New Brighton

Football Club (R.U.)

Coaches Corner

January Topic: Support Play     March Topic: Attacking Back Play     
April Topic:In Search of Mental Toughness     

Tony O'Brien MSc. Performance and Defensive Coach offers training tips for improving speed and performance.

Speed Training

Speed is an essential element, which every player requires regardless of position. Speed is the ability to move quickly and effectively, and is dependent upon reaction time, speed of muscle contraction and running technique. This quality can be improved with the appropriate training technique.

The components of running speed are:

1. Stride length
2. Running form
3. Speed endurance
4. Reaction time
5. Acceleration
6. Strength
7. Power
8. Flexibility

Speed Endurance

Speed-endurance is the ability to repeatedly perform maximal or near maximal sprints with various recovery intervals. Speed –endurance is normally enhanced by interval training, which involves high-intensity exercise bouts alternated with bouts of recovery.

As physical conditioning improves overall intensity is altered by increasing training distance, total running time, running intensity and the number of repetitions or by decreasing the recovery period. Interval training as compared to long slow running will involve more physical pain because the near-maximal effort, which increases blood lactate.

Technique Work

Increases in strength must be integrated into an efficient and functional sprinting technique programme. Correct form while running plays a large part in determining just how you will run. Some points to concentrate on are:

1. Use a strong-arm action. Emphasis is on driving the opposing arm backwards
2. Don't use an exaggerated arm swing across the body (i.e. minimise rotation of the body). However, there will need to be some slight arm movement across the body in order to compensate for the hip rotation caused by leg extension.
3. Try to keep a solid (stable) upper torso- this contributes to maximising force production in a forward direction.
4. Drive forward not upwards (i.e. don't over emphasise knee lift-high knee lift will cause the upper body to lean backwards making it almost impossible to apply hip extension force throughout the range of motion). Keep your hips and shoulders on the plane.
5. Get into your stride quickly and extend the legs on each stride.
6. Minimise ground contact time.

Strength

Basic Factors of a Weight Training Programme

• Patience: It takes a long and regular sessions for the best results.
• Time: For best results you need to work out three to four times a week.
• Prevention of Injuries: Another asset obtained from weight training is in the area of injury prevention. It will toughen up joint areas and added growth tissue size will resist tissue injury and prepare the body to handle added stress.
• Speed and Strength: If one hopes to improve his overall endurance, performance and speed, normally the determining factor is strength. Many times our so called 'reaching of peaks' is no more then reaching the limits of strength. The effective answer is to improve strength through the use of weight training.
• Flexibility: Weight training will improve this area by using the weight through the full range of motion, which will help flexibility. The term "muscle-bound" is a misused term. Fear of becoming "muscle-bound" through weight training is based on misinformation or lack of experience in its use.
• Co-ordination and Agility:  The lack of basic strength can often be the the basic reason for poor co-ordination, which leads to early fatigueand loss of body control and performance. Improved strength can mean improved rhythm and power.
• Self Confidence:  With improved physical appearance aand the added fast improvements in pounds lifted, you will acquire an improved "self image" However, to any real improvement, you must first believe in your own abilities and feel that you have someting to contribute to the effort.

It is recommended that the large muscle group exercises are the most important exercise in the workout should precede small muscle single-joint exercises.

For Example.

• Power Clean
• Squats
• Bench Press
• Barbell Lunge
• Lateral Pull Down
• Lateral Raises
• Bent Over Lateral Raises
• Triceps Press
• Twisted Crunch

The power clean and the squats come first because they are the most functionally important exercises. The power clean precedes the squat because it is technically it is the more difficult movement.
The shoulder and triceps exercises come next because they are single join movements.
The twisted crunch comes last because trunk stability strength is always required for good satability and technique in any exercise.Thus the trunk exercises should come at the end of a routine so that trunk muscle fatigue does not compromise technique during other exercises.

Warm Up

The correct warm - up is also essential if weight training is to be fully effective. An easy aerobic activity performed in about 4 - 5 minutes involving both upper and lower body would be the ideal starting point.

The next stage of the warm-up would be the choice of active mobility exercises for the whole body. The purpose of these exercises is to take each major joint through its active range of motion without loading before the workout begins.

Note: there are no stretching exercises involved in the warm-up. Stretching may actually be inappropriate for strength training because it relaxes the muscles, therefore reducing force development potential by inhibiting the stretch reflex.

Dehydration

Dehydration increases heart rate, body temperature and reduces the bodies capacity to recover from bouts of intensive exercise. Loss of even small amounts of body weight as fluid (2% of body weight) can significantly effect performance. Once you have become dehydrated it is difficult to restore fluid balance while exercising. Fluid losses greater than 3-4% of body weight increase the risk of nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea. Greater levels of dehydration increases the level of heat stress.

How Much Fluid do I Need to Consume to Prevent Dehydration

Thirst is a poor of how fluid needs to be consumed indicator. By the time you are thirsty significant fluid loss has already occurred. Fluid requirements for exercise differ according to the amount of sweat loss. Most athletes will lose around 1 litre of sweat per hour when training intensely in warm conditions. Estimating fluid loss is possible by measuring body weight before and after exercise, each litre of sweat weighs approximately 1kg, the percentage of body weight loss as sweat can then be calculated

Practical Guidelines

• Drink 1 litre of water per hour during training
• Drink when you have a break from training
• Before and after training drink 500ml of a carbohydrate solution (Viper)

Causes of Dehydration

• High intake of caffeine rich drinks
• Alcohol
• Time spent in the sun or hot conditions
• Exercise-fluid loss increases with:
• Intensity of exercise
• Length of time exercising
• Body surface area

"Mental Toughness" (MT) is the ability to create and maintain the right kind of mental state regardless of the circumstances.

MT is about conquering yourself. That is, overcoming the internal and external barriers to achieving the ultimate in "THE ZONE" or "FLOW" performance. Achieving "FLOW" is the major goal of rugby players. Being able to achieve flow under any situation gives the player the ultimate advantage.

"Flow" or "The Zone" is that ideal performance state that describes when a player perceived level of skills match the perceived challenge. It is when everything becomes automatic (everything just happens) and the player feels in total control. It is when they are so deeply focused on the task that it seems to transform time (I had all the time in the world to make that tackle). It describes that feeling that the player is totally absorbed in the activity that was seen as enjoyable (I was totally focussed on the play and just felt awesome).

Adapted from 1997 Mazda Advanced Coaches' Seminar

A good coach can recognise this in their players', it is not hard to detect the player who becomes distracted or becomes externally focused on the referee, another player or spectators' remarks. That player has lost the "Flow" and isn't in "The Zone" and is what I call a passenger. You cannot afford to carry too many passengers on the park at any one time or even at all. There are various strategies used for players to refocus. It's a vital ingredient to Mental Toughness.

Furthermore,

"Once a player is given the knowledge and understands what is required to achieve a high standard of performance, a player is able to produce improved and more consistent performances, thus allowing the player to fulfil their potential" Des Kissane & Grant Batty – Queensland Rugby Union

The core asset necessary to help achieve "Mental Toughness" is a clearly defined

"Dream". Players who have dreams strive to reach them, secondary assets to the 'dream' are…. DESIRE, GOALS, ATTITUDE and DISCIPLINE.

Question of the Month – March

If a player was running down field and gave a pass to a team mate who then caught the ball in front of the player who passed the ball would this always be a forward pass? YES/NO Short explanation required......... No winners ……

January Topic: Support Play

Being a big believer in the running and attacking game, I can honestly say that the best move in Rugby is not the miss-switch-cut & double loop move. It is the Quick Alignment move, it is the best move that any back line can perform in gaining the edge over the opposition in open play. After all, the objective is to outnumber the defence and penetrate the created space.

Movement of the backline commences as soon as the scrum half places his hands on the ball. The fly half then initiates the advance and the rest of the backline time off the fly half. It is important to keep the starting alignment if the backline is to achieve the desired result.

The chosen articles will be published in April's issue of 'Coaches Corner'.

Win £20

The Winners name and move will be published in April's issue of 'Coaches Corner'.

JANUARY. No winner as all moves have been seen before.....and failed! SORRY

Win £20

Well the winner of the January Question "How many and what names are given to the types of passes that can be used in rugby union?" was Mr Jeff Mapp who supplied the correct answer with a brief description of each pass is as follows:

Basic Lateral:

To move with two hands from A to B in as safe and accurate a manner as possible. .

Pull Pass:

To transfer the ball urgently.

Pull back or Pivot Pass:

To feed a support player angling back in from a deep position behind the ball carrier. This pass is somewhat difficult to execute but involves rotating the upper body and arms, pulling the ball back behind the body and in front of the receiver.

Delayed Pop Pass:

To feed a support player coming in fairly close but from a deep position. A typical example would be an outside pass to a looping receiver.

Spin Pass:

To cover a lot of space quickly, often suitable for cutting out a player.

Cut out Pass:

To bypass a congested area.

Switch Pass:

To 'fix' the opposition generally massed in one spot. This involves the ball carrier running towards the mass and switching the ball away from them.

Throwaway Pass:

To put away a drifting receiver (Not just throw away as it sounds)

Inside lob Pass:

To keep the ball in play and avoid being pushed over the touch line.

Clearing Pass:

To clear the ball off the ground, often near a congested area eg. base of a scrum or ruck.

While the basic pass remains the bread and butter method of transfer, rugby has a whole range of passes which can give the passing line the variation it needs. Teams that use decoy runners and run angles will use a variety of these passes in one phase of play. Some of these can be performed in a number of ways eg. Short, long, hard, soft etc..

Well, I do think, if you don't mind me saying Mr Mapp, that Tom can pick up your lucky prize on your behalf and shout the lads a drink at the bar next week....... What do you say.

Answer:   Correct entry will be published in April's issue of 'Coaches Corner'

The running lines of support players, therefore, must be towards a 'position on the field' rather than just following the ball. As long as the contact situation remains a part of the modern game, attack from phase play will take on a more critical role than ever before. Here is where support play comes into it's own.

The chosen articles will be published in February's issue of 'Coaches Corner'.

Win £20

The Winners name and move will be published in February's issue of 'Coaches Corner'.

Win £20

Question:   How many and what names are given to the types of passes that can be
used in rugby union? Ummmmm.....

Answer:   Correct entry will be published in February's issue of 'Coaches Corner'