we bolted away and maybe that is when the cooling and gatorade kicked in. Thats the theory. Big day and big win and great fun.
C Grade Italian Womens Volleyball Fitness Program
I translated this, or moreso copied it from an Italian website for volleyball . Pretty big focus on strength and power and proprioception. Just some information and hope it is interesting. I dont know if Serie C is semi pro. Seems so given they only train 4 days a week.
Womens National Volleyballers in Melbourne
FRIDAY 7pm: UNI BLUES vs UTS SYDNEY at Melbourne University
SATURDAY 11am and 5pm Dandenong Stud Rd Dandenong Basketball Centre
SUNDAY 11am Dandenong Stud Rd Dandenong Basketball Centre
Victorian Country Football League win against VAFA
Last week I went to Ballarat with the VCFL where they conquered the VAFA in a thrilling game. We arrived in Ballarat on Saturday.
Off to training in a bus with coaches and players and staff. We were driven to a small barren ground and the driver bundled us out. In the bus we had the Collingwood and Geelong game blaring on radio in front of a huge crowd and what we stepped out onto under this mountain could not have been further removed from the MCG. It was freezing and eerie and very quiet. I think it was right next to Mt Helen but it was so cold and misty it could have been Kilimanjaro.
Anyway this ground was just a little kids ground and was overun by shrubs. The rooms were well too old to be given National Trust rating and anyway we couldnt get in and I think if we opened the door a few skeletons would have fallen out. I saw a small human being on the other side of the ground and ran to him hoping he could get us in but it was a kid with a Geelong jumper on. He ran away! Wonder why? What had happened was that the driver had dropped us off at the wrong ground.
There was no water tap for the bottles so I ran into a front yard over the road and filled the bottles up. Anyway the boys were very positive and trained and to be honest it looked like a scene from the TV AD for AFL footy with kids “gimme that thing” .
On Saturday night the boys had a dinner, team photo and coach Kevin Morris spoke to them. Nathan Bower presented a video to the players that was very motivating on the difference between country and city players.
The game on Sunday was tight all day and really my main function was to hydrate the guys and make sure they were well nourished and warmed up. This is an area that is always lacking at anywhere below elite level. Like last year in Queensland Brett and Shaun Connell gave me everything I needed.
Great result on the siren with Saad Saad marking and kicking the vital point. I had to leave on the siren and drive straight to Green Gully to warmup the soccer team prior to a draw with South Melbourne. Long day and really Green Gully could have used Saad Saad to get over the line. Should have put him in the car. After all he is a Brunswick boy!
Anyway I think I should also document last years final in QLD with Colbert and CO because that was an amazing sporting experience.
loris bertolacci 