Dutchy wrote:Tassie Id be interested in your thoughts?
As I've said before there are ways and means of allievating the effects of palying on the doom, it is different playing on it, I found that out in 2001 when I was trying to train kids who had played at docklands with the NT side, they definately took longer to recover (felt sorer in the legs after playing on Colonial stadium compared to games at the G).
BUT there has been lots of work done on recovery over the last 10 years to the point that a lot of work now is done on freshening up players throughout the competition phase rather than work them to get fitter). The still do the work but more of an emphasis now is done on making players "feeling fit" rather than being "physically fit"
Some Rugby clubs in England actually fly there players to eastern europe and theire recovery session is 2 mins in a cryochamber at -50 degC and then 1 min at -100 deg C. None of this wading in st Vincent Gulf or Port Phillip bay for them!!! Heard that first hand from the AIS recovery scientist who has seen it happen.
So if club are switched on after playing at the Doom, they will do a proper recoovery session i.e. players wade out chest deep not thigh deep as you see them on teh TV in the sea (the hip extensors and flexors do the most work during any "field invasion game" so if your not chest deep your are not allowing those muscles the proper opportunity to get the benefit of thecryogenic effects of sea water ~ 7 to 10 deg C.
Also when in the water they need to be moving not stationary as the movement of the legs promotes venous return.
Other things clubs can do is massage, recovery foods and drinks (lots of work being done on Mg++ and its potential benefits on recovery (don't ask me 10 years since I've studied 2nd year Biochem).
The other factor is modify and lighten up training. Seriously hom much fitter are players going to get by doing 20% extra work, Lighten up do some tactical drills rather than fitness orientated drills, shorten training. Iin a periodised training program what is the diiference between modifying training for playing at the doom compared to having to travel back from Perth, versus playing on a heavy MCG vs fatigue from a 10 game slog from April to June??
Clubs are always modifying training so and their is a bevy of training modalities and ergogenic aids (an ergogenic aid is anything that helps you perform work - coaching/training is an ergogenic aid it is not necesaruily a banned biochemical substance
) to insure players are being optimally overloaded to maintain or improve fitness but at the same time recovey from playing on different surfaces.
Change the mode of trainiing to take players off their legs - pool work or ergo work as opposed to running on the training track.
The other thing is don't talk about it. When the Crows first started their was a big hoo ha about travel. Always mentioned in the paper (Crows travel hoodoo), the club used to try different things all the time to overcome it and would consult the players but by mentioning it all the time it became a self defeating proficey. The club has become one of teh best travellers by letting teh palyers do their own thing and by letting it become a normative behaviour. In other words don't mention it or at least don't make an issue about it, in times clubs will develop what works for them to over come the effects of playing at Docklands.
The bottom line is you must
know your athletes and
individually adapt their preparation to insure maximum performance, taking into consideration what they have done in the past and what they need to do.....
Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2007 3:53 pm
can only hope we get the double chance so we can have a week off the DOOM
